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V          I 

M_^  {7~L>s  t          Qy 


THE    HISTORY 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 


AND 


THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 


BY    ISAAC    N.  ARNOLD, 

LATE    MEMBER    OF    CONGRESS    FROM     ILLINOIS. 


CHICAGO: 

CLARKE    &    CO.,    PUBLISHERS. 

1866. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866, 

By    CLARKE    &     CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Northern 
District  of  Illinois. 


PRINTED  AND  BOUND  BT 
THE  WESTERN 

Book  Manufacturing  Oomp'y 

CHICAGO. 


CHICAGO  TYPE  FOUNDRY: 

J.  CONAHAN, 

STEREOTYPES. 


DEDICATION. 


TO  THE 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  AND  THE  SENATORS 


COMPOSING  THE 


THIRTY-SEVENTH  AND  THIRTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS 


UNITED     STATES. 


GENTLEMEN  :  To  you,  in  commemoration  of  many  friendships  which 
will  be  ever  cherished,  of  an  association  which  will  ever  be  held  in  grateful 
recollection,  and  as  an  expression  of  my  high  appreciation  of  the 
patriotism,  constancy,  love  of  liberty,  wisdom,  and  statesmanship,  which, 
by  your  legislation  and  influence,  contributed  so  largely  to  redeem  and 
save  the  Republic,  I  desire  respectfully  to  dedicate  this  work.  It  was 
your  privilege  to  occupy  a  responsible  position  at  the  most  critical  period 
of  our  history.  Under  the  lead  of  the  Great  Martyr  whose  work,  with 
yours,  I  have  on  these  pages  attempted  to  record,  you  have  rendered 
great  service  to  our  country.  Those  vast  armies,  whose  victorious  cam- 
paigns extended  over  half  a  continent;  that  great  navy,  which  has 
made  the  United  States  "  Mistress  "  at  least  of  the  Western  "  Seas ;" 
that  system  of  finance  which  has  carried  us,  unaided  by  foreign  loans, 
through  the  late  stupendous  war,  were  all  created  and  sustained  by  youi 
laws. 


270690 


IV  DEDICATION. 

But  more  than  all,  above  all,  that  ever  treasonable,  cruel  and  barbar- 
ous institution  of  slavery,  has  been  "  overthrown "  by  the  President, 
aided  and  seconded  by  you.  It  was  for  you  to  abolish  forever,  slavery 
at  the  National  Capital;  to  prohibit  it  throughout  all  the  Territories;  to 
repeal  the  Fugitive  Slave  Laws;  to  put  the  sword  into  the  hand  of  the 
slave,  that  he  might  achieve  liberty  for  himself,  his  family,  and  his  race; 
and  it  was  for  you  to  crown  all  by  the  Constitutional  amendment,  abol- 
ishing and  prohibiting  slavery  throughout  the  Republic.  You  stood 
close  and  ever  faithful  to  our  great  National  Leader,  during  his  event- 
ful administration;  and  by  your  aid  he  was  enabled  to  maintain  the 
integrity  of  the  Nation;  to  establish  National  unity  based  on  universal 
liberty. 

Although  many  of  you  did  not  at  first  fully  understand  or  appreciate 
the  great,  pure,  honest,  long-headed  Statesman  from  the  West,  yet  before 
he  was  so  mysteriously  removed,  you  had  learned  to  love,  honor,  and 
respect  him.  His  deeds  and  yours  I  have  attempted  on  these  pages  to 
record.  How  imperfect  the  execution  of  the  work,  none  can  more 
fully  appreciate  than  the  author. 

I  have  quoted  from  your  debates  far  less  than  I  Trould  have  done, 
had  space  permitted.  Of  many  of  those  from  whose  speeches  my  limits 
did  not  permit  me  to  quote,  I  can  only  say,  that,  if  what  is  given  shall 
direct  attention  to  those  rich  mines  of  eloquence  and  statesmanship  to 
be  found  in  those  volumes  of  the  Congressional  Globe,  which  contain 
the  complete  records  of  your  speeches  and  transactions,  they  who  shall 
study  those  volumes  will  be  richly  compensated. 

In  looking  over  your  rqcords,  I  recall  the  names  of  many  who  left  the 
forum  for  the  camp  and.  battle-field.  Among  others  there  were  Logan, 
Blair,  McClernand,  Fouke,  Marston,  Van  Wyck,  Divin,  McKean, 
Curtis,  Vandever,  Dunn,  and  Baker,  the  martyred  Senator. 

And  in  running  over  the  old  roll-call  of  the  Senate,  I  miss  the 
names  of  the  jovial,  honest,  and  true  Preston  King;  of  those  grave, 
learned,  and  able  Senators  from  Vermont,  Jacob  Collamer  and  Solomon 
Foote ;  and  of  the  genial  Kinsley  S.  Bingham,  of  Michigan,  and  Governor 
Hicks,  the  Senator  from  Maryland,  all  of  whom  now  sleep  in  death. 

Of  the  members  of  the  House  who  have  been  thus  removed,  there 
were  Bailey,  of  Massachusetts,  Gurley,  of  Ohio,  Hanchot,  of  Wisconsin, 


DEDICATION.  V 

Noell,  of  Missouri;  and  to  these  must  be  added  the  names  of  Owen 
Lovejoy,  the  pioneer  Abolitionist  of  Illinois,  and  the  venerable  John  J. 
Crittenden ;  and  who  of  us,  that  so  often  hung  with  delight  upon  his 
fervid  eloquence,  can  ever  forget  the  scholar,  and  genius  of  the  House, 
Henry  Winter  Davis  ? 

The  work  of  crushing  the  rebellion  and  overthrowing  slavery  was 
consummated,  with  your  assistance,  by  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  Had  he 
lived,  the  work  of  reconstruction  and  reconciliation  might  now  have  been 
in  good  part  accomplished.  He  knew  so  well  how  to  temper  justice  with 
mercy,  "  with  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness 
in  the  right  as  God  gave  him  to  see  the  right,  he  would  have  bound  up 
the  Nation's  wounds,"  and  achieved  and  cherished  "  a  just  and  lasting 
peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations."  He  fell  a  martyr  to  liberty, 
and  his  death  has  thrown  heavier,  graver  responsibilities  upon  the 
American  Congress.  Yet  when  I  see  so  many  of  the  old  leaders  of  the 
Senate  and  the  House  still  at  their  posts,  still  enjoying  the  well  earned 
confidence  of  the  American  people,  I  cannot  doubt,  but  that  which 
Lincoln  began,  they  will  consummate.  With  prayers  for  your  complete 
success,  I  subscribe  myself, 

Very  Respectfully  Yours, 

ISAAC  N.  ARNOLD. 


-. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Introduction ,      17 


CHAPTER  I. 

SLAVEEY  FROM   1788   TO   THE   COMPROMISE   MEASURES  OF  1850. 

Opinions  of  the  Fathers  upon  Slavery — Ordinance  of  1787 — Early 
Abolition  Societies — Slavery  Abolished  in  the  New  England 
States,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey — Cotton  and 
Slavery — Location  of  Capital  at  Washington — Fugitive  Slave 
Law  of  1793 — Admission  of  Tennessee,  Alabama  and  Missis- 
sippi, as  Slave  States — Purchase  of  Louisiana  and  Florida — Mis- 
souri Compromise — Seminole  War — Annexation  of  Texas — 
Mexican  War — Wilmot  Proviso — California — Anti-Slavary  Con- 
vention— Suppression  of  Right  of  Petition — John  Quincy 
Adams — Judge  Hoar's  Mission — Abolition,  Liberty  and  Free- 
Soil  Parties — Compromise  Measures  of  1850 25 

CHAPTER  n. 

• 

REPEAL  OF    THE    MISSOURI    COMPROMISE    AND    THE    STRUGGLE    FOR 

KANSAS. 

The  Thirty-third  Congress — Douglas  Introduces  the  Kansas-Ne- 
braska Bill — Debate  upon  it  in  the  Senate — Douglas — Chase — 
Seward — Sumner — Toombs — Mason — Hunter — Slidell — Houston 
— Passage  of  the  Bill — Struggle  over  its  Passage  in  the  House 
of  Representatives — Benton — Richardson — Campbell — Wash- 
burne — Stephens  of  Georgia — Passage  of  the  Bill  through  the 
House — Struggle  Between  Free  and  Slave  State  Men  for  Kansas 
— General  Atchison — John  Brown — Lane  and  Robinson 48 


A-.. 
Vlll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  m. 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

FAGB. 

Lincoln's  Early  Life,  and  Education — His  Mother — He  Volunteers 
for  the  Black  Hawk  War — Postmaster — Mode  of  Keeping  Gov- 
ernment Funds — A  Surveyor — Elected  to  the  Legislature — 
Studies  Law — His  Protest  Against  Slavery — Lincoln  at  the  Bar 
— Early  Illinois  Courts — His  Mode  of  Trying  Cases — Accepts  a 
Challenge — Pleads  the  Case  of  the  Negro  Girl  "Nance" — In 
Congress — His  Bill  to  Abolish  Slavery — His  Practice  at  the 
Bar 67 

CHAPTER  IV. 

LINCOLN   AND   SLAVERY   FROM   1854   TO   1858. 

Lincoln  and  Douglas  Debate  at  Springfield,  1855 — At  Peoria — 
Election  of  Trumbull  to  the  Senate — Reorganization  of  Parties 
on  the  Slavery  Issue — The  Republican  Party — Presidential  Elec- 
tion of  1856 — Margaret  Garner — Brooks'  Assault  on  Simmer — 
Lincoln's  Hatred  of  Slavery — Buchanan — Kansas — Lecompton — 
Douglas — The  Dred  Scott  Case — Slavery  Dominant,  and  its 
Effects  upon  the  Republic 89 

CHAPTER  Y. 

LINCOLN  PROM  1857  TO  1860 — THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATES. 

Lincoln's  Nomination  for  the  Senate — His  Springfield  Speech — 
Lincoln  Challenges  Douglas  to  Joint  Discussion — Douglas 
Accepts— The  Debate , T....112 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION   OF   1869 — ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN,  AND  CUL- 
MINATION OF  THE  CONSPIRACY  TO  DISSOLVE  THE  UNION. 

The  Charleston  Convention — Douglas — Secessionists  Break  up  the 
Convention  —  Adjourn  to  Baltimore  and  Richmond  —  Douglas 
and  Breckinridge  Nominated — "  Americans"  Nominate  Bell  and 
Everett — The  Chicago  Convention — The  Wigwam — Seward — 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE. 

Lincoln — The  Nomination — The  Canvass — The  "  Wide- A  wakes" 
— Position  of  Parties  on  the  Slavery  Question — Lincoln  Elected 
— Conspiracy  to  Dissolve  the  Union — Preparations  of  the  Con- 
spirators— The  North  Disarmed 140 


CHAPTER 


PROGRESS  OP  THE  CONSPIRACY  —  FROM  THE   ELECTION  OP  LINCOLN   TO 
HIS  ARRIVAL  AT  WASHINGTON,  FEBRUARY,  1861. 

The  Conspiracy  Extending  —  Administration  of  Buchanan  —  General 
Scott  —  General  Cass  —  Action  of  Congress  in  Winter  of  1860-61 

—  Committee   of    Thirty-three  —  Peace    Convention  —  Report   of 
Adams  —  Secret  Meetings  of  the  Conspirators  at  the  Capitol  — 
Seven  States  Secede,  and  Organize  a  Provisional  Government  — 
Jefferson  Davis  —  Rebellion  Without  Excuse  —  Slavery  the  Cor- 
ner-Stone of  the  Confederacy  —  Counting  Electoral  Votes  by  Con- 
gress —  Lincoln  Leaves  Springfield  for  Washington  —  His  Journey 

—  Assassination  Plot  —  His  Arrival  .....................................  156 


CHAPTER  Vin. 

LINCOLN   IN   THE   WHITE   HOUSE. 

Lincoln's  Inauguration  and  Inaugural—  Douglas  and  his  Prophecy 
—  Lincoln's  Cabinet  —  Condition  of  Affairs  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1861—  Benjamin  F.  Butler's  Position—  The  "  Prodigal  Son"  .....  173 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM  THE  4TH  OP  MARCH  TO  THE  4TH  OF   JULY,  1861 — FROM  THE  IN 
AUGURATICN  OF  LINCOLN  TO  THE  MEETING  OF  CONGRESS. 

PAGB. 

The  Rebels  send  Commissioners  to  Washington — Position  of  the 
Border  States — The  Rebels  Begin  the  War — Attack  on  Sumter 
— Danger  of  Washington — President's  Call  for  75,000  Men — 
Douglas  Supports  Lincoln — Uprising  of  the  People — Murder  of 
Massachusetts  Soldiers — Response  of  Border  States  to  Call  for 
Troops — The  Northwest — Virginia,  Tennessee,  Maryland — Henry 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAOK. 

Winter  Davis — The  Clay  Guards — Missouri — Blockade  of  Seced- 
ing States — Calls  for  Additional  Troops — Rebels  Seize  Harper's 
Ferry  and  Gosport  Navy  Yard — Death  of  Ellsworth — Great 
Britain  and  France  Recognize  the  Rebels  as  Belligerents — Lee 
and  Benedict  Arnold — Death  of  Douglas 186 

CHAPTER  X. 

EXTRA  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS — CIVIL   POLICY   AND  MILITARY  EVENTS 
TO  THE  CLOSE  OP  1861. 

Congress — President's  Message — Action  of  Congress — Baker's  Re- 
ply to  Breckenridge — Andrew  Johnson — Denounces  Davis — The 
Rebel  Leaders — Prominent  Senators  and  Members — Sumner, 
Baker,  Fessenden  and  others — ^tevens,  Colfax,  Lovejoy  and 
others — Bill  to  Confiscate  the  Property  and  Free  the  Slaves  of 
Rebels — The  Army  not  to  Return  Fugitive  Slaves — Crittenden's 
Resolution — Bull  Run — McClellan  in  Command — Fremont — 
His  Emancipation  Order — Letter  of  Holt — President  Modifies 
the  Order — His  Reasons — Cameron's  Instruction  to  Sherman  in 
South  Carolina — Military  Movements  in  the  Fall  of  1861 — 
Death  of  Lyon — Ball's  Bluff— Death  of  Baker— Belmont— The 
Trent  Affair — Arrest  of  the  Maryland  Legislature 214 

CHAPTER  XL 

SECOND    SESSION    THIRTY-SEVENTH    CONGRESS  —  CONGRESS   OP   1862. 

President's  Message — Report  of  Secretary  of  War — Modified  by 
the  President  —  Stanton  Succeeds  Cameron — Anti-Slavery 
Measures — Article  of  War  Prohibiting  the  Return  of  Fugitive 
Slaves — Slavery  Abolished  at  the  Capital — Prohibited  in  all  the 
Territories — Negro  Soldiers — Military  Orders  in  Regard  to 
Slaves — Hunter's  Negro  Regiments  in  South  Carolina — Wick- 
liffe's  Resolution — Hunter's  Reply — Bill  to  give  Freedom  to  the 
Families  of  Negro  Soldiers 244 

CHAPTER  XH. 

CONFISCATION   AND   EMANCIPATION. 

Bill  to  Confiscate  the  Property  and  Emancipate  the  Slaves  of  Re- 
bels— Action  of  the  Senate — Of  the  House — Speech  of  Critten- 
den — Reply  of  Lovejoy — Wade,  of  Ohio — Sedgwick — Passage 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE. 

of  the  Bill — Joint  Resolution  Explanatory  thereof — President's 
Message — Elliott's  Emancipation  Resolution — President's  Mes- 
sage Recommending  Gradual  and  Compensated  Emancipation — 
Hunter's  Order  Freeing  Slaves  in  South  Carolina,  etc — Lincoln 
Declares  it  Unauthorized — His  Address  to  Border  State  Delega- 
tion in  Congress 272 


CHAPTER 

THE  PROCLAMATION   OF   EMANCIPATION. 

Emancipation  Demanded  by  the  Free  States — Letter  of  Mrl  Gree- 
ley — Lincoln's  Reply — Interview  with  Chicago  Clergy — Appeal 
of  the  Friends  of  Freedom — Mr.  Lincoln  Reads  the  Proclama- 
tion to  his  Cabinet — Issued  on  the  22d  of  September — After  the 
Battle  of  Antietam — Incidents  Connected  with  it — How  Re- 
ceived  283 


CHAPTER  XTV. 

MILITARY  OPERATIONS   OP   1862. 

Inactivity  of  McClellan — President's  Order  for  a  General  Advance 
— Active  Operations  in  the  West — Battle  of  Middle  Creek — Mill 
Spring — Capture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson — Mitchell's 
March  to  Bowling  Green — Union  Troops  Occupy  Nashville — 
Capture  of  Ronoake  Island  and  Newbern — Pea  Ridge — New 
Madrid — Island  Number  Ten — Shiloh — Corinth — Capture  of 
New  Orleans 306 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  PRESIDENT  AND  GENERAL  MC  CLELLAN — THE  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST 

RICHMOND. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac — McClellan's  Inaction — Plan  of  the 
Campaign — The  Monitor  and  the  Merrimac — Yorktown — Wil- 
liamsburg — The  Chickahominy — The  President  Urges  Action — 
Norfolk  Taken — McDowell  at  Fredericksburg — Stonewall  Jack- 
son's Campaign  Down  the  Valley — Battle  of  Fair  Oaks — Lee  in 
Command — Mechanicsville — Games'  Mills,  etc — To  the  James — 
Malvern  Hill — Harrison's  Landing 320 


XI 1  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

MILITARY  OPERATIONS  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  1862 — POPE — MCCLELLAN — 

BURNSIDE. 

PAGE 

General  Pope  Assumes  Command  of  the  Army  of  Virginia — His 
Address — Lee  Attempts  to  Overwhelm  Him — McClellan  Ordered 
to  Join  Pope — His  Delay — Ordered  to  Hasten — He  Lingers — 
Pope  Overwhelmed  by  Numbers  and  Driven  Back  to  Washing- 
ton— Is  Relieved — McClellan  Again  in  Command — Lee  Crosses 
into  Maryland — McClellan  Pursues — Battles  of  South  Mountain 
— Antietam— President  Visits  the  Army — Urges  McClellan  to 
Attack — McClellan  Delays — He  is  Relieved  of  Command — Fail- 
ure— Burnside — Fredericksburg — Movements  in  the  West — Bat- 
tle of  Perryville — Corinth — Vicksburg — Stone  River 342 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THIRD   SESSION   THIRTY-SEVENTH   CONGRESS. 

President's  Message,  December,  1862 — Proposal  to  Aid  Missouri  in 
Emancipation — Bill  Authorizing  Enrolling  Colored  Troops — 
Enrollment  Bill — Debate  in  Senate  and  House — Bingham — Cox 
— Dunn — Thomas — Senator  Wilson — McDougall — Admission  of 
West  Virginia  —  Debate — -  Maynard  —  Stevens  —  Bingham — 
Thomas — Admission  of  Members  from  Louisiana — War  Powers 
of  the  Government — Arbitrary  Arrests — Vallandigham — Lin- 
coln's Reply  to  Albany  Meeting — Habeas  Corpus — Close  of 
Thirty-seventh  Congress — Speaker  Grow's  Valedictory 368 


CHAPTER  XVIH. 

THE   CAMPAIGNS   OP   1863  —  VICKSBURG  —  GETTYSBURG. 

Plan  of  the  Campaign — The  Opening  of  the  Mississippi — Arkansas 
Post — Grant's  Campaign  Against  Vicksburg — Grierson's  Raid — 
Port  Hudson — Chancellorville — Lee  Invades  Maryland — Meade 
— Gettysburg — The  Gettysburg  Cemetery — Everett's  Oration — 
Lincoln's  Address...  398 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

MILITARY   OPERATIONS   AND    EVENTS   TO   CLOSE   OF   1863. 

PAGE. 

Results  of  Gettysburg  Victory — Lee's  Retreat — Attempt  to  Recap- 
ture Fort  Donelson — Chattanooga — Chickamauga — Grant  As- 
sumes Command  of  Ohio,  Tennessee,  and  the  Cumberland — Bat- 
tles of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge — Sherman  Re- 
lieves Nashville — Operations  Against  Charleston — Massacre  at 
Lawrence — The  Draft  Riots  in  New  York — Negro  Soldiers — 
Retaliation — Lincoln's  Letter  to  Illinois— Elections  of  1863 425 

CHAPTER  XX. 

FIRST   SESSION   OP   THIRTY-EIGHTH   CONGRESS  — 1863-4. 

President's  Message — Repeal  of  Fugitive  Slave  Laws — Pay  of  Col- 
ored Soldiers — Freedom  Given  to  their  Families — Constitutional 
Amendment  Abolishing  and  Prohibiting  Slavery  throughout  the 
Republic — Debates  apon  it  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  House 442 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

RECONSTRUCTION  —  FREEDMEN's  BUREAU — CENSURE  OF   HARRIS  AND 

LONG. 

Reconstruction — Amnesty — Henry  Winter  Davis'  Bill — Question 
of  Admission  of  Senators  from  Arkansas — Freedmen's  Bureau — 
Speech  of  Brooks — Expulsion  of  Long — Censure  of  Harris — 
Speech  of  Winter  Davis 470 

CHAPTER  XXH. 

SANITARY    AND    CHRISTIAN    COMMISSIONS  —  PRESIDENTIAL    CONVEN- 
TIONS IN  1864  —  EMANCIPATION  IN  THE  BORDER  STATES. 

Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions — Baltimore  and  Philadelphia 
Fairs — The  Presidency — Baltimore  Convention — Lincoln  Nom- 
inated— Chicago  Convention — McClellan  Nominated — Chase  Re- 
signs— Fessenden  Appointed  Secretary — Lincoln's  Views  upon 
Reconstruction — Emancipation  in  Louisiana,  Maryland  and  Mis- 
souri.., ...492 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXm. 
GRANT'S  CAMPAIGN  OP  1864. 

PAGE. 

Grant  Appointed  Lieutenant-General — His  Plans — The  Military 
Situation — Banks'  Expedition  to  Red  River — Massacre  at  Fort 
Pillow — Confederate  Weakness — The  Armies  of  Grant  and  Lee 
— Battles  of  the  Wilderness — Spottsylvania — Cold  Harbor,  etc — 
Butler's  Movement  on  the  James  River — Grant  Crosses  the 
James — Movements  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah — Hunter's 
Campaign — Petersburg  Invested — The  Mine  Explosion — Sheri- 
dan in  the  Shenandoah — His  Ride — His  Victories 518 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


SHERMAN'S  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN,  AND  GRAND  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA. 

Sherman's  Advance  on  Atlanta — Bishop  Polk  Killed — McPherson 
Killed — Sherman  takes  Atlanta — Correspondence  Between  Sher- 
man and  Hood,  and  Sherman  and  the  Mayor  of  Atlanta — Hood's 
Army  Marches  North,  and  is  Defeated  at  Nashville — Sherman's 
Grand  March  to  the  Sea — He  takes  Fort  McAllister,  and  Savan- 
nah— The  Alabama — Mobile  Captured — The  Niagara  Falls  Con- 
ference— The  Presidential  Election...  ...538 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  THE  THIRTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS  —  CONSTITU- 
TIONAL AMENDMENT  ABOLISHING  AND  PROHIBITING  SLAVERY 
THROUGHOUT  THE  REPUBLIC. 

The  President's  Message — Anti-Slavery  Measures — A  Bust  for 
Chief  Justice  Taney — Salmon  P.  Chase  Appointed  Chief  Jus- 
tice— The  Constitutional  Amendment — Passage  of  the  Joint 
Resolution  Through  Congress — Ratification  Thereof  by  the 
States..,  ...562 


•k  CONTENTS.  XY 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE   THIRTY-EIGHTH   CONGRESS  —  TO   ITS   CLOSE. 

PAGH. 

The  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill — Rebellious  States  not  to  Vote  in  the 
Electoral  College — Reconstruction — Treatment  of  Union  Pris- 
oners— Rebel  Prisoners — Attack  of  Brooks  upon  Butler — His 
Vindication  by  Boutwell  and  Stevens — Close  of  the  Thirty- 
eighth  Congress — Valedictory  of  Speaker  Colfax 594 

CHAPTER  XXVH. 
LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURATION — THE  END  OF  THE  WAR. 

Fort  Fisher — Peace  Conference — Wilmington  and  Goldsboro  Taken 
— Rebels  Resolve  to  Arm  the  Negro — Columbus,  S.  C.,  Captured. 
— Charleston  Falls — Second  Inauguration  of  Lincoln — He  Goes 
to  Grant's  Headquarters — Military  Conference — Sheridan  at  Five 
Forks — An  Assault  Along  the  Whole  Line — Petersburg  and 
Richmond  Evacuated — Lee  Surrenders  to  Grant — Johnston  Sur- 
renders to  Sherman — All  Rebel  Armies  Surrender — The  Presi- 
dent at  Richmond — Returns  to  Washington — The  Grand  Review 
of  the  Armies - 614 

CHAPTER  XXVHL 

COST   OF   THE   WAR  —  LINCOLN'S   "POLICY"  —  HIS    ASSASSINATION- 
FUNERAL —  THE   GRIEF   OF   THE   PEOPLE. 

Number  of  Troops  Furnished  by  the  Several  States — Cost  in  Men 
and  Money  of  the  War — Colored  Troops — Lincoln's  "  Policy" — 
His  Views  of  the  Powers  of  Congress  Over  the  Rebellious  States 
— No  Right  to  Vote  in  the  Electoral  College — Loyalty  Should  be 
the  Basis  of  Reconstruction — Lincoln's  Views  of  Negro  Suffrage 
— Faith  Must  be  Kept  with  the  Negro  Race — The  Assassination 
— Funeral— National  Grief...  ...646 


XVI  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   HISTORY   OF   THE  WAR. 

PAGE. 

The  War  Powers  of  the  Government — The  Right  to  Treat  the  Con- 
federates as  Public  Enemies — The  Habeas  Corpus,  Who  May 
Suspend  it — The  Right  to  Emancipate  Slaves  in  Time  of  War — 
To  Establish  Military  Governments  Over  Rebellious  and  Belli- 
gerent Territory — The  Legal  Status  of  Rebellious  States — Judi- 
cial Decisions — May  Conditions  be  Imposed  upon  Rebellious 
States,  before  being  Permitted  to  Participate  in  the  Government 
— And  by  What  Power — Who  Must  Determine  Whether  a  State 
Government  is  Republican  in  Form — What  has  been  Settled  by 
the  War...  ...691 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  author  of  this  book  was  a  deeply  interested  observer,  and  in  an 
humble  way  as  member  of  Congress  from  Illinois,  an  actor  during 
the  administration  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  ;  and  he  had  the  honor  of 
enjoying  his  friendship,  for  twenty  years  previous  to  his  election  as 
President. 

This  work  was  begun  during  his  life,  and  the  author  was  honored  and 
encouraged  to  go  forward  in  its  preparation  by  his  approval.  He  trusts 
he  may  without  vanity,  hope  to  have  contributed  something  of  perma- 
nent value  to  the  record  (hereafter  to  be  fully  made  up)  of  the  last  six 
most  eventful  years. 

If  he  has  been  able  to  aid  to  any  eztent,  the  American  people  to  a 
better  understanding,  and  to  a  fuller  and  more  just  appreciation  of  the 
moral  and  intellectual  character  of  Mr.  LINCOLN,  and  the  means  by 
which  slavery  has  been  overthrown  and  the  slaveholders'  rebellion 
subdued,  he  will  be  amply  rewarded  for  the  labor  bestowed. 

In  regard  to  the  truthfulness  and  impartiality  of  the  work,  the  author 
will  only  say  that,  while  acknowledging  frankly  that  all  his  convictions 
and  sympathies  have  been  with  the  cause  of  liberty  and  loyalty,  he  has 
not,  consciously,  done  injustice  to  any. 

The  great  struggle  between  liberty  and  slavery  in  the  United  States, 
substantially  terminated  with  the  martyrdom  of  ABRAHAM  LIN- 
COLN. The  blow  of  the  assassin  which  struck  down  the  great  apostle  of 

freedom,  was  the  last,  malignant,  expiring  effort  of  slavery.     The  shot 
2  17 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

which  pierced  the  heart  of  Lovejoy  at  Alton,  Illinois,  and  that  which 
penetrated  the  brain  of  LINCOLN,  were  alike  aimed  by  that  institu- 
tion. The  eradication  of  slavery  from  the  republic  was  made  certain  by 
the  death  of  the  Great  Emancipator. 

It  seems  a  fit  occasion  to  pause  at  the  end  of  this  great  drama,  to 
look  back  over  the  record  of  the  conflict,  to  recall  the  leading  events 
which  have  marked  its  history;  to  do  proper  honor  and  justice  to  the 
great  actors,  and,  especially,  to  trace  the  life  and  career  of  the  greatest 
hero  of  the  drama,  by  whose  wisdom,  fidelity  to  principle,  truth,  singlo- 
ness  of  purpose,  and  boldness,  the  triumph  of  freedom  has  been 
accomplished. 

The  experiment  of  self-government  in  North  America  was,  up  to  the 
period  of  the  great  slaveholders'  rebellion,  a  most  wonderful  success. 
The  settlement,  growth,  advance,  union,  independence  and  consolidation 
of  the  United  States  j  the  establishment,  by  the  people,  of  a  represen- 
tative national  government,  and  the  rapid  advance  of  the  nation,  up  to 
the  period  of  the  civil  war,  have  had  no  parallel  in  history.  For  nearly 
ninety  years  succeeding  Independence,  the  career  of  the  nation  was  a 
rapid  course  of  prosperity  and  happiness.  Freedom,  general  education, 
with  security  for  person  and  property,  developed  and  stimulated  an 
industry,  enterprise  and  energy,  which  produced  results  which  outrun 
the  calculations  of  all  the  political  economists. 

The  population  of  the  United  States  which,  at  the  time  of  its  recog- 
nition by  Great  Britain  in  1783,  was  less  than  three  millions,  in  1860, 
had  reached  and  exceedetj  thirty  millions.  Thirteen  sparsely  settled 
states,  stretching  along  .the  Atlantic  coast,  multiplied  to  thirty-three, 
bordering  all  the  great  inland  seas ;  and  organized  society,  crossing  the 
great  Father  of-  Waters,  found  a  pathway  over  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  planted  great  states  on  the  golden  shores  of  the  Pacific.  This  vust 
territorial  area  was  being  welded,  connected  and  entwined  together  by  a 
network  of  innumerable  railways,  telegraph  lines,  navigable  rivers,  roads 
and  canals,  into  one  great  national  unity.  The  school-house,  the  church, 
the  newspaper,  the  library,  the  academy,  the  college  and  university,  fol- 
lowed close  upon  the  heels  of  the  pioneer,  bringing  the  means  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  culture  to  every  child.  Labor  was  liberally  rewarded  ; 
the  emigrant  from  every  clime  was  welcomed, — there  was  food  and  land 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

enough  for  all.  Meanwhile,  the  nation,  respected  abroad,  its  growth  a 
wonder,  —  the  land  of  hope  and  promise  to  the  poor  of  every  clime, — 
was  looked  upon  by  the  friends  of  liberty  and  civilization,  as  demon- 
strating man's  ability,  safely,  wisely,  and  judiciously,  to  administer  the 
government.  But  there  was  one  anomaly — one  great  disease  preying 
upon  the  body  politic — African  slavery.  This  brought  upon  this 
otherwise  happy  country,  the  desolation  and  suffering  of  a  five  years' 
bloody  civil  war. 

That  has  now  passed  away,  and  we  are  entering  upon  a  new  era  ;  a 
destiny  now  dawns  upon  us  of  a  great  continental  republic,  freed  from 
slavery,  and  based  upon  the  grand  idea  of  human  liberty;  recognizing 
God  as  the  common  Father,  and  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man. 

I  shall  attempt  to  write  a  history  of  this  conflict.  There  is  no  sub- 
limer  page  in  human  progress,  than  that  which  I  humbly  attempt  to 
record  :  the  history  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  and  the  overthrow  of 
Slavery  in  the  United  States.  Preliminary  and  introductory  to  that 
history,  I  propose  to  give  a  rapid  sketch  of  the  "irrepressible  con- 
flict" between  freedom  and  slavery,  from  1789  down  to  1860;  the 
antagonism  between  liberty  and  slavery,  so  clearly  stated  by  Mr.  LIN- 
COLN, in  his  Springfield  speech,  of  June,  1858:  "'A  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I  believe  this  government  cannot  endure 
permanently,  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to 
be  dissolved,  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  I  do  expect  it  will 
cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or  all  the  other. 
Either  the  opponents  of  Slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it, 
and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  will  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in 
course  of  ultimate  extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward, 
until  it  becomes  alike  lawful  in  all  the  states,  old  as  well  as  new,  North 
as  well  as  South." 

Slavery  was  ever  the  only  seriously  dangerous  cause  of  division  among 
the  states.  The  people  of  our  country  were  essentially  one,  with  a  com- 
mon Anglo-Saxon  lineage,  a  common  religion ;  one  in  language,  one  in 
literature,  and  one  in  law  and  history.  That  portion  of  earth  called  the 
United  States,  is  well  adapted  by  physical  conformation,  to  be  the  home 
of  one  national  family,  and  not  of  many.  Remove  slavery,  and  the 
people  would  gravitate  into  a  homogeneous  nationality. 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

This  antagonism,  between  free  and  slave  labor,  produced  a  great  con- 
flict of  ideas,  fierce,  earnest,  and  violent;  at  last  in  1861,  it  became  a 
tremendous  conflict,  both  of  ideas  and  of  arms;  a  conflict  of  thoughts 
and  principles,  of  laws  and  constitutional  enactments,  as  well  as  of  vast 
armies;  a  conflict,  the  magnitude  of  which  has  no  parallel  in  past 
history. 

I  shall  attempt,  rapidly,  to  describe  this  conflict,  as  it  exhibited  itself 
in  Legislatures,  and  in  the  Halls  of  Congress,  in  the  forums  of  courts, 
through  the  mighty  modern  engines  of  the  press,  on  the  stump,  in  the 
great  arena  of  political  conventions,  and  in  the  pulpit,  and  among  the 
people.  I  shall  follow  it  from  the  triumph  of  the  slave  power  in  the 
admission  of  the  slave  state  of  Missouri,  to  the  triumph  of  free  labor, 
in  the  admission  of  the  free  states  of  California  and  Oregon.  I  shall 
sketch  the  desperate  and  fierce  struggle  between  freedom  and  slavery  for 
Kansas;  the  first  clashing  there,  by  the  belligerent  forces,  of  the  weapons 
of  material  war ;  the  Sharpe's  rifles  of  New  England  against  the  bowie- 
knives  of  the  border-ruffians ;  the  speeches  of  Beecher,  Phillips 
and  Sumner,  against  those  of  Atchison,  Toombs  and  Mason. 

I  shall  attempt  to  describe  the  prominent  appearance,  upon  the  polit- 
ical arena,  in  June,  1858,  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  the  great  leader,  who 
thereafter  was,  so  far  as  man  could  do  it,  to  "guide  the  whirlwind  and 
direct  the  storm."  The  prominent  position  of  this  great  statesman  of 
the  West,  will  require  that  at  this  part  of  the  record,  I  should  pause, 
and  enquire  what  had  been  the  training  and  culture  of  this  influential 
leader;  what  his  preparation;  and  what  manner  of  man  this  was,  that 
so  quietly  and  so  gently,  and  yet  so  firmly  grasped  the  helm,  and 
directed  the  ship  of  state  in  accordance  with  public  sentiment. 

I  shall  describe  the  early  life  of  LINCOLN;  his  career  in  Congress, 
on  the  stump,  and  at  the  bar.  I  shall  sketch  his  great  intellectual 
combat  with  Douglas  in  1858;  his  wonderful  power  over  the  people; 
his  nomination  for,  and  election  to,  the  presidency. 

I  shall  then  enter  upon  the  great  object  of  my  work;  the  history, 
executive  and  legislative,  of  the  administration  of  LINCOLN,  and  of 
the  progressive  steps  which  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  slavery  in  the 
United  States.  I  shall  narrate  how  this  inexperienced,  but  vigorous 
statesman,  with  little  knowledge  of  men  and  cf  affairs,  guided  by  a 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

constant  sense  of  duty,  taking  for  his  political  compass  and  guide  the 
great  principle  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  "  that  all  men  are 
created  equal,"  reposing  unwavering  faith  and  confidence  in  the 
people;  and,  with  unshaken  fidelity  to  national  union  based  on  freedom, 
never  for  a  moment  forgetting  his  responsibility  to  God; — how  this  self- 
made,  self-educated  man  of  the  prairies,  rising  from  the  humblest  posi- 
tion, simple,  pure,  humble,  but  firm,  perfectly  honest  and  truthful;  how 
he  was  enabled  to  guide  and  control  the  government  through  this  most 
stupendous  civil  war,  to  complete  success;  how  he  triumphed  over  all 
enemies;  how  he  conquered  the  fierce  rage  and  rancor  of  opposing 
factions  and  parties;  how  he  subdued  the  prejudices  of  enemies,  and 
forced  the  oftimes  reluctant  respect  of  other  nations;  how  he  organized 
and  held  together  all  the  loyal  people  of  the  nation  against  its  foes,  and 
triumphed  over,  or  healed  all  rivalries  and  divisions  among  his  own  po- 
litical friends;  composed  the  quarrels  and  jealousies  of  rival  generals; 
triumphed  over  all  the  enemies  of  his  country;  securing  e^grthe  love 
and  confidence  of  the  people;  crushing  the  power  and^machinations 
of  rebels  and  traitors;  restoring  national  unity; — and  crowned  his 
glorious  life  by  becoming  the  emancipator  and  savior  of  his  country. 

This  grand  career,  this  great  drama,  of  which  LINCOLN  is  the  leading 
spirit,  is  my  theme.  I  shall  trace  events  through  these  terrible  convul- 
sions, and  truthfully  exhibit  LINCOLN,  always  calm,  sagacious,  inflexible, 
with  a  prophetic  faith,  seeing,  hoping  for,  and  comprehending  the  end 
from  the  beginning.  This  man,  who  "with  malice  towards  none,  with 
eharity  for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gave  him  to  see  the 
right;"  this  man  to  whom,  under  Providence,  was  given  the  sublime 
mission  to  save  his  country,  to  emancipate  a  race,  and  to  restore,  or 
rather  reestablish  and  consolidate  unity,  based  on  liberty  to  all ;  this 
man, —  his  deeds,  his  services, — I  shall  attempt  truthfully  to  delineate. 

I  shall  also  record  the  deeds  of  his  able  and  efficient  helpers,  in  the 
cabinet,  in  Congress,  in  the  field,  at  the  head  of  the  press,  and  in  pri- 
vate life.  But  the  people  themselves  were  above  all  leaders;  and 
it  was  their  energy,  and  patriotism,  and  self-denial,  which  saved  the 
republic. 

This  young,  enthusiastic  and  energetic  people,  themselves  improvised 
armies,  the  numbers  of  which  had  no  parallel;  their  ingenuity,  industry 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

and  invention,  supplied  arms,  subsistence,  and  the  material  of  war. 
By  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  their  resources,  and  of  their  country ; 
by  confidence  in  themselves,  by  severe  taxation  self-imposed,  by  an  un- 
aelfish  liberality,  which  literally  placed  the  men,  and  the  wealth,  and  the 
credit  of  the  nation  at  the  disposal  of  the  government,  they  crushed 
this  stupendous  rebellion.  This  record  of  the  deeds  of  this  people  I  shall 
attempt  to  write,  and  to  show  that  a  government  "of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people,"  is  the  strongest  and  most  efficient,  as  well  as  the 
most  benign  and  magnanimous  of  all  governments.  It  will  be  seen  by 
the  student,  that  under  the  guidance  of  LINCOLN,  the  nation  passed 
through  the  convulsions  of  this  war,  and  retained  intact  the  old,  time- 
honored  safeguards  of  individual  liberty  and  security.  They  have  come 
out  of  the  contest  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  an  independent  judiciary, 
the  habeas  corpus,  trial  by  jury,  liberty  of  speech,  and  freedom  of  the 
press.  In  tracing  these  eventful  pages,  we  shall  see  the  American 
navy,  from  a  small  and  comparatively  feeble  beginning,  rise  to  become, 
unquestionably,  the  most  formidable  naval  power  on  earth.  Our  fleets 
of  iron-clads,  gun-boats  and  vessels  of  war,  surpassing  those  of  Great 
Britain,  our  great  rival  in  maritime  power,  and  so  long  the  mistress 
of  the  seas. 

From  a  little  nucleus  of  an  army  of  fifteen  thousand  soldiers,  we  have 
become  a  military  power,  counting  our  trained  fighting  men  by  the 
million.  The  battle-fields  of  these  four  years  of  war,  to  which  space 
will  permit  only  brief  and  passing  description,  in  the  numbers  engaged, 
in  the  sad  list  of  killed  and  wounded,  and  in  the  terrible  engines  of 
destruction  used,  far  surpass  Blenheim,  Leipsic,  and  Waterloo,  and  all  the 
famous  battle-fields  of  the  Old  World ;  and  the  soldiers  and  officers  en- 
gaged, (truth  compels  us  to  say,  on  both  sides,)  exhibited  a  valor,  courage, 
endurance,  skill  and  heroism,  unsurpassed  by  any  naval  or  military 
conflicts  in  ancient  or  modern  times. 

It  will  be  my  duty,  faithfully,  to  write  the  blackest,  as  well  as  the 
brightest  page  in  history.  The  treason,  perjury,  and  conspiracy  of  the 
rebel  leaders,  who,  without  one  single,  real  substantial  grievance,  sought 
to  overthrow  a  government  which  had  been  known  only  by  its  benefits, 
fix  upon  their  hearts  the  guilt  of  all  the  sufferings  of  this  war.  The 
great  slaveholders,  having  long  ruled  under  the  forms  of  the  constitution, 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

when  they  saw  that  their  power  was  likely  to  depart,  refused  sub- 
mission to  the  legally  expressed  will  of  the  people,  and  plunged  the 
country  into  civil  war.  The  blackest  page  of  these  annals,  is  that  which 
records  the  barbarism  and  brutality  produced  by  slavery;  the  moral 
degeneracy  of  a  once  noble  race  of  men,  becoming  so  depraved  that 
their  hellish  passions  developed  a  cruelty  and  malignity  towards  prison- 
ers, black  and  white,  unknown  in  the  history  of  civilized  nations.  It  is 
slavery  alone  which  can  produce  men  who  will  murder  defenceless  pris- 
oners on  the  field  of  battle,  after  resistance  has  ceased,  and  starve  them 
to  death,  as  a  means  of  carrying  on  war.  Of  such  a  race,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  in  their  extremity,  they  should  resort  to  incendiarism,  and 
murder,  and  assassination. 

The  record  I  write  will  show  the  development  and  gradual  growth  of 
a  sense  of  justice  towards  the  black  race,  until  it  terminated  in  their 
emancipation  and  their  recognition  as  men.  The  rise  and  rapid  advance 
of  this  long  servile  race,  from  the  slave  to  the  "  contraband,"  from  the 
"  contraband  "  to  the  freedman,  and  from  the  freedman  to  the  soldier, 
from  the  soldier  to  the  citizen,  vindicating  his  manhood  on  the  field  of 
battle,  and  his  claim  to  citizenship  by  obedience  to  law  and  loyalty  to 
the  flag. 

This  terrible  civil  war,  this  baptism  of  blood,  through  which  the  na- 
tion has  passed,  has  purified  and  ennobled  it.  The  soldiers  of  Grant  and 
Sherman,  Thomas  and  Sheridan,  who  marched  from  Cairo  t«  Savannah, 
from  the  Potomac  to  New  Orleans,  will  feel  that  the  country  is  now 
doubly  dear  to  them.  They  have  bled  for  that  country ;  and  not  a 
family  in  the  land  but  has  given  its  sacrifice  to  death,  tbatthe  Kepublic 
might  live.  In  so  glorious  and  imperial  a  manner  have  the  American 
people  fought  this  great  struggle  for  liberty,  so  grand  is  the  theatre  of 
their  future,  that  the  imagination  does  not  set  bounds  to  their  coming 
greatness 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN, 


OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 


OHAPTEE    I. 


SLAVERY  FEOM  1788,  TO  THE  COMPROMISE  MEASURES  OF  1850. 

OPINION  OP  THE  FATHERS  UPON  SLAVERY— ORDINANCE  OF  1787 — 
EARLY  ABOLITION  SOCIETIES — SLAVERY  ABOLISHED  IN  THE 

.  NEW  ENGLAND  STATES,  NEW  YORK,  PENNSYLVANIA,  AND  NEW 
JERSEY — COTTON  AND  SLAVERY — LOCATION  OP  CAPITAL  AT 
WASHINGTON — FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW  OP  1793 — ADMISSION  OP 
TENNESSEE,  ALABAMA  AND  MISSISSIPPI,  AS  SLAVE  STATES — • 
PURCHASE  OP  LOUISIANA  AND  FLORIDA — MISSOURI  COMPROMISE 
— SEMINOLE  WAR — ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS — MEXICAN  WAR — 
WILMOT  PROVISO  —  CALIFORNIA — ANTI-SLAVERY  CONVENTION 
— SUPPRESSION  OF  RIGHT  OF  PETITION — JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS — 
JUDGE  HOAR'S  MISSION — ABOLITION,  LIBERTY  AND  FREESOIL 
PARTIES — COMPROMISE  MEASURES  OF  1850. 

IT  is  historically  demonstrable  that  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  in  shaping  that  instrument,tolerated  the  ex- 
istence of  slavery  as  a  temporary  evil,  which  they  regarded 
as  incompatible  with  the  principles  of  liberty  embodied  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  upon  which  they  intended 
to  base  our  institutions.  They  believed  that  it  was  in  the 
course  of  gradual  extinction.  It  is  clear  that  they  never  in- 
tended it  should  be  a  permanent  institution,  much  less  that 

25 


26        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

it  should  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  the  States  in  which  it 
then  existed.  The  hostility  to  slavery  was  so  general,  that 
it  is  believed  the  Fathers  would  have  embodied  abolition  as  a 
part  of  the  Constitution,  had  they  not  supposed  it  would  soon 
disappear  before  the  peaceful  moral  agencies  then  operating 
against  it.  They  confidently  hoped  that  public  opinion,  ex- 
pressing itself  through  the  press,  the  religious  organizations, 
public  discussion,  and  rendering  its  final  verdict  through  the 
ballot,  and  securing  favorable  legislation  through  State 
and  Congressional  action,  would  secure  universal  liberty 
"throughout  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof."  Gene- 
ral Washington  in  a  letter  to  Robert  Morris  written  in  1786, 
speaking  of  slavery,  said:  "There  is  not  a  man  living  who 
wishes  more  sincerely  than  I  do,  to  see  a  plan  adopted  for  the 
abolition  of  it."  The  great  leading  lawyer  and  patriot  of 
Maryland,  Luther  Martin,  advocated  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  Federal  Convention  of  1787;  so  also  did  William 
Pinckney,  in  1789,  in  the  Maryland  House  of  Delegates.  The 
Ordinance  of  1787,  by  which  freedom  was  forever  secured  to 
the  Northwest,  and  to  the  great  States  of  Ohio  and  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin,  was  by  far  the  most 
important  anti-slavery  measure  in  American  history,  be- 
tween the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  great  Pro- 
clamation of  Emancipation  by  Abraham  Lincoln.  Its  influ- 
ence has  been  decisive,  on  both  the  moral  and  martial  con- 
flict. Without  the  votes  and  influence  of  the  great  free 
Northwest,  the  offspring  of  this  ordinance,  slavery  would 
have  triumphed  and  caVried  its  sway  all  over  the  land.  It  is 
very  true  that  the  love  of  liberty  fostered  by  the  free  schools 
of  New  England,  beginning  like  a  rivulet  among  her  granite 
hills,  gradually  widened  and  expanded  until  it  became  a 
mighty  stream ;  but  it  was  the  broad  and  majestic  torrent 
from  the  Northwest,  like  its  own  majestic  Mississippi,  which 
gave  to  the  river  of  freedom,  volume,  and  power,  and  irresist- 
ible strength,  until  it  broke  down  all  opposition,  and  swept 
away  and  overwhelmed  all  resistance. 

The  period  immediately  following  the  revolution, is  full  of 
evidence  that  many  of  the  leading  men  of  nearly  every  State 
looked  upon  slavery  with  abhorrence,  and  were  impatient  for 


VIEWS  OF  EARLY  VIRGINIA  STATESMEN.  27 

its  entire  abolition.  Mr.  Iredell  of  North  Carolina,  said  in 
the  convention  which  adopted  the  Constitution,  "  when  the 
entire  abolition  of  slavery  takes  place,  it  will  be  an  event 
which  must  be  pleasing  to  every  generous  mind  and  to  every 
friend  of  human  nature."  It  was  with  such  views,  hopes  and 
expectations  on  the  part  of  leading  statesmen  of  that  day, 
that  the  Constitution  was  adopted.  The  Constitution  itself 
was  based  on  the  great  idea  embodied  by  Jefferson  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  "  that  all  men  are  created 
equal." 

This  grand  idea  which  Jefferson  made  the  corner  stone  of 
our  National  Independence,  we  shall  have  occasion,  bye  and 
bye  to  see,  was  the  basis  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  political  creed,  the 
key-note  of  his  administration ;  the  foundation  of  that  polit- 
ical system  which  he  carried  out  fully  by  his  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation,  and  the  amendment  of  the  Constitution 
abolishing  and  prohibiting  slavery  forever. 

In  order  that  slavery  might  be  brought  to  an  end,  pro- 
vision was  made  in  the  Constitution  that  the  slave  trade 
might  be  prohibited  by  Congress  after  the  year  1808. 

It  ought  to  be  stated  in  vindication  of  the  early  states- 
men of  Virginia,  that  they  appreciated  the  injustice  and 
wrong  of  slavery,  and  that  as  early  as  1772,  the  Legislature 
of  that  Commonwealth  addressed  the  King  of  Great  Britian, 
exposing  the  inhumanity  of  Slavery,  and  expressing  the  con- 
viction that  it  was  opposed  to  the  security  and  happiness  of 
the  people,  and  would,  in  time,  endanger  their  existence. 
The  King  in  reply,  answered,  that  "  upon  pain  of  his  highest 
displeasure  the  importation  of  slaves  should  not  be  in  any 
respect  obstructed." 

"  Pharisaical  Britain,"  said  Benjamin  Franklin,  referring 
to  the  Somerset  case,  '« to  pride  thyself  in  setting  free  a  single 
slave  that  happened  to  land  on  thy  coast,  while  thy  laws 
continue  a  traffic  whereby  so  many  thousands  are  dragged 
into  a  slavery  that  is  entailed  on  their  posterity."  * 

Mr.  Jefferson  said  during  the  war,  "  The  way  I  hope 
is  preparing  under  the  auspices  of  Heaven,  for  a  total 

•  Bancroft's  oration  upon  Lincoln. 


28        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

emancipation."  No  candid  historical  student  but  will  endorse 
the  statement  that  the  current  of  public  sentiment,  following 
the  war,  and  cotemporary  with  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
was  strongly  in  favor  of  emancipation ;  abolition  societies 
were  formed  in  many  States,  at  that  period,  of  which  the  lead- 
ing statesmen  of  the  day  were  members.  The  abolition  socie- 
ty of  Pennsylvania  was  formed  in  1774,  and  enlarged  in 
1787,  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin  was  made  President,  Dr. 
Rush  and  other  very  distinguished  men  were  members. 

The  abolition  society  of  New  York  was  formed  in  1785,  of 
which  that  great  and  pure  man,  Chief  Justice  John  Jay,  was 
the  first  President,  and  the  second  was  the  statesman,  soldier 
and  financier,  Alexander  Hamilton.  Similar  societies  were 
formed  in  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Maryland,  Virginia  and 
Delaware.  Men  of  the  highest  oflicial  and  social  position  were 
prominent  and  active  members.  Memorials  and  petitions 
were  sent  by  them  to  Congress  calling  for  abolition.  Mr. 
Jackson  a  member  of  Congress  from  Georgia,  said :  "  It  is 
the  fashion  of  the  day  to  favor  the  liberty  of  the  slave."  At 
this  period  of  our  history  the  religious  sects  often  passed  reso- 
lutions denouncing  slavery,  and  Christians  almost  universally 
bore  testimony  against  it  as  .immoral  and  against  the  spirit 
of  the  teachings  of  Christ.  The  Methodist,  the  Presbyterian 
and  the  Baptist  denominations  were  especially  emphatic  in 
their  denunciations.  The  sentiment  and  conviction  against 
slavery  was  so  general  and  extended, that  it  caused  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  a  majority  of  the  old  thirteen  States;  and 
in  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of  Ken- 
tucky an  effort  was  made  to  prohibit  slavery  which  came  near 
being  a  success,  and  which  would  have  prevailed,  but  for  the 
powerful  influence  of  the  two  great  slaveholding  families  of 
Breckenridge  and  Nicholson.  The  head  of  the  Breckenridge 
family  at  that  time  was  the  grandfather  of  John  C.  Brecken- 
ridge, the  late  senator  from  Kentucky,  expelled  from  the 
United  States  Senate  as  a  traitor.  Upon  the  heads  of  these 
two  families,  especially,  rests  the  fearful  responsibility  of  that 
beautiful  State's  being  cursed  with  slavery. 

In  1777,  Vermont  formed  her  Constitution  which  pro- 
hibited slavery.  It  is  the  tradition  that  soon  after  the 


ABOLITION  IN  NEW  ENGLAND.  29 

revolutionary  war,  a  suit  was  brought  before  a  Vermont  Judge 
involving  the  title  to  a  negro.  The  plaintiff  produced  a  regular 
bill  of  sale  of  the  negro  to  himself,  and  rested  his  case ;  the 
Judge  then  inquired,  "  How  did  the  man  you  bought  of,  ac- 
quire title  ?"  A  regular  bill  of  sale  to  him  was  produced. 
"  But,"  said  the  Judge,  "  how  did  this  man  acquire  title  ?" 
Mr.  Attorney,  "  continued  the  Judge,  addressing  the  counsel- 
lor for  the  plaintiff,  "  nothing  will  be  regarded  as  evidence 
of  title  to  a  man  by  this  court,  but  a  bill  of  sale  from  Almighty 
God.  Unless  you  can  procure  that  your  case  will  be 
dismissed." 

It  was  judicially  settled  in  Massachusetts,  that  slavery 
could  not  exist  under  the  Constitution  of  1780,  which  declared 
"  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal."  Indeed  as  early  as  1770, 
a  case  was  made  up  by  the  negroes  to  test  the  legality  of 
slavery — and  they  obtained  a  decision  in  favor  of  freedom. 
Various  cases  were  tried  in  the  courts  of  that  State, and  the 
decisions  were  uniformly  against  the  validity  of  holding 
persons  as  slaves. 

Chief  Justice  Shaw  suggests  that  slavery  may  have  been 
abolished  in  Massachusetts  by  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. However  that  may  be,  he  says  it  was  clearly  abolished 
by  the  first  article  of  her  declaration  of  rights,  viz :  "  all  men 
are  born  free  and  equal,  and  have  certain  natural  and  essen- 
tial rights — which  are  the  rights  of  enjoying  and  defending 
their  lives  and  liberties ;  that  of  acquiring,  possessing  and 
protecting  property."  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that  it  had 
been  decided  in  Massachusetts,  two  years  before  the  Sum- 
merset case,  that  slaves  could  not  exist  in  that  State.  The 
decision  was  placed  upon  the  same  grounds  upon  which  Lord 
Mansfield  discharged  Summerset. 

In  New  Hampshire,  slavery  was  abolished  by  the  declara- 
tion of  rights  in  1784.  Rhode  Island,  provided  by  law  that  all 
persons  born  in  that  State  after  March,  1784,  should  be  free. 
Connecticut,  in  1784,  passed  a  law  for  gradual  abolition. 
Pennsylvania,  in  1780,  passed  a  law  for  gradual  emancipa- 
tion. In  1799,  New  York  adopted  measures  for  gradual 
emancipation,  and  New  Jersey  in  1804. 


80        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Slavery  was  thus  rapidly  disappearing.  Peaceful  agencies 
would  have  soon  made  the  republic  all  free,  and  saved  us 
from  the  late  terrible  war  of  the  slaveholders,  but  for  the 
introduction  of  new  elements.  The  most  important  of  these 
was  the  invention  by  Whitney,  of  the  cotton-gin,  and  the 
vast  addition  of  new  and  virgin  territory  adapted  to  the 
growth  of  cotton  by  negro  labor.  The  immediate  and 
enormous  profits  of  cotton  growing  gave  a  power  to  slavery 
never  before  felt.  Then  immediately  arose  a  gigantic  pecu- 
niary interest  which  found  its  gains  in  slavery.  A  powerful 
cotton  and  slave  aristocracy  soon  grew  up,  which  in  its  ar- 
rogance, in  progress  of  time  proclaimed  that  "  cotton  is 
king."  An  immense  property  interest  invested  in  the  pro- 
duction of  cotton,  owning  lands  and  negroes,  was  organized 
at  the  South,  and  soon  there  arose  in  sympathy  to  some  ex- 
tent with  it,  a  powerful  cotton  manufacturing  interest  at  the 
North,  and  these  two  were  interwoven  into  the  web  of  the 
slave  power.  It  has  been  said  that  when  Jay  negotiated 
what  is  called  "  Jay's  treaty,"  with  England  in  1794,  he  did 
not  know  that  cotton  was  an  article  of  export,  so  srnaJi  was 
then  the  quantity  of  this  staple  product. 

The  slaveholders,  relatively  few  in  number,  now  united  and 
became  a  compact,  active,  determined,  overbearing,  despotic, 
unscrupulous  power.  They  became  skilful  politicians.  They 
subsidised  by  money,  and  secured  in  their  interests  by  the 
rewards  of  official  position,  many  of  the  ablest  and  most 
talented  men  of  the  country.  The  free  States,  and  especially 
the  honest,  liberty  loving  masses  of  the  people,  absorbed  in 
material  pursuits,  engrossed  in  the  labor  of  subduing  the 
forests  and  reclaiming  a  continent;  in  building  towns,  cities, 
schools,  churches,  colleges,  canals  and  railways,  were  kept 
divided,  and  were  ruled  by  the  adroit  and  skilful  politicians 
of  the  slave  States. 

From  this  time  a  great  change,  in  the  sentiment  of  the 
people,  as  expressed  through  the  press,  in  churches,  and  in 
the  action  of  the  government  was  manifest,  until  slavery 
dominated  over  the  nation. 

The  religious  organizations,  and  the  voluntary  benevolent 
associations  soon  ceased  to  protest  and  bear  witness  against 


LOCATION  OF  THE  CAPITAL  AT  WASHINGTON.  31 

slavery,  and  many  of  them  went  so  far  as  to  give  to  the 
institution  their  countenance  and  support. 

Very  soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, the  slave 
power — vigilant  and  sagacious  for  its  security — began  to 
concentrate  and  entrench  itself.    Congress,  in  1790,  accepted 
from  North  Carolina,  the  territory  now  forming  the  State  of 
^nnessee,  upon  condition,  that  that  portion  of  the  Ordin 
'ance  of  1787,  which  secured  freedom,  should  not  be  applied 
to  it,  and  that  no  regulation  should  be  made  by  Congress, 
which  would  tend  to  emancipate  slaves.  Following  this  came 
in  1796,  the  admission  of  Tennessee  as  a  slave  State. 

The  Capital  of  the  Republic  was,  in  1790,  located  at  Wash- 
ington, in  the  District  of  Columbia,  upon  territory  ceded  for 
that  purpose  to  the  United  States  by  Maryland  and  Virginia; 
and  all  the  slave  laws  of  these  two  States  in  a  mass  were  ex- 
tended over  this  territory,  by  which  slavery  was  continued,  in 
territory  over  which  Congress  had  exclusive  jurisdiction  and  control. 
This  was  a  most  important  triumph  of  the  slave  power. 

The  Capital,  to  a  considerable  extent,  gave  tone  to  the 
national  sentiment  and  opinion.  This  location  of  the  Capi- 
tal on  slave  territory,  secured  for  slavery  the  sway  of  social 
influence  and  fashion.  The  power  of  Washington  society 
and  public  opinion  over  the  Executive,  Judicial,  and  Legis- 
lative Departments  of  the  government  is  felt  to  this  day. 
There  was  ever  in  it  down  to  the  time  of  the  advent  of  Lin- 
coln a  pro-slavery  atmosphere,  in  which  the  officials  of  the 
government  lived  and  moved  and  had  their  being.  This 
atmosphere  was  never  purified,  until  the  thunderbolt  of 
freedom  and  emancipation  came  during  the  administration 
of  Abraham  Lincoln.  This  location  of  the  Capital  gave  to 
the  aristocratic  element  the  power  of  social  ostracism,  to- 
wards the  friends  of  liberty,  which  was  used  for  years  with 
a  tyranny  and  contemptuous  pride  and  arrogance,  which 
could  only  be  found  in  an  organization  of  slaveholders  to 
uphold  slavery. 

The  fugitive  slave  law  of  1793,  was  passed  to  enable  the 
master  to  follow  the  fugitive,  seeking  freedom;  a  law  which  in 
the  light  of  to-day  would  be  held  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  a  violation  of  the  Constitution.  The 


32        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

progress  of  the  slave  power  was  manifested  by  several 
Congressional  enactments,  designed  for  its  protection. 

In  1810,  it  was  enacted  by  Congress  that  none  but  free 
white  persons  should  be  employed  in  carrying  the  mails.  It 
had  been  already  provided  that  none  but  white  persons  could 
be  naturalized,  or  serve  in  the  militia. 

In  1802,  Georgia  ceded  to  the  United  States  the  country 
lying  between  her  present  "Western  boundary,  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi, carefully  stipulating  that  the  Ordinance  of  1787, 
should  be  extended  over  it,  excepting  that  clause  which  pro- 
hibited slavery.  From  this  cession  came  the  slave  State  of 
Alabama — admitted  into  the  Union  in  1819 — and  the  State 
of  Jefferson  Davis,  Mississippi,  admitted  into  the  Union  in 
1817. 

In  1803,  the  United  States  purchased  for  fifteen  millions 
of  dollars  from  France,  the  territory  of  Louisiana,  where, 
at  that  time,  there  were  40,000  slaves. 

In  1819,  the  United  States  purchased  of  Spain,  the  territory 
of  Florida.  From  Louisiana  were  carved  three  slave  States — 
Louisiana  admitted  in  1812  —  Missouri,  in  1821,  and 
Arkansas,  in  1836.  Florida  was  admitted  in  1845.  Thus 
the  slave  power  had  secured  four  new  slave  States  from  the 
original  territory  of  the  United  States,  viz :  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee, Alabama  and  Mississippi;  and  from  new  territory  pur- 
chased for  its  expansion,  it  had  secured  four  other  States, 
namely:  Louisiana,  Missouri,  Arkansas  and  Florida.  Not 
yet  content,  but  still  eager,  and  grasping  power,  the  slave- 
holders determined  to  extend  slave  territory  still  further 
South,  and  as  the  first  step,  it  resolved  that  Texas  should 
be  annexed.  The  leading  slaveholding  statesmen  now  boldly 
declared  that  Texas  would  make  slavery  secure,  "  it  will 
give  a  Gibralter  to  slavery,"  said  one  of  them.  The  slave 
power  pursued  its  purpose  with  sagacity  and  vigor,  striking 
down  and  politically  sacrificing  every  statesman  who  opposed 
its  demands ;  especially  all  who  threw  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  this  measure,  which  they  regarded  as  vital  to  slavery. 

Martin  Van  Buren,  Thomas  H.  Benton,and  Silas  Wright, 
were  among  the  more  prominent  victims  sacrificed  by  the 
slaveholders  because  of  their  opposition  to  this  scheme.  It 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE.  33 

was  finally  accomplished  by  Calhoun  and  Tyler,  in  1845,  by 
joint  resolution  of  both  houses  of  Congress.  Thus  slavery 
had  secured  nine  slave  States  and  eighteen  Senators,to  pro- 
tect the  institution  in  what  was  called  the  great  citadel  of 
its  power,  the  United  States  Senate. 

The  free  States  saw  these  vast  accessions  of  political 
power  in  the  hands  of  slaveholders,  with  uneasiness,  and 
murmurs  loud  and  deep  began  to  be  heard,  but  the  cotton 
growing  and  manufacturing  aristocracy  rebuked  these  mur- 
murs, and  cried,  peace,  peace,  to  those  who  agitated  for 
freedom.  They  seemed  willing  that  the  statesmen  of  the 
slave  States  should  rule  the  country,  if  they  might  go  on 
uninterrupted  in  their  gains. 

A  most  vigorous  and  determined  effort  was  made  to  resist 
the  encroachments  of  the  slave  power,  when  the  attempt  was 
made  to  admit  Missouri  as  a  slave  State.  The  contest  over 
this  question  continued  from  1819,  to  1821,  and  was  finally 
settled  by  what  has  been  since  known  as  the  Missouri  com- 
promise, which  was,  that  Missouri  should  be  admitted  into 
the  Union  as  a  slave  State,  without  restriction,  and  that  all 
territory  North  and  West  of  Missouri,  above  latitude  36° 
30"  should  be  forever  free. 

The  admission  of  this  State  was,  on  many  accounts,  a 
great  epoch  in  the  struggle  between  freedom  and  slavery. 
Both  parties  on  this  occasion  put  forth  all  their  strength. 
Both  were  aroused  to  the  inherent  antagonism  between  each 
other.  The  contest  was  terminated  by  a  victory  of  the  slave- 
holders, and  by  a  compromise  long  considered  binding  on 
both  sections.  A  compromise  which  Douglas  himself  de- 
clared to  be  a  sacred  thing  which  no  "  ruthless  hand  would 
ever  be  reckless  enough  to  disturb." 

The  importance  of  Missouri  was  not  fully  appreciated  by 
the  free  States  at  that  time.  If  Missouri  had  been  introduced 
as  a  free  State  it  would  have  been  decisive  of  the  controversy, 
and  might  have  saved  the  republic  from  a  long  and  bitter 
controversy — perhaps  from  the  great  civil  war. 

As  a  free  State,  Missouri  would  have  been  the  centre  of 
colonization  from  which  free  labor  would  have  passed  along 
the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri  and  the  Arkansas, 
3 


34        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

to  the  "West,  and  to  Northern  Texas.  As  a  slave  State  it 
crowded  off  the  current  of  free  labor  to  the  Northwest.  By 
this  success  the  slaveholders  secured  the  most  commanding 
position  in  Central  America,  and  prolonged  the  power  of 
slavery  for  forty  years.  From  that  time  until  1860,  the  con- 
trol of  slavery  over  the  Federal  Government  was  paramount. 
Free  labor  triumphed  in  California,  and  in  Kansas,  but  by 
no  aid  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  against  its  active 
influence. 

From  the  Missouri  struggle  down  to  the  Mexican  war,  the 
control  of  the  slave  power  in  the  Federal  Government  was 
decided.  The  slaveholders  always  possessed  a  great  advantage 
in  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  gave  them  represen- 
tation for  their  slaves.  Under  this  clause  a  slaveholder  own- 
ing five  thousand  slaves  had  a  power  in  Congress,  and  in  the 
electoral  Colleges  for  President  and  Vice  President,  equal  to 
that  of  three  thousand  freemen.  Practically  his  power  was 
far  greater,  because  the  slaveholders,  few  in  number,  bound 
together  by  a  common  interest,  were  ever  a  compact,  vigil- 
ant, and  sagacious  body.  Thus  there  grew  up  substantially, 
an  order  of  nobility,  an  aristocracy  of  slaveholders  at  the 
South.  The  intellect  of  that"  portion  of  the  Union  was  ab- 
sorbed in  politics,  while  in  the  free  States  it  was  engaged  in 
all  the  varied  pursuits  of  civilization.  The  mind  of  the  free 
States  was  active  in  inventing  labor-saving  machinery;  ii, 
produced  the  steam-engine,  the  cotton-gin;  the  electric  tele- 
graph ;  the  reaping  machine ;  it  was  opening  canals ;  con- 
structing railways;,  rivalling  the  world  in  ship  building; 
creating  a  National  literature ;  schools  of  painting  and  sculp- 
ture; and  competing  successfully  with  Europe  in  mechanism, 
in  the  products  of  skillful  labor,  in  learning,  science  and  the 
fine  arts.  The  slave  States,  although  in  a  minority,  largely 
monopolized  the  offices  of  power,  profit,  and  influence  under 
the  government.  They  selected  their  ablest  men,  and 
trained  them  for,  and  kept  them  permanently  in  public 
life ;  while  at  the  North  a  principle  of  rotation  in  office,  kept 
many  of  its  ablest  men  out  of  public  life,  and  those  who  en- 
tered,held  office  for  so  short  a  period,  that  their  ability  to 


ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS.  35 

direct  and  govern,  to  make  and  administer  the  laws  of  the 
land,  was  greatly  lessened. 

Thus  the  slave  power,  ever  watchful,  a  unit,  grasping 
power,  seized  and  held  the  reins  of  government. 

The  Capital  of  the  Republic  under  these  influences  became 
a  great  slave  mart.  The  old  Commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
with  her  stern  republican  motto,  "Sic  semper  tyrannis,"  sought 
wealth,  and  found  poverty,  and  barbarism,  in  breeding 
slaves  for  sale  to  the  cotton  States  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  whole  power,  moral,  political,  and  physical  of  the  gov- 
ernment, was  wielded  to  uphold  and  maintain  slavery. 
The  Federal  Government  interfered  to  prevent  emancipa- 
tion in  Cuba.  It  refused  down  to  1862,  to  hold  diplomatic 
intercourse  with  Hayti,  because  it  was  a  Republic  of 
emancipated  slaves. 

The  United  States  made  war  upon  the  Seminole  Indians — 
a  tribe  occupying  a  portion  of  Florida,  because  that  tribe 
furnished  refuge  and  asylum  for  escaped  slaves.  This  Semi- 
nole war  has  been  well  described  by  a  regular  officer  of  the 
United  States  Army,  as  an  extensive  slave  hunt,  in  which  the 
United  States  were  the  leaders  and  slave  hunters.  The  ro- 
mantic hero  of  that  war,  Osceola,  married  a  beautiful  woman 
with  some  African  blood  in  her  veins,  and  his  children  and 
their  mother  were  seized,  carried  off,  and  sold  as  slaves. 
The  heroic  Chief  made  a  very  gallant  fight,  but  was  most 
perfidiously,  shamelessly  entrapped  and  captured, while  hold- 
ing a  friendly  talk  under  a  flag  of  truce.  This  was  a  sample  of 
the  "chivalry"  produced  by  slavery!  Yet  such  was  the  lethargy 
on  the  subject,  that  even  such  acts  of  atrocity  did  not  arouse 
the  American  people  to  the  barbarism  of  slavery. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  slave  power,  desiring 
Texas,  annexed  and  appropriated  it.  This  was  done  while 
Mexico  was  yet  carrying  on  war  for  its  reduction.  But  all 
the  acquisitions  of  slave  territory  already  secured  were  not 
sufficient;  the  slaveholders  determined  to  acquire  additional 
territory  South,  for  the  expansion  of  their  institution.  Gov- 
ernor Wise,  of  Virginia,  announced  the  purpose  of  the  slave- 
holders in  Congress,  by  declaring  "  slavery  should  pour  itself 
abroad  and  have  no  limit  but  the  Southern  Ocean." 


36        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

This  grasping  spirit  overreached  itself,  as  will  presently 
be  seen.  At  last  it  had  aroused  the  too  long  dormant  lion 
of  freedom.  The  slaveholders,  after  exhausting  their  cun- 
ning in  seeking  to  provoke  Mexico  to  declare  war,  sent  to 
that  Republic  the  unscrupulous  and  wily  Slidell,  (late  the 
emissary  of  the  insurgents  to  Louis  Napoleon,)  to  provoke 
her  to  an  act  of  hostility.  He  too  failed,  and  the  adminis- 
tration then  marched  an  army  upon  Mexican  soil,  and  de- 
clared war  upon  Mexico.  On  the  7th  of  July,  1845,  a  pro- 
clamation was  issued  by  Commander  Sloat,  declaring  that 
"  California,  (then  a  Mexican  province,)  now  belongs  to  the 
United  States." 

The  war  against  Mexico  was  openly  proclaimed  to  be  a 
war  for  conquest.  The  United  States  wanted  California  and 
other  Mexican  territory.  Mexico  refused  to  sell;  war  was 
then  made  upon  Mexico,  weak  and  unable  to  resist,  and  the 
territory  taken.  The  gallant  and  adventurous  Fremont 
scaled  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  took  possession  of  that  land 
of  gold.  Generals  Scott  and  Taylor  marched  their  armies  at 
will  through  Mexico.  The  pro-slavery  administration  of 
President  Polk,  desiring  to  secure  by  treaty,  these  acquisi- 
tions, in  1846  asked  an  appropriation  of  two  millions  with 
which  to  negotiate  peace.  To  this  appropriation  David  Wil- 
mot,  member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania,  offered  a  pro- 
viso, known  in  history  as  the  Wilmot  proviso,  which  provided 
that  it  should  be  "  an  express  and  fundamental  condition 
in  the  acquisition  of  any  territory  from  the  Republic  of  Mex- 
ico by  the  United  States,  by  virtue  of  any  treaty  that  may  be 
negotiated,  and  to  the  use  by  the  Executive  of  the  moneys 
hereby  appropriated,  that  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude  should  ever  exist  in  any  part  of  said  territory,  ex- 
cept for  crime,  whereof  the  party  should  first  be  duly  con- 
victed." This  proviso  was  adopted  by  the  House,  but  was 
not  at  that  session  of  Congress,  brought  to  a  vote  in  the 
Senate.  At  the  next  session  President  Polk  asked  an  appro- 
priation of  three  millions  for  the  same  purposes,  and  to  this 
the  Wilmot  proviso  was  again  attached  in  the  House,  by  a 
vote  of  115  ayes  to  106  noes.  The  proviso  was  rejected  by 
the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  21  ayes  to  31  noes.  The  bill  being 


DOMINATION  OP  SLAVERY.  37 

returned  to  the  House,  was  finally,  after  a  furious  struggle, 
passed  without  the  proviso. 

In  the  negotiations  which  followed,  Mexico,  sought  to 
make  it  the  condition  of  the  cession  of  territory,  that  as  it 
was  then  free,  slavery  should  be  excluded  from  all  territory 
thus  acquired.  The  United  States'  Minister  peremptorily 
refused  to  treat  on  this  basis  declaring  that  "  if  the  whole  ter- 
ritory were  offered,  increased  ten  fold  in  value,  and  covered 
a  foot  thick  with  pure  gold,  upon  the  single  condition  that 
slavery  should  be  excluded  therefrom,  he  would  not  entertain 
the  idea  for  a  moment,  nor  even  think  of  communicating  the 
proposition  to  Washington." 

Such  was  the  animus  of  the  Mexican  war,  and  such  the 
imperious  arrogance  of  slavery. 

New  Mexico,  and  upper  and  lower  California,  were  ceded 
to  the  United  States  without  restriction,  and  the  slaveholders 
were  now  exultant.  They  now  believed  in  the  indefinite  ex- 
tension of  the  slave  empire.  But  the  days  of  their  supremacy 
were  drawing  to  an  end ;  there  is  a  Divinity  that  shapes  and 
moulds  the  destinies  of  nations,  however  men  may  craftily 
plan  and  arrange  them. 

It  was  in  1847,  during  the  Mexican  war,  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  served  for  a  single  term  in  Congress.  He  took  his 
position  at  once  among  the  anti-slavery  members,  and  voted 
as  he  afterwards  said,  at  least  forty  times  for  the  "Wilmot 
proviso. 

The  future  great  leader  of  emancipation  introduced  a  bill 
to  emancipate  slaves  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  "irrepressible  conflict,"  and  the  aggressions  of  the  slave 
power  have  thus  been  briefly  sketched. 

That  power  had  by  its  control  of  the  Federal  Government, 
purchased  and  conquered,  annexed  and  acquired,  more  ter- 
ritory for  slavery  than  that  embraced  in  all  the  thirteen  orig- 
inal States.  It  had  made  war  and  peace  in  its  own  interests. 
It  had  controlled  all  parties.  It  had  dictated  to  each  the 
selection  of  its  Presidential  candidates,  and  it  had  carefully 
and  stealthily  strengthened  itself  in  the  Federal  Judiciary. 
Fealty  to  slavery  was  a  condition  to  all  appointments  under 


38        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

the  Government.  Bold,  honest,  outspoken  fidelity  to  freedom 
was  fatal  to  political  ambition. 

But  these  aggressions  had  aroused  the  attention  and  awak- 
ened the  indignation  of  the  free  States.  A  few  zealous  and 
determined  men  called  at  Philadelphia,  in  December,  1833,  a 
National  Anti-Slavery  Convention.  It  was  attended  by 
sixty  delegates  from  ten  States.  This  convention  organized 
the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society.  This  was  the  acorn  germ 
of  that  oak,  the  branches  of  which,  in  1860,  overshadowed 
the  land.  This  and  other  kindred  associations,  were  the  be- 
ginning of  the  organization  which  twenty-seven  years  there- 
after, effectively  aided  in  the  election  of  the  Illinois  back- 
woods democrat  to  the  Presidency.  Lundy,  Garrison,  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  Owen  Lovejoy,  Gerrit  Smith,  Dr.  Channing, 
John  Quincy  Adams,  J.  R.  Giddings,  Henry  Ward  Beeche'r, 
Cassius  M.  Clay,  were  among  the  pioneers  of  those,  who, 
differing  as  to  means  and  views,  yet  in  various  ways  sought 
to  arouse  the  public  mind  to  the  dangerous  encroachments 
and  enormities  of  the  slave  power. 

Among  the  most  worthy,  persistent,  and  distinguished  of 
these  founders  of  the  anti-slavery  organization,  was  William 
Lloyd  Garrison.  His  name  should  be  forever  associated  with 
the  emancipation  of  the  slave.  His  life  has  been  devoted 
with  unselfish  singleness  of  purpose  to  this  great  object. 
Consecrating  himself  to  this  grand  aim  he  lived  to  see  it 
triumph.  For  more  than  forty  years,through  poverty,  per- 
secution and  indignity,  he  gave  his  pen  and  his  voice  with 
great  intellectual  and  high  moral  power  to  pleading  the  cause 
of  the  poor,  down-trodden,  despised  African.  When  the 
morning  of  final  triumph  dawned,  he  visited  President  Lin- 
coln at  the  White  House, to  thank  him  for  the  proclamation  of 
emancipation,and  himself  received  from  the  lips  of  that  great 
man, the  thanks  of  humanity  as  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the 
great  work  of  emancipation. 

The  anti-slavery  men  and  abolitionists, frequently  encoun- 
tered mobs  and  personal  violence.  Their  printing  presses 
were  destroyed,  and  they  themselves  persecuted  like  the  early 
Christians.  The  newspaper  press  of  Rev.  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy 
was  destroyed  at  Alton,  Illinois,  and  he  was  murdered 


PERSECUTION  OF  THE  ABOLITIONISTS.  39 

because  he  firmly  persisted  in  discussing  slavery.  This  was  in 
1835,  and  he  was  the  first  martyr  in  the  contest  for  liberty 
and  a  free  press.  Pennsylvania  Hall,  erected  for  free  discus- 
sion, was  burned  by  a  mob  because  abolitionists  were  allowed 
to  hold  meetings  there.  At  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  a  mob  destroyed 
for  the  third  time  the  printing  press  of  an  anti-slavery  paper. 
Large  pecuniary  rewards  were  offered  by  Governors  of  slave 
States  for  the  persons  of  prominent  men  in  the  free  States, 
because  of  their  opposition  to  slavery. 

Governor  Wise  of  Virginia  said,  "the  best  way  to  meet 
abolitionists  is  with  powder  and  cold  steel."  He  has  been 
a  leader  among  those  who  tried  the  experiment.  Yerily  he 
sowed  the  "  wind, and  has  reaped  the  whirlwind."  The  house 
of  this  proud  aristocrat  has,  during  the.  war,  been  used  as  a 
school  house  for  negro  children,  taught  ty  a  New  England 
abolitionist.  Governor  McDufiie,  of  South  Carolina,  recom- 
mended that  abolitionists  be  punished  with  death  without 
benefit  of  clergy.  Under  the  administration  of  Amos  Ken- 
dall, the  United  States  mails  were  violated  to  suppress  the 
circulation  of  anti-slavery  documents.  Fruitless  efforts  were 
made  in  New  York,  and  in  the  legislatures  of  several  of  the 
other  free  States, to  suppress  by  penal  enactments,  freedom 
of  speech  and  of  the  press  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  These 
efforts  failed,  and  seemed  only  to  increase  the  numbers  and 
stimulate  the  zeal  of  the  friends  of  freedom.  Neither  mob 
violence,  nor  threats  of  legal  penalties  could  silence  the  elo- 
quent voices,  nor  stop  the  pens  of  the  advocates  of  liberty. 
The  abolitionists  flooded  Congress  with  petitions  praying  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery  at  the  National  Capital.  These  were 
suppressed  by  what  was  known  as  "gag  rules,"  by  which  it 
was  declared  that  petitions  on  the  subject  of  slavery  should 
neither  be  received,  read,  nor  considered  by  Congress.  The 
right  of  petition  on  this  subject  was  suppressed  in  the 
American  Congress  from  1836  to  1845. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was  probably  the  most  cultivated  and 
best  trained  statesman  our  country  has  produced;  educated 
by  his  father  with  express  reference  to  public  life,  he  enjoyed 
the  best  advantages  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  had  the 
benefit  of  association  with  the  best  intellects  of  Europe  and 


40      •  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

America.  His  memory  was  wonderfully  ready  and  retentive, 
and  he  contined  to  grow  in  intellect  even  to  advanced  years , 
and  well  deserved  the  name  of  "  the  old  man  eloquent." 
With  all  the  courage  and  persistence  with  which  his  noble 
father  had  advocated  Independence,  he  advocated  the  right 
of  petition.  Commencing  in  Congress  almost  alone,  he 
bravely  withstood  the  violence  and  denunciation,  the  threats 
and  insults  of  the  slaveholders,  until  gradually  he  aroused 
the  people  and  they  rallied  to  his  aid.  District  after  district 
gradually  sent  champions  to  his  side,  until  finally,  in  1845, 
the  obnoxious  gag  rules  were  abolished  and  the  right  of  peti- 
tion vindicated.  He,not  only  by  his  eloquence,  courage  and 
persistence,triumphed  and  secured  the  right  of  petition  in 
Congress,  but  introduced  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution 
abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  United  States.  This  pro- 
position he  submitted  on  the  25th  of  February,  1839.  The 
institution  was  then  far  too  powerful  to  be  even  shaken  by 
the  efforts  of  any  man,  however  great.  It  was  suffered  by 
Providence  to  go  on  in  its  course  of  aggression  and  imperious 
power,until  it  should  dig  its  own  grave  and  die  a  suicide  by 
the  very  means  by  which  it  undertook  to  overthrow  the 
Government. 

In  1835,  South  Carolina  enacted  a  law  providing  that  co- 
lored persons  coming  into  her  ports,  should  be  imprisoned 
during  the  stay  of  the  vessel  in  which  they  came.  Many 
colored  citizens  of  Massachusetts  were  thrown  into  prison 
under  the  provisions  of  this  law.  The  validity  of  which  law 
and  the  legality  of  such  imprisonment,  Massachusetts  denied, 
and  the  Governor  of  that  Commonwealth  commissioned  a 
venerable  citizen,  Judge  Hoar,  to  go  to  South  Carolina, 
investigate  the  facts  and  institute  suits  in  the  Federal  Courts 
to  test  the  validity  of  this  statute.  Judge  Hoar  was  igno- 
miniously  expelled  the  State,  by  a  mob,  countenanced  by  the 
authorities  of  the  State.  "While  in  the  free  States  the  out- 
rages and  violence  of  mobs,  and  the  various  persecutions  to 
which  the  anti-slavery  men  were  subjected,  served  only  to 
add  to  their  strength,  and  encourage  their  rapid  increase;  in 
the  slave  states,  liberty  of  the  press  and  freedom  of  speech 
on  the  subject  of  slavery  were  completely  suppressed. 


VIRGINIA  RESOLUTIONS  OF  1798.  41 

Anti-slavery  men  in  the  slave  States  could  obtain  no  redress 
for  any  outrage.  The  slaveholders  in  the  slave  States  had  prac- 
tically subverted  the  Constitution  and  established  a  despot- 
ism on  its  ruins.  The  bludgeon  and  the  bowie  knife  were 
the  ready  instruments  to  suppress  the  printing  press,  and 
silence  the  freeman's  voice.  Civil  liberty  ceased  to  exist 
'  there.  The  old  fundamental  principles  of  liberty  embodied 
in  Magna  Charta  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ceased 
to  have  practical  existence.  The  despotism  of  the  oligarchy 
was  supreme.  Neither  at  the  bar,  nor  in  the  pulpit,  neither 
from  the  newspaper,  the  stump,  nor  from  the  bench;  among 
the  people,  before  the  courts,  nor  in  the  legislative  halls,was 
the  voice  of  liberty  secured  by  law,  permitted  to  be  heard. 
Negroes,  fugitives  from  slavery,  were  scourged,  whipped, and 
in  some  cases  burned  to  death.  The  literature  of  the  English 
language,  school  books,  and  books  upon  religion,  litera- 
ture and  painting,  were  expurgated,  and  the  generous,  manly, 
eloquent  utterances  of  liberty,  stricken  from  their  pages. 
Such  was  the  dark  despotism  which  settled  over  the  land  of 
Jefferson  and  Washington.  It  was  against  such  a  power, 
represented  by  an  aristocracy  of  slaveholders,  many  of  whom 
were  vulgar,  gross,  licentious,  boasting,  cruel  and  treacher- 
ous, that  the  free  spirit  of  the  North  now  rose  and  grappled. 

The  slaveholders  knowing  the  devotion  of  the  free  States 
to  the  Union,  and  the  forbearance  of  the  North,  habitually 
threatened  disunion  whenever  necessary  to  carry  a  point. 

Indeed,  in  the  light  of  to-day,  it  is  clear  that  a  conspiracy 
to  dissolve  the  Union  as  soon  as  they  ceased  to  govern  it,  and 
establish  a  slaveholding  Confederacy,  had  long  existed  at  the 
South. 

The  impartial  historian  will  find  in  the  celebrated  Ken- 
tucky and  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798  and  1799,  the  germ 
of  secession  and  the  rebellion.  These  resolutions  were  com- 
municated to  the  several  State  Legislatures,  but  adopted  by 
none,  and  their  author,  Madison,  subsequently  explained  and 
repudiated  them.  They  declared  among  other  things,  that, 
the  States,  "  as  in  all  other  cases  of  compact  among  powers 
having  no  common  judge,  each  party  has  an  equal  right  to 


42        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

judge  for  itself  as  well  of  infractions  of  the  compact  as  of  the 
mode  and  means  of  redress." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  Wise,  of  Virginia,  and  Brecken- 
ridge,  of  Kentucky,  quoted  these  resolutions  in  defence  of 
their  treason.  Nor  that  Calhoun  and  Hayne  brought  them 
forward  in  1832,  as  a  precedent  for  nullification,  but  they 
were  then  crushed  by  the  inflexible  will  of  Jackson,  the  elo-' 
quence  of  Clay,  the  statesmanship  of  Edward  Livingston  and 
the  overwhelming  logic  of  "Webster. 

Notwithstanding  the  complete  and  crushing  overthrow, 
which  this  heresy  received  at  the  hands  of  Webster, 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  South  Carolina,  by  a  State 
Convention,  declared  her  withdrawal  from  the  Union,  and 
her  determination  to  proceed  to  organize  a  separate  State 
Government.  Her  Governor  announced  his  paramount  allegi- 
ance to  South  Carolina.  So  did  the  traitor  Robert  E.  Lee, 
announce  his  paramount  allegiance  to  Virginia,  and  drew  his 
sword  against  the  flag  he  had  sworn  to  defend.  South  Caro- 
lina prepared  for  an  armed  collision  with  the  National  Gov- 
ernment. She  made  the  tariff'  the  pretext  for  her  revolu- 
tionary proceedings.  Congress,  weakly,  under  the  menace 
of  impending  war,  modified  the  obnoxious  tariff",  and  the 
South  Carolinians  retraced  their  steps.  The  modification 
of  the  tariff  at  that  time,  and  under  the  circumstances,  was 
a  great  error.  President  Jackson  desired  to  vindicate  with 
arms  and  through  the  judicial  tribunals  of  his  country,  the 
supremacy  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws.  Had  this 
been  done  and  some  of  the  ringleaders  tried  and  executed 
as  Jackson  wished,  possibly  the  necessity  or  the  occasion  of 
such  vindication  through  the  late  terrible  civil  war  might 
not  have  occurred.  Jackson  sent  General  Scott  with  a 
naval  and  military  force  to  Charleston  to  maintain  the  Na- 
tional authority.  The  contrast  between  the  course  taken  by 
the  iron  Jackson  in  1832,  and  the  imbecile,  if  not  treacher- 
ous Buchanan,  in  1860,  is  as  striking  as  the  difference  in 
the  two  men. 

The  encroachments  of  the  slaveholders  and  the  subserv- 
ence  to  them  of  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties,  led  in 
1839,  to  the  formation  of  a  party  in  direct  antagonism  to 


LIBERTY  AND  FREE-SOIL  PARTIES.  43 

slavery,  called  the  abolition  party.  The  seeds  of  this  organi- 
zation had  been  scattered  by  the  writings  of  the  fathers  of 
the  revolutionary  period;  its  growth,  nurtured  by  the  per- 
secutions and  blood  of  martyrs  to  free  speech  and  a  free 
press;  its  aims  and  objects  promoted  by  the  teachings  of  Jef- 
ferson, Jay,  Channing,  John  Quincy  Adams,  William  Leggett, 
Whittier,  Horace  Mann  and  many  others.  This  small  party, 
full  'of  fiery  zeal,  and  ardour,  and  talent,  placed  itself  in 
direct  antagonism  to  the  gigantic  institution  of  slavery.  It 
boldly  grappled  with  a  power  which  at  that  time  held  and 
had  long  controlled,  the  National,  and  most  of  the  State 
Governments;  dominated  over  parties,  ruled  the  churches, 
the  press,  the  financial  and  business  interests  of  the  country. 
A  power  whose  social  influence  was  despotic,  which  held 
both  the  sword  and  the  purse  of  the  nation ;  which  filled 
every  office  from  President  to  the  village  Postmaster.  This 
small  party,  armed  with  truth  and  right,  met  this  gigantic 
despotism,  and  in  the  end  triumphed  over  it.  Although  the 
vote  which  it  polled  at  the  first  Presidential  election  at 
which  it  voted  separately,  was  but  a  few  thousands,  yet  its 
influence  upon  popular  sentiment  was  felt  and  rapidly  in- 
creased. At  the  Presidential  election  of  1840,  its  vote  had 
increased  more  than  ten-fold.  The  ability,  eloquence,  and 
genius  displayed  by  its  publications  and  the  power  of  its 
orators,  greatly  aided  by  the  encroachments,  the  cruelties, 
and  arrogance  of  the  slave  power,  prepared  the  way  for  the 
Free  Soil  party  of  1848. 

In  that  year,  the  whig  party  having  nominated  General 
Taylor  as  its  candidate,  and  the  democratic  party  having  re- 
fused to  nominate  Mr.  Van  Buren  because  of  his  opposition 
to  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  nominating  General  Cass, 
and  both  parties  refusing  to  take  position  against  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery,  the  liberty  party,  uniting  with  the  earnest 
anti-slavery  men  of  all  parties,met  at  Buffalo  in  June,  1848. 

The  whig'  convention  had  refused  to  adopt  any  platform  of 
principles  ;  it  had  refused  to  declare  itself  against  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  into  the  territories.  The  Buffalo  convention 
nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  for  President,  and  Charles 
Francis  Adams  for  Vice  President.  It  was  attended  by 


44        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

delegates  from  all  the  free  States,  and  from  Maryland,  the 
District  of  Columbia,  Delaware  and  Virginia.  Among  its  lead- 
ing members  were  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Charles  Sumner,  Benja- 
min F.  Butler,  Preston  King,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  and  many  others  scarcely  less  distinguished. 

This  memorable  convention  gave  a  great  impulse  towards 
the  final  triumph  of  freedom.  After  reciting  the  action  of 
the  democratic  and  whig  conventions,  the  convention  de- 
clared its  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  announcing  its  inde- 
pendence of  the  slave  power,  and  its  determination  to  rescue 
the  Government  from  its  control.  The  delegates  solemnly 
resolved  to  stand  on  the  National  platform  of  freedom  against 
the  sectional  platform  of  slavery — that,  while  they  dis- 
claimed the  power  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States,  that 
Congress  had  the  power  and  ought  to  exercise  it,  of  prohib- 
iting slavery  in  all  the  territories  of  the  United  States ;  that 
Congress  has  no  more  power  to  make  a  slave  than  to  make  a 
King — no  more  power  to  establish  slavery, than  to  establish 
monarchy.  To  the  demand  for  more  slave  States,  and  more 
slave  territory,  their  answer  was,  "  No  more  slave  States,and 
no  slave  territory."  The  convention  demanded  freedom, 
especially  for  Oregon,  California,and  New  Mexico. 

The  leaders  of  this  organization  embodied  ardent  enthu- 
siastic democrats,  and  liberty  loving  whigs,  filled  with  zeal 
against  slavery ;  and  mingled  with  them  were  the  personal 
friends  of  President  Van  Buren,  indignant  at,  and  deter- 
mined to  revenge  his  sacrifice  by  the  slave  power.  The  free 
soil  party  conducted  the  canvass  against  the  old  parties,with 
an  eloquence  of  the  tongue  and  pen — with  an  ability  and 
energy  never  surpassed  in  the  history  of  the  Republic.  Their 
canvass  was  the  romance  and  poetry  of  politics,  and  their 
political  creed, the  religion  of  patriotism. 

John  Van  Buren  brought  into  this  campaign  an  indignant 
personal  feeling  towards  those  who  "  done  his  father  to  death," 
and  a  fiery  e^quence,  wit,  and  sarcasm,  which  rendered  him  a 
great  popular  favorite,  and  secured  to  him  the  most  brilliant 
national  reputation.  John  P.  Hale,  Charles  Sumner,  Henry 
Wilson,  S.  P.  Chase,  Cassius  M.  Clay,  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
"William  C.  Bryant,  and  David  Wilmot,  and  many  others, 


FREEDOM  IN  CALIFORNIA.  45 

were  among  the  most  active  and  ardent  leaders  in  this  con- 
test. Although  the  ticket  carried  no  electoral  votes,  it  re- 
ceived a  very  large  popular  support,  especially  through  New 
England,  New  York,  and  the  Northwest,  and  defeated  Gen- 
eral Cass.  There  were  many  anti-slavery  whigs  who  Sup- 
ported General  Taylor  for  the  Presidency,  among  them,  the 
great  statesman  of  New  England,  Daniel  Webster,  and  the 
great  popular  leader  of  New  York,  William  H.  Seward,  and 
he  who  was  to  be  the  instrument  in  the  final  overthrow  of 
slavery,  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois.  The  great  organ  of 
public  sentiment,  the  New  York  Tribune,  also  gave  its  sup- 
port to  General  Taylor.  Meanwhile,  the  politicians,  fearing 
the  growth  of  the  great  free  soil  party,  undertook  to  settle 
the  slavery  question  by  the  compromise  measure  of  1850. 

The  Thirty-first  Congress  met  in  December,  1849.  The 
struggle  for,  and  the  resistance  to  the  extension  of  slavery 
continued  more  and  more  to  agitate  the  country.  The  United 
States  had  acquired  by  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico,  the 
immense  territory  of  upper  and  lower  California  and  New 
Mexico.  The  Wilmot  proviso,  although  it  had  twice  passed 
the  House  of  Representatives,  had  always  been  rejected  by 
the  Senate.  The  slave  power  hoped  the  great  victory  it  had 
achieved  by  this  vast  acquisition  of  territory  was  secure.  But 
the  struggle  still  continued.  Fourteen  free  States  adopted 
resolutions  protesting  against  the  enlargement  of  the  area  of 
slavery.  The  slaveholders  deprecating  the  struggle  in  Con- 
gress attempted  to  forestall  its  action  by  organizing  a  slave 
State  in  California.  Knowing  that  General  Cass  and  the 
party  that  supported  him  for  the  Presidency  in  1848,  were 
committed  to  non-intervention,  and  that  slaves  were  already 
in  California,  and  believing  they  could  organize  a  State  Con- 
stitution there,  which  would  sustain  and  secure  slavery,  emis- 
saries were  despatched  to  California  to  get  up  a  State  con- 
vention and  adopt  a  pro-slavery  Constitution.  After  the  in- 
auguration of  President  Taylor  in  1849,  Thomas  Butler  King, 
of  Georgia,  a  warm  advocate  of  slavery,  and  in  confidential 
relations  with  the  administration,  went  to  California  and 
urged  the  formation  of  a  State  government,  pledging  to  the 
movement  the  support  of  the  administration,  and  urging  the 


46        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

measure  as  a  means  of  preventing  a  fearful  struggle  in  Con- 
gress on  the  slavery  question.  Mr.  King  spoke  for  the  whig 
administration,  and  Mr.  Gwynn,  of  Mississippi,  afterwards 
Senator  of  that  State,  spoke  to,  and  for,the  democracy,  urg- 
ing the  same  course.  King,  after  relating  the  history  of  the 
"Wilmot  proviso,  said :  "  "We  cannot  settle  this  question  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  we  look  to  you  to 
settle  it  by  becoming  a  State." 

The  friends  of  freedom  on  the  Eastern  side  of  the  contin- 
ent had  feeble  hopes  of  success  in  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  California;  they  rather  expected  to  be  compelled  to 
make  the  fight  in  Congress  on  the  question  of  the  admission 
of  that  territory  as  a  slave  State.  There  was  then  no  tele- 
graph spanning  the  continent,  and  the  mails  were  slow  and 
tedious  in  bringing  news  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic 
CDast.  Few  more  thrilling  items  from  that  distant  shore  were 
ever  received, than  the  intelligence  that  the  new  Constitution 
contained  the  provision  that,  "  There  shall  be  neither  slavery 
nor  involuntary  servitude,  othenoise  than  in  punishment  of  crime 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted"  It  was  the 
death  knell  of  slavery.  The  miners,  the  laborers  of  California, 
would  not  tolerate  the  competition  of  the  aristocratic  slave- 
holder with  his  gang  of  slaves,  and  uniting  with  those  who  op- 
posed slavery  from  moral  principle,  they  triumphed  over  the 
advocates  of  slavery  and  secured  the  adoption  of  this  Constitu- 
tion by  the  people,  and  the  new  State  with  her  Constitution  se- 
curing freedom  for  all,  presented  herself  at  the  Capital  for  ad- 
mission into  the  Union.  To  the  free  laborers  from  the  North, 
and  especially  the  miners  who  had  crossed  the  mountains  for 
gold,  was  this  unexpected  result  to  be  attributed. 

The  slave  power,  although  it  had  urged  the  formation  of  a 
State  government,  now  wheeled  about  and  opposed  the  ad- 
mission of  California.  Had  California  come  as  a  slave  State, 
they  would  have  welcomed  her,  but  as  a  free  State,  she 
should  not  come  in  if  they  could  prevent  it. 

After  long  debate,  Mr.  Clay  reported  a  series  of  measures 
known  as  the  Compromise  Measures  of  1850.  These 
measures  were  in  substance  : 


COMPROMISE  OF  EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY.  47 

1.  The  admission  of  California  as  a  free  State  under  her 
Constitution. 

2.  The  establishment  of  Territorial  governments  for  New 
Mexico  and  Utah,  without  the  Wilmot  proviso  excluding 
slavery,  and  providing  for  their  admission  as  States  into  the 
Union  with  or  without  slavery  as  the  people  should  decide. 

3.  The  recognition  of  the  claim  of  Texas  to  near  90,000 
square  miles  of  free  soil  situated  above  the  line  of  36°  30" ;  and 
the  payment  to  Te^as  of  ten  millions  for  her  relinquishment 
of  New  Mexico. 

4.  The  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

5.  A  new  and  stringent  fugitive  slave  law,  drawn  by 
Mason  of  Virginia,  avowedly  to  humiliate  the  free  States,  and 
by  which  all  the  defences  of  personal  liberty  on  behalf  of 
the  accused  were  effectually  destroyed. 

These  measures  were  finally  forced  through  Congress, and 
the  leading  politicians  of  both  the  great  parties  declared  this 
should  be  a  finality,  and  they  drew  up  a  paper  and  signed  it, 
pledging  each  other  to  oppose  any  man  who  would  not  regard 
them  as  such.  The  great  Senatorial  leaders  thought  now, 
that  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  was  forever  silenced, 
forgetting  that  the  voice  of  justice  and  liberty  cannot  be 
silenced. 


OHAPTEE   II. 


REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE  AND  THE  STRUGGLE  FOR 

KANSAS. 

THE  THIRTY-THIRD  CONGRESS — DOUGLAS  INTRODUCES  THE  KANSAS- 
NEBRASKA  BILL — DEBATE  UPON  IT  IN  THE  SENATE  —  DOUGLAS 
— CHASE — SEWARD — SUMNER — TOOMBS — MASON — HUNTER — 
SLIDELL — HOUSTON  —  PASSAGE  OP  THE  BILL — STRUGGLE  OVER 
ITS  PASSAGE  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES — BENTON — 
RICHARDSON — CAMPBELL — WASHBURNE — STEPHENS  OF  GEORGIA 
—  PASSAGE  OF  THE  BILL  THROUGH  THE  HOUSE  —  STRUGGLE 
BETWEEN  FREE  AND  SLAVE  STATE  MEN  FOR  KANSAS — GENERAL 
ATCHISON  —  JOHN  BROWN — LANE  AND  ROBINSON. 

AS  in  the  territory  out  of  which  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
were  to  be  organized,  slavery  had  been,  by  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise,  solemnly  prohibited  forever ;  thus  far, 
in  all  the  violence  of  the  conflict  between  free  and  slave 
labor,  no  hand  had  been  "ruthless"  enough  to  attack  what 
was  regarded  as  a  sacred  compact. 

But  the  contest  became  more  and  more  bitter.  The  Thirty- 
third  Congress  convened  December,  1853,  and  its  action  so 
powerfully  aiFected  the  anti-slavery  agitation,  by  the  struggle 
over  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  restriction,  that  it  becomes  a 
point  of  departure  in  the  anti-slavery  history  of  the  country. 
The  action  of  this  Congress  secured  the  early  triumph  of  the 
anti-slavery,  or  republican  party.  When  Senator  Douglas, 
as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Territories,  in  the  bill  or- 
ganizing territories,  introduced  a  section,  repealing  the  pro- 
hibition of  slavery,  it  startled  the  people  of  the  free  States, 

NOTE. —  I  am  indebted  to  the  personal  recollections  of  my  late  colleague,  Hon. 
E.  B.  Washburne,  for  much  of  the  material  and  language  of  the  sketch  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise. 

48 


THIRTY-THIRD    CONGRESS  49 

like  a  clap  of  thunder  in  a  clear  sky.  Designed  to  extend 
and  strengthen  slavery,  it  was  a  powerful  blow  towards  its 
destruction.  The  struggle  in  Congress,  over  this  question, 
was  so  important,  that  it  is  given  with  such  fullness  of  detail 
as  will  illustrate  the  fierceness  of  the  conflict  and  the  irresistible 
power  of  slavery  at  that  time. 

The  Presidential  election,  in  1852,  resulting  in  the  election 
of  Franklin  Pierce,  practically  put  an  end  to  the  old  whig 
party.  The  celebrated  compromise  measures  of  1850,  already 
spoken  of,  were  fully  endorsed  by  that  election,  in  his  eleva- 
tion to  the  Presidency.  General  Scott,  who  ran  as  the  whig 
candidate,  only  received  the  votes  of  "four  States.  It  was 
then  said,  boastingly  and  sneeringly,  that  the  slavery  question 
was  forever  settled,  and  that  the  abolitionists  and  agitators 
were  crushed.  The  institution,  to  the  shame  of  the  people, 
received  at  that  election,  a  very  full  and  complete  recogni- 
tion. The  chivalry  of  the  South,  living  by  the  sweat  of  un- 
paid toil,  pampered  by  pride  and  lust,  brought  to  their  sup- 
port all  that  was  low,  venal  and  cowardly,  as  well  as  much 
of  a  higher,  but  timid  character. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Thirty-third  Congress,  December  5, 
1853,  there  were  in  the  Senate  fifty-eight  members ;  some 
thirty -eight  democrats,  seventeen  whigs,  only  three  free 
soilers,  ( Sumner,  Chase  and  Hale,)  and  some  four  vacancies. 
Among  the  prominent  whig  senators,  were  Foote,  of  Vermont, 
Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  Seward  and  Fish,  of  JSTew  York, 
"Wade,  of  Ohio,  Toombs,  of  Georgia,  John  Bell  and  Governor 
Jones,  of  Tennessee,  Badger,  of  North  Carolina,  Judah  P. 
Benjamin,  of  Louisiana,  John  M.  Clayton,  of  Delaware. 
Among  the  democrats,  there  were  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of 
Maine,  Mason  and  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  Clay,  of  Alabama, 
Slidell,  of  Louisiana,  Bright  and  Pettit,  of  Indiana,  Douglas 
and  Shields,  of  Illinois,  Cass,  of  Michigan,  Mallory,  of 
Florida,  Rusk  and  Houston,  of  Texas,  Butler,  of  South 
Carolina,  and  Gwin,  of  California.  In  the  House,  out 
of  two  hundred  and  thirty -three  members,  one  hundred 
and  fifty -nine  were  democrats,  and  seventy -four  whigs. 
From  New  England,  there  were  but  few  members  of  any 
very  great  distinction.  "Washburne,  of  Maine,  was  serving 
4 


50        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

his  second  term  as  a  whig,  and  Banks  came  in.  for  the  first 
time,  as  a  democrat  from  Massachusetts.  From  New  York, 
there  was  Cutting,  a  man  of  ability,  a  democrat;  Haven,  a 
whig,  of  the  "Fillmore"  school,  and  Feuton,  a  democrat, 
now  the  Union  Governor  of  New  York.  Illinois  sent 
Douglas  and  Shields  to  the  Senate.  Among  the  members 
of  the  House  were  William  II.  Bissell,  Richard  Yates,  and 
ElihuB.Washburne;  the  two  first  have  since  been  Governors. 
From  Missouri,  the  great  Ben  ton,  after  thirty  years  of  service 
in  the  Senate,  came  into  the  House  to  give  the  country  the 
benefit  of  his  long  experience  and  profound  statesmanship. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1854,  Mr.  Douglas  introduced  into 
the  Senate,  what  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska-bill,  accompanied  by  a  special  report.  On  the 
16th  day  of  January,  Mr.  Dixon,  a  Senator  from  Kentucky, 
gave  notice  that  he  would  offer  an  amendment  to  Mr.  Doug- 
las'  bill,  repealing,  in  distinct  terms,  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise. On  the  next  day,  Mr.  Sumner  gave  notice  of  an 
amendment  he  would  offer  to  the  bill  of  Mr.  Douglas,  de- 
claring that  nothing  in  the  proposed  act  should  affect  the 
Missouri  Compromise.  On  the  23d  of  January,  Mr.  Douglas 
reported  a  substitute  for  the  9riginal  bill,  making,  instead 
of  Nebraska  Territory,  the  two  Territories  of  Nebraska  and 
Kansas.  And,  he  added  to  this  substitute,  an  amendment  to 
that  pact  of  it  declaring  that  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States,  which  were  not  locally  inapplicable,  should 
be  in  full  force,  with  the  following  exception,  which  exception 
involved  more  stupendous  consequences  than  were  ever 
contained  in  any  law  of  as  many  lines : 

"  Except  the  eighth  section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the 
admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  approved  March  6, 
1820,  which  was  superceded  by  the  principles  of  the  legisla- 
tion of  1850,  commonly  called  the  Compromise  Measures,  and 
is- declared  inoperative." 

This  proposition  startled  the  Senate  and  the  people.  It 
broke  down  the  barriers  which,  by  a  sacred  compact,  had 


DOUGLAS.  51 

been  erected  against  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  the  waves 
of  popular  indignation  were  lashed  into  fury;  and  the  excite- 
ment continued  until  it  pervaded  all  the  land. 

The  consideration  of  the  bill  was  postponed  by  the  Senate 
from  the  24th  to  the  30th  of  January,  and  made  a  special 
order.  During  that  time,  an  address  was  issued  to  the  peo- 
ple, warning  them  of  the  proposed  legislation,  and  criticising 
with  great  force  and  severity  the  provisions  of  Mr.  Douglas' 
bill.  This  address  was  signed  by  Senators  Chase  and  Sum- 
ner,  by  Giddings  and  "Wade,  Representatives  from  Ohio,  by 
Gerrit  Smith,  a  Representative  from  New  York,  and 
Alex.  DeWitt,  a  Representative  from  the  Commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts. 

The  bill,  coming  up  in  the  Senate,  according  to  order,  the 
discussion  was  opened  by  a  speech  from  Mr.  Douglas.  At 
this  time,  this  Illinois  Senator  was  the  idol  of  his  party  and 
in  the  zenith  of  his  popularity,  as  well  as  in  the  prime  of  his 
physical  and  intellectual  power.  He  was  a  man  of  an  iron 
constitution  and  a  strong  and  acute  intellect.  Possessed  of 
a  wonderful  memory,  without  being  a  scholar,  his  mind  was 
well  stored  with  practical  and  accurate  information.  He 
never  forgot  anything  he  had  ever  read,  or  seen,  or  heard ; 
and  he  had  that  happy  faculty  of  a  politician,  of  always  re- 
membering names  and  faces.  His  resources  were  always  at 
his  command,  and  he  needed  little  preparation.  Of  a  kind 
and  genial  disposition,  with  a  frank,  open,  and  cordial  man- 
ner, endowed  with  remarkable  conversational  powers,  bold, 
dashing,  and  somewhat  reckless,  he  had  all  the  qualities 
which  go  to  make  up  a  great  popular  leader,  in  a  degree 
equal  to  any  man  of  American  history.  As  a  speaker  and 
debater,  either  in  the  Senate  or  on  the  stump,  he  had  few 
equals.  He  spoke,  always,  with  great  fluency  and  power. 
He  seized  the  strong  points  of  his  case,  and  enforced  them 
with  great  vigor.  Quick  and  ready  to  seize  the  weak  points 
of  his  antagonist,  he  would  drive  them  home  with  strong 
and  well-applied  blows,  never  being  disposed  to  yield  an  ad- 
vantage which  he  had  once  obtained.  He  brought  to  the 
accomplishment  of  his  object,  in  the  passage  of  his  bill,  hip 


52        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

vast  influence,  his  indomitable  energy  and  unyielding  de- 
termination ;  and,  in  the  pursuit  of  his  purpose,  it  could  be 
said  of  him  that  "no  danger  daunted  and  no  labors  tired.' 
His  speech  on  the  bill  was  able  and  eloquent,  but  bitter, 
defiant  and  abusive. 

'  It  is  believed  that  Mr.  Douglas  lived  to  see  the  day,  when 
he  deeply  regretted  his  action  on  the  Nebraska  bill;  and  the 
loyal  people  of  this  country,  of  all  parties,  will  not  forget, 
that  in  the  early  days  of  our  Nation's  great  trial,  without 
hesitation,  he  rallied  his  friends  around  the  flag,  and  threw  the 
weight  of  his  great  influence  on  the  side  of  the  Government, 
and  against  the  black-hearted  and  perfidious  traitors  who 
so  wickedly  sought  its  overthrow.  The  people  of  this  Nation 
owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  his  memory,for  his  patriotic  speech 
before  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  in  April,  1861,  and  at  Chi- 
cago soon  afterwards.  Dying  in  June  thereafter,  he  left 
those  great  utterances  as  his  richest  legacies  to  posterity. 
His  ashes  repose  on  the  bank  of.  the  magnificent  Lake  which 
washes  the  northeastern  border  of  the  great  State  he  loved 
so  well.  % 

Messrs.  Seward,  Chase,  Sumner  and  Hale  led  the  opposi- 
tion to  the  bill.  On  the  3d  of  February,  Mr.  Chase  boldly 
took  up  the  gauntlet  which  Mr.  Douglas  had  so  defiantly 
thrown  down.  His  speech  was  one  of  remarkable  eloquence, 
power,  and  logic,  and  made  a  profound  impression  on  the 
country.  He  referred  to  the  peaceful  state  of  the  nation 
when  the  Congress  met,  and  before  the  introduction  of  the  bill 
of  Mr.  Douglas ;  "but  suddenly,"  said  he,  "all  was  changed. 
Rolling  thunder  broke  from  the  cloudless  firmament ;  the 
storm  burst  forth  in  fury;  warring  winds  rushed  into  con- 
flict. 

'Bums,  Notusque  nrant,  creberque  procellls, 
Africus.' 

Yes,  sir,  (creber  procellis  Africus,'  the  South  wind  thick 
with  storm.  And  now  we  find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of 
an  agitation,  the  end  and  issue  of  which  no  man  can  fore- 
see." But  the  end,  which  no  man  could  then  foresee,  has 
come,  and  the  eye  of  that  great  and  early  apostle  of  human 
liberty  now  rests  on  a  free  land,  and  he  hears  not  the  clanlr 
of  the  chains  on  the  limbs  of  a  single  slave. 


SEWARD.  53 

On  the  17th  of  February,  Seward  spoke,  as  he  always 
speaks,  ably,  temperately,  candidly  and  philosophically.  He 
saw  the  near  approach  of  that  "irrepressible  conflict"  be- 
tween the  two  opposing  powers  of  freedom  and  slavery,  which 
he  had  predicted.  His  speech  was  a  historical  review  of  the 
whole  question,  and  a  calm  and  eloquent  appeal  to  the 
majority  to  stay  its  hand.  He  spoke  of  the  uselessness  of  all 
efforts  to  stifle  the  love  of  freedom  and  hatred  of  slavery  in 
the  North.  "  You  may,"  said  he,  "drive  the  slavery  ques- 
tion out  of  these  halls  to-day,  but  it  will  revisit  them  to- 
morrow. You  buried  the  Wilmot  proviso,  here,  in  1850,  and 
celebrated  its  obsequies  with  pomp  and  revelry,  and  here  it 
is  again,  to-day,  stalking  through  these  halls,  clad  in  com- 
plete armour.  "Slavery,"  he  contended,  "is  an  eternal 
struggle  between  conservatism  and  progress,  truth  and  error, 
right  and  wrong.  You  may  sooner,  by  act  of  Congress, 
compel  the  sea  to  suppress  its  upheavings,  and  the  round 
earth  to  extinguish  its  internal  fires,  than  oblige  the  human 
mind  to  cease  its  inquirings,  and  the  human  heart  to  desist 
from  its  throbbings."  In  its  last  maddened  throes,  this  early, 
able,  and  courageous  champion  of  liberty,  was  struck  down 
by  the  assassin  hand  of  slavery,  but  has  been  spared  by  an 
overruling  Providence  to  officially  proclaim  to  his  country 
and  the  world,  that  "slavery  exists  no  more." 

On  the  24th  of  February,  Mr.  Sumner  delivered  an  ex- 
haustive and  able  speech,  and  it  was  then  a  most  singular 
and  novel  fact,  that  when  he  spoke  of  a  Northern  man  with 
Southern  principles,  and  said,  with  emphasis,  that  no  such  man 
could  speak  for  the  North,  the  report  says  he  was  interrupted 
by  "prolonged  applause  in  the  galleries." 

Northern  Senators,  in  disregard  of  the  instructions  of  the 
Legislatures  of  the  States  they  represented,  spoke  and  voted 
for  the  bill.  Toombs  spoke  with  more  than  his  accustomed 
violence  and  insolence.  "  The  Government  has  little  to  fear 
from  the  abolitionists,"  he  bawled  out,  "their  greatest 
achievements  have  been  to  raise  mobs  of  fugitives  and  free 
negroes,  and  incite  them  to  murder  and  other  crimes ;  and 
their  exploits,  generally,  end  in  the  subornation  of  perjury  to 
escape  the  criminal  courts."  This  man,  Toombs,  was  by 


54        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

nature  a  rebel  and  a  revolutionist ;  though  of  a  brutal  charac- 
ter and  a  turbulent  disposition,  he  was  a  man  of  far  more 
than  ordinary  talent.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest,  as  he  cer- 
tainly was  one  of  the  worst  men  in  the  Senate,  who  brought 
on  the  rebellion.  When  he  addressed  the  Senate,  he  spoke 
with  great  vehemence,  and  with  the  utmost  contempt  for 
those  differing  from  him.  With  a  well-compacted  person, 
black  eyes,  long,  bushy,  black  hair,  stentorian  voice  and  ve- 
hement manner,  he  did  more  than  any  other  man,  in  his 
efforts  to  break  up  the  Union ;  going  earliest  and  deepest 
into  the  rebellion,  proclaiming  himself  a  traitor  in  the  halls 
of  the  Senate  after  the  secession  of  Georgia;  he  very  soon  be- 
came more  dangerous  to  the  bogus  Confederacy  than  he  was 
to  the  cause  of  the  good  old  Union. 

The  sleek  Jew,  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  the  polite  and  wily 
man  in  black,  with  rounded  phrase,  and  smooth  and  well 
polished  sentences,  spoke  glittering  words  in  support  of  vio- 
lated faith.  There  was  not  a  more  elegant  and  accomplished 
speaker  in  the  Senate  than  he.  Words  flowed  freely  from 
his  lips,  and  they  were  as  slippery  as  oil.  Governed  by  no 
principle,  except  that  of  making  money,  he  was  utterly  un- 
scrupulous both  in  politics  and  morals.  His  colleague,  John 
Slidell,  the  ablest,  the  shrewdest,  the  most,  subtle  and  the 
most  unscrupulous,  as  well  as  the  richest  of  all  the  conspira- 
tors, spoke  but  few  words.  With  thin,  gray  hair,  red  faced, 
round  shouldered,  he  moved  quietly  about ;  distant  in  man- 
ner, as  well  as  reserved,  precise  and  elegant  in  speech. 
Mason,  of  Virginia,  author  of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  named 
by  old  Ben  Wade  "the  original  copperhead,"  long  before 
the  term  came  into  vogue  as  applied  to  a  party,  talked  in 
language  of  insult  and  contempt.  His  whole  appearance 
was  concentrated  disdain  and  hatred  of  everything  in  the  free 
States.  He  accompanied  Slidell  abroad,  and  shared  his  ad- 
ventures in  getting  there.  For  a  time  he  was  a  great  man 
in  London,  because  he  was  a  rebel  and  a  traitor  to  his  coun- 
try. He  swelled  in  the  club  houses  of  Pall  Mall,  and  drank 
denunciation  to  the  old  United  States.  Hunter,  his  colleague, 
was  cool,  able  and  phlegmatic,  dignified  in  manner,  careful 
and  respectful  in  language,  though  ultra  in  sentiment.  He  had 


HUNTER   AND    HOUSTON.  55 

been  long  in  Congress,  in  both  Houses,  and  had  been  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  In  everything  except 
the  slavery  question,  he  was  a  sound,  honest,  and  practi- 
cal legislator.  In  the  rebel  Senate,  he  was  a  tower  of 
strength  to  the  Confederacy.  "When  he  rebelled,  he  had 
large  possessions  in  lands  and  negroes  and  mills  in  the  Pen- 
insula ;  but  when  he  returned  to  his  home,  he  found  his 
negroes  fled,  his  mills  burned,  his  farms  ravaged;  and  he 
must  have  been  startled,  when  he  beheld  around  him  the 
ruin  that  had  been  wrought  while  he  was  warring  upon  the 
flag  of  his  country. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3d  day  of  March,  at  five  o'clock, 
the  bill  finally  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  37  to  14. 
Mr.  Seward,  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  said  to  his  brother 
Senators,  "The  shifting  sands  of  compromise  are  passing 
from  under  my  feet,  and  they  are  now  taking  hold  again 
on  the  Constitution."  He  said  while  he  would  not  have 
voted  for  the  compromise  of  1820,  he  would  not,  himself, 
have  disturbed  it.  "Through  all  the  darkness  and  gloom 
of  the  present  hour,"  he  continued,  "bright  stars  are  break- 
ing that  inspire  me  with  hope  and  excite  me  to  persevere. 
They  show  that  the  day  of  compromise  has  passed  forever, 
and  that  henceforth  all  great  questions  between  freedom 
and  slavery  shall  be  decided,  as  they  ought  to  be,  on 
their  merits." 

Among  the  negatives,  were  two  Southern  men,  John  Bell 
and  Sam  Houston.  The  opposition  of  Bell,  to  the  measure, 
was  weakened  by  apologies  and  trimming,  and  those  who 
knew  him  best, were  not  surprised  to  find  him  early  in  the 
rebellion,  driven  out  of  Nashville  the  second  year  of  the 
war.  Sam  Houston,  who  proved  himself  "The  noblest 
Roman  of  them  all,"  made  the  last  speech  that  was  made  in 
the  Senate  against  the  bill.  It  was  a  calm  and  temperate 
appeal  not  to  disturb  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  filled  with 
forebodings  of  evil  in  the  event  of  the  success  of  the  measure. 

In  his  peroration,  he  said  "The  proud  symbol  (pointing  to 
the  eagle)  above  your  head,  remains  enshrouded  in  black  as 
if  deploring  the  misfortune  that  has  fallen  upon  us,  or  as  a 
fearful  omen  of  future  calamities,  which  await  our  Nation  in 


56        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  event  this  bill  should  become  a  law.  Above  it,  I  behold 
the  nmjestic  figure  of  Washington,  whose  presence  must  for- 
ever inspire  patriotic  emotions,  arid  command  the  admiration 
and  love  of  every  American  heart.  By  these  associations,  I 
adjure  you  to  regard  the  contract  once  made  to  harmonize 
and  preserve  this  Union.  Maintain  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise !  Stir  not  up  agitation !  Give  us  peace !" 
"In  the  discharge  of  my  duty,  I  have  acted  fearlessly.  The 
events  of  the  future  are  left  in  the  hands  of  a  wise  Provi- 
dence, and,  in  my  opinion,  on  the  decision  which  we  make 
upon  this  question  must  depend  union  or  disunion." 

Prophetic  words  from  patriotic  lips !  Sam  Houston 
was  a  remarkable  man,  and  the  history  of  his  eventful  life  is 
stranger  than  fiction.  No  one,  who  once  saw  him,  particu- 
larly in  his  later  years,  could  ever  forgot  the  impression  his 
presence  inspired.  He  was  very  tall,  straight  as  an  arrow, 
and  of  most  symmetrical  proportions.  His  manner  was  kind 
and  cordial,  but  dignified  and  impressive.  He  was  slow  of 
speech,  but  his  conversation  was  fascinating  to  a  remarkable 
degree.  It  was  beautiful  to  behold  the  deference  and 
gentleness  with  which  this  backwoodsman  always  treated  the 
fair  sex,  therein  evincing  the  highest  instincts  of  a  natural 
gentleman. 

When  the  rebellion  broke  out,  he  was  the  Governor  of 
Texas ;  little  has  been  known  of  him  since,  except  that  he 
was  true  to  the  old  flag  to  the  last;  but  seeing  his  country 
distracted,  discordant,  belligerent,  and  drenched  in  fraternal 
blood,  he  died  of  a  broken  heart. 

The  bill  having  now  passed  the  Senate,  came  to  the  House, 
and  the  struggle  was  renewed  with  increased  violence. 

The  slave  power,  aided  by  the  administration  and  demo- 
cratic Senators  of  the  free  States,  under  the  lead  of  Douglas, 
having  forced  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  through  the  Senate, 
the  struggle  came  on  in  the  popular  branch  of  Congress. 
The  bill  came  down  to  the  House  on  the  7th  of  March,  and 
was  taken  charge  of  by  Richardson,  of  Illinois,  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Territories,  who  was  the  lieutenant  of 
Douglas  in  the  House.  On  the  21st  of  March,  there  was  a 
test  vote  on  referring  the  bill  to  the  "  Committee  of  theWhole 


CONTEST   IN   THE   HOUSE.  57 

on  the  state  of  the  Union,"  usually  regarded  as  the  receptacle 
of  dead  projects  in  legislation.  The  bill  was  referred,  by  a 
vote  of  110  to  96.  This  was  a  great  triumph  of  the  anti- 
Nebraska  men.  But  the  friends  of  the  bill  were  determined 
to  get  at  it,  in  some  way,  and  so  on  the  8th  of  May,  the 
skirmishing  commenced,  which  was  the  prelude  to  the  great 
battle  that  came  off  three  days  later.  Richardson  moved  to 
go  into  committee,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  up  the  bill,  and 
after  a  long  struggle,  the  motion  was  carried,  and  all  other 
bills  were  laid  aside  until  the  Nebraska  bill  was  reached.  On 
the  next  day,  it  was  debated.  On  the  day  after,  Richardson 
moved  a  resolution  to  close  debate,  and  resolutely  proposed 
to  put  on  the  screws  of  the  previous  question,  and  gag  the . 
measure  through.  Flushed  with  their  recent  success,  strong 
in  number's,  in  talent,  and  above  all,  in  the  righteousness  of 
their  cause,  the  anti-Nebraska  members  were  ready  and  even 
eager  for  the  contest.  Then  commenced  one  of  the  longest 
and  most  extraordinary  sittings  ever  known  in  Congressional 
annals. 

The  Nebraska  men  had  secured  a  clear  majority,  and 
evinced  a  determination  to  fight  their  bill  through,  without 
further  discussion  or  consideration.  On  the  other  hand,  its 
opponents  were  equally  determined  that  they  should  not  do 
it.  Then  began  what  is  called  in  Congressional  phrase, 
"  filibustering  "  by  all  the  dilatory  motions  known  to  parlia- 
mentary law  :  motions  to  adjourn,  to  adjourn  over,  to  lay  on 
the  table,  to  reconsider,  to  excuse  members  from  voting,  for 
a  call  of  the  House,  and  other  motions ;  upon  all  of  which, 
piled  up,  one  after  another,  the  ayes  and  noes  were  ordered, 
preventing  any  action  upon  the  question.  A  call  of  the 
House  is  ordered,  the  doors  of  the  House  are  closed,  and  no 
member  can  get  in  or  out  without  the  leave  of  the  House. 
The  sergeant-at-arms  is  sent  to  arrest  the  absent  members, 
who  are  brought  in  and  arraigned  to  give  their  excusea  to  the 
House  like  truant  school  boys.  Motions  to  excuse  r.re  made, 
followed  by  motions  to  dispense  with  further  proceedings 
under  the  call,  to  adjourn,  etc.,  etc.,  interposed  between  brief 
speeches  interjected  out  of  order,  and  amid  cries  of  "order," 
"order,"  "order."  Time  wears  on  ;  the  day  parses  and  the 


58        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

night  passes,  and  the  next  day  comes,  and  still  the  House  is 
at  a  dead  lock.  The  Nebraskaites  determined  still  to  force 
their  measure  through  before  an  adjournment,  while  the 
other  side  .is  equally  determined,  that  no  vote  shall  be  taken. 
The  members  are  tired,  sleepy,  haggard,  ill-natured,  and 
they  lounge  and  gape  during  the  incessant  calls  of  the  roll. 
On  the  second  day,  the  anti-Nebraska  men  got  fairly  or- 
ganized for  their  work,  and,  being  on  the  defensive,  were 
enabled  to  let  some  of  their  men  go  out  for  refresh- 
ment and  sleep,  while  others  stood  guard,  intrenched  be- 
hind the  defences  of  their  scores  of  motions,  piled  one 
upon  the  other.  But  the  other  side  being,  as  it  were,  the 
attacking  party,  could  not  spare  a  man.  Under  this  arrange- 
ment, Mr.  Benton  left  the  House,  and  another  call  being 
ordered,  he  was  arrested,  brought  in  and  called  up 'before  the 
Speaker  for  an  excuse.  He  said,  "It  was  neither  on  account 
of  age  nor  infirmity  that  I  was  absent,  for  I  never  felt  better. 
*  *  *  I  went  away  animus  revertendi,  intending  to  return, 
refreshed  and  invigorated,  and  take  my  share  and  sit  it  out ; 
to  tell  the  exact  truth,  to  husband  some  strength  for  a  pinch, 
when  it  should  come,  for  I  did  not  think  we  had  yet  got  to 
the  tightest  place."  Though  a  democrat,  Mr.  Benton  was 
indignant  at  the  attempt  to  violate  compacts  ;  his  sagacious 
mind  saw  the  dangers  which  would  follow  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  and  he  resisted,  with  all  the  ability  and  pluck  of  his  best 
days.  The  second  night  comes,  and  Congress  has  been  in 
session  thirty  hours.  As  an  illustration  of  the  endurance  of 
members,  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne  states,  that  during  all  this 
time,  he  was  never  out  of  the  House  but  once,  and  took  but 
one  meal, and  slept  one  hour. 

The  chandeliers  flashed  their  brilliant  lights  again  over 
the  hall.  The  clerks  were  hoarse  with  the  continued  roll 
call,  but  it  still  went  on,  each  party  resolved  not  to 
yield.  Worn  out  with  hunger,  fatigue  and  watching, 
the  members  became  more  and  more  impatient  and  restless. 
At  length  Richardson  realizes  the  full  strength  and 
determination  of  the  anti-Nebraska  men,  and  proposes 
terms  of  compromise.  The  universal  answer  was,  "No,  you 
are  too  late,  we  are  determined  you  shall  not  force  a  vote  on 


CONTEST   IN   THE   HOUSE.  59 

your  bill,  and  we  will  make  no  terms."  Many  of  the  slave- 
holders, who  had  been  out  to  stimulate  their  decaying  ener- 
gies, now  came  into  the. House,  filled  with  indignation  at 
having,  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives,  been  so  long  baulked 
in  their  object.  There  was  renewed  tumult  and  excitement. 
Then  Alex.  H.  Stephens,  (late  rebel  Vice-President,)  the  ablest 
man  on  that  side  of  the  House,  and  the  most  skilful  parlia- 
mentarian and  tactician  they  had,  sees  the  dilemma  of 
Richardson.  The  enemies  of  the  bill,  realizing  their  ad- 
vantage, became  jubilant  and  defiant.  Campbell,  of  Ohio, 
small  in  person,  but  full  of  pluck  and  spirit,  saw  the  ad- 
vantage and  was  not  disposed  to  yield  it.  As  a  sort  of 
general  colloquy  was  going  on,  Mr.  Campbell  sought  to 
make  an  inquiry,  and  was  interrupted  by  Mr.  Seward,  of 
Georgia,  saying,  "I  call  the  gentleman  to  order."  (Cries 
of  "  order,"  from  all  parts  of  the  House.) 

Mr.  Campbell,  amid  much  confusion,  said,  "I  shall  resist 
this  measure  to  the  bitter  end;  I  say  so,  never  minding 
the  gentleman  who  calls  me  to  order."  (Cries  of  order.) 
Mr.  Seward:  "There  are  other  places,  instead  of  this, 
where  personal  difficulties  may  be  settled."  (Members  here 
crowded  around  Mr.  Campbell  —  many  even  on  the  tops 
of  the  desks.) 

Thus  far  the  report  of  the  Congressional  Globe.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  in  one  of  the  aisles. 

After  throwing  defiance  at  Campbell,  the  fire-eaters  from 
all  parts  of  the  House  began  to  rush  towards  him.  It 
was  a  fearful  scene !  Edmonson,  of  Virginia,  a  man 
of  powerful  build  and  violent  temper,  now  inflamed  by 
liquor,  was  among  the  foremost  coming  up,  having  his 
hand  upon  a  bowie  knife  concealed  under  his  vest.  Bocock, 
late  Speaker  of  the  rebel  House,  an  old  member  of  Con- 
gress, and  opposed  to  violence,  interposed  between  his 
drunken  and  infuriated  colleague  and  Mr.  Campbell.  At 
this  time,  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  was  on  the  top  of  the  desk, 
determined,  at  any  rate,  to  see  what  was  going  on,  and  ready 
to  take  a  hand  in,  when  a  blow  should  be  struck.  The  surging 
crowd,  having  been  brought  to  a  momentary  stand,  the  un- 
daunted little  Campbell  again  got  the  floor. 


60       '  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  CAMPBELL — "I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  I  shall  resist  this 
measure  to  the  bitter  end  with  all  my  power." 

SPEAKER — "  The  House  .will  come  to  order.  The  sergeants 
at-arms  will  preserve  order."  (Members  still  crowding  around 
Mr.  Campbell.)  "  The  chair  calls  on  lovers  of  order  to  preserve 
order  in  the  hall." 

The  sergeant-at-arms,  with  the  Mace  of  the  House,  pro- 
ceeded to  compel  members  to  resume  their  seats  and 
preserve  order. 

SPEAKER — "Those  who  are  disorderly  and  acting  in  con- 
tempt of  the  House" — (cries  of  "down  from  the  desks.") 
Order  was  now  partially  restored. 

This  scene  finally  wound  up  by  Mr.  Richardson's  moving  to 
adjourn,  which  motion  was  carried  amid  great  applause  from 
the  anti- Nebraska  side.  And  at  twenty-seven  minutes  to  12 
o'clock  Friday  evening,  May  12th,  the  House  adjourned, 
having  been  in  continuous  session  thirty -five  hours  and 
thirty-five  minutes.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  such  a  session 
and  such  scenes  will  never  again  be  witnessed.  This  was 
the  first  square  stand  up  fight  in  the  Halls  of  Congress,  be- 
tween the  slave  power  and  dough-faces  on  one  side,  and  the 
independent  representatives  of  a  free  people  on  the  other,  in 
which  the  latter  triumphed. 

Yet  the  struggle  did  not  end  here,  but  was  destined  still 
to  go  on  with  great  bitterness. 

Mr.  Richardson,  having  failed  to  put  his  bill  through  under 
the  previous  question,  came  into  the  House  on  the  following 
Monday,  with  a  modified  proposition,  looking  to  closing 
debate  after  four  days'  discussion.  That  was  finally  adopted 
after  a  parliamentary  struggle  of  six  hours.  This  was  a 
most  turbulent  session,  and  was  characterized  by  many 
violent  scenes. 

Under  the  rules  of  the  House,  after  general  debate  on  a 
bill  has*  been  closed  in  committee,  it  is  open  to  amend- 
ment and  to  what  is  called  the  "five  minutes  debate."  Any 
member  can  offer  an  amendment,  and  speak  five  minutes 
in  support  of  it,  and  then  any  other  member,  who  can  get 
the  floor,  can  speak  five  minutes  in  reply ;  and  it  is  speci- 
ally provided  that  no  bill  can  be  reported  to  the  House  as 


CONTEST  IN  THE  HOUSE  —  STEPHENS.          61 

long  as  any  member  may  wish  to  offer  an  amendment.  It 
was  immediately  seen  by  the  friends  of  the  bill,  that  under 
this  rule,  the  discussion  might  be  continued  indefinitely  and 
never  brought  to  a  vote.  Then  the  keen  intellect  and 
shrewd  parliamentary  tactics  of  Stephens  were  again  brought 
into  requsition.  He  dug  up  an  old  rule  of  the  House,  and 
gave  it  a  new  and  plausible  construction ;  it  was  to  strike 
out  the  enacting  clause  of  the  bill  in  committee,  and  report  it  to 
the  House,  which  would  disagree  to  the  action  of  the  com- 
mittee ;  that  is,  the  committee  would  cut  the  head  off  the 
bill,  then  send  it  into  the  House,  when  the  head  would  be 
voted  on  again.  The  only  resource  was,  not  to  vote  in  com- 
mittee,and  thus  prevent  the  bill  getting  out  of  the  committee 
into  the  House  by  the  want  of  a  quorum.  But  the  Nebraska 
men  were  equal  to  the  occasion.  They  had  for  chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  the  "Whole,  the  notorious  Dr.  Olds,  of  Ohio, 
one  of  the  most  unscrupulous  men  in  the  House,  ever  ready 
to  do  the  bidding  of  the  slaveholders.  The  motion  was  for 
the  committee  to  rise  and  report  the  bill  to  the  House ;  and 
on  that  motion  only  103  members  voted,  it  taking  119  for  a 
quorum.  The  vote,  therefore,  amounted  to  nothing.  But 
what  was  the  astonishment  to  hear  Olds  declare  the  motion 
carried,  and  see  him  stalk  hastily  down  from  the  Speaker's 
chair  amid  loud  and  vociferous  cries  of  "no  quorum!  no 
quorum  !"  But  that  did  not  deter  him  from  making  a  false 
report  to  the  Speaker.  And  when  the  question  of  order  was 
raised  before  the  Speaker,  that  no  quorum  had  voted  in  com- 
mittee to  report  the  bill  to  the  House,  he  coolly  replied 
"  that  the  Speaker  could  not  take  cognizance  of  what  was 
done  in  committee." 

And  then  commenced  the  long  and  desperate  struggle 
over  the  final  passage  of  the  bill.  The  friends  of  the  measure 
had  comforted  themselves  with  a  resolute  and  unswerving 
majority;  but  yet,  under  the  rules  of  the  House,  formed,  not 
only  to  protect  the  majority,  but  the  minority  as  well,  action 
could  be  indefinitely  delayed.  To  secure  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  at  this  time,  the  rules  of  the  House  were  trampled  under 
foot,  parliamentary  law  was  disregarded,  and  the  rights  of 
the  minority  were  contemned.  Still  they  resisted  and 


62        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

struggled  on,  but  to  no  purpose.  At  11  o'clock  on  the 
night  of  the  22d  of  May,  1854,  after  a  session  of  eleven 
hours,  the  bill  finally  passed  by  a  vote  of  113  to  100.  The 
announcement  was  received  with  mingled  applause  and  his- 
ses, on  the  floor,  and  in  the  galleries.  On  Capital  Hill, 
outside,  salvos  of  artillery  announced  the  triumph  of  the  slave 
power  in  Congress,  over  the  cause  of  justice,  honor  and  free- 
dom ;  but  the  boom  of  the  cannon  awakened  echoes  in  every 
valley  and  on  every  hill  side  in  the  free  North. 

The  details  of  this  struggle  must  ever  be  regarded  with 
great  interest  by  the  student  of  history.  It  has  been  given 
in  detail  to  show  the  manner  in  which  the  slave  power  con- 
trolled Congress.  The  friends  of  the  measure  triumphed 
through  the  power  of  Executive  patronage  and  the  dead 
weight  of  majorities ;  but  no  party  ever  paid  such  a  price  for 
success.  There  never  was  a  more  skillful  and  gallant  parlia- 
mentary fight  made,  than  that  made  by  the  opponents  of  the 
bill. 

Among  the  Southern  men,  who  took  part  in  this  Nebraska 
fight,  in  the  House,  and  who  went  into  the  rebellion,  the 
most  prominent  is  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  late  rebel  Vice- 
President.  To  say  that  he  is  a  remarkable  man,  is  to  say 
only  what  is  known  to  all  persons  who  know  anything  of 
his  history.  He  sprung  from  the  depths  of  poverty,  and  was 
educated  by  charity.  Of  a  frail  and  feeble  constitution,  his 
mind  was  always  too  vigorous  and  active  for  his  weak  body. 
He  was  never  married,  and  lived  at  home  a  life  of  isolation 
and  solitude,  devoting  himself  to  the  pursuits  of  politics  and 
literature.  Under  the  ordinary  height,  he  was  of  a  very 
slender  form,  and  considerably  stoop-shouldered.  His  weight 
was  less  than  100  pounds.  His  complexion  was  very  sallow. 
His  arms  were  of  a  disproportionate  length,  and  his  fingers 
long  and  skinny.  He  had  the  blackest  and  keenest  eyes ; 
his  hair  was  long,  and  black,  and  came  down  on  his  forehead 
like  a  school-boy's.  His  voice  was  boyish  and  squeaking, 
but  he  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  eloquent  of 
speakers,  and  he  never  addressed  the  House  without  com- 
manding universal  attention.  His  speech  before  the  Georgia 
Legislature  against  secession,  and  in  reply  to  Toombs,  was 


STEPHENS BRECKENRIDGE.  63 

an  effort  of  masterly  ability,  eloquence  and  power ;  and 
reading  it  now,  in  the  light  of  the  events  that  have  followed, 
it  is  wonderful  to  see  how  his  prophecies  have  become 
history.  He  was  a  man  of  kindly  heart  and  irreproachable 
private  character,  all  rowdyism  and  violence  being  utterly 
repugnant  to  his  nature.  He  went  into  the  rebellion  most 
reluctantly ;  and  in  order  to  propitiate  a  large  class  of  men, 
of  the  same  opinion,  he  was  put  on  the  ticket  for  rebel  Vice- 
President.  Yet  he  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
guilty  of  the  rebels.  He  was  a  man  of  high  character  and 
great  and  deserved  influence  over  the  public  mind.  He  saw 
and  proclaimed  the  wickedness  of  secession,  and,  in  finally 
giving  to  this  monstrous  crime  the  weight  of  his  great  name, 
he  sinned  against  light  and  knowledge. 

John  C.  Breckenridge,  a  member  of  the  old,  aristocratic 
Breckenridge  family,  of  Kentucky,  was  in  this  Congress. 
He  was  then  thirty  years  old,  and  had  commenced  life  as  a 
lawyer,  in  Burlington,  Iowa,  then  a  territory.  He  did  not, 
however,  remain  there  long,  but  returned  to  Kentucky,  and 
in  1852,  ran  as  the  democratic  candidate  for  Congress  in  the 
Lexington  District.  Young,  dashing,  popular  and  eloquent, 
he  rallied  round  him  the  young  men  of  all  parties,  and  after 
a  most  violent  and  animated  contest,  he  was  elected. 

The  history  of  this  struggle  has  been  given  in  more 
detail,  because  of  its  vast  bearing  on  the  slaveholders' 
rebellion,  and  as  illustrative  of  the  violence  and  outrage, 
denunciation  and  insolence  of  the  slave  power  in  Congress. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  shocked  the  moral 
sense  of  the  free  States,  and  it  was  regarded  not  only  as  a 
humiliation,  but  a  gross  violation  of  faith.  The  passage  of 
the  Kansas -Nebraska  bill,  repealing  it,  thoroughly  aroused 
the  people  of  the  North,  and  it  was  realized,  by  the  thought- 
ful, that  the  final  struggle  between  freedom  and  slavery  ap- 
proached. The  impetuous,  arogant  Senators  from  the  slave 
States,  were  warned,  that  with  the  repeal  of  this  time-honored 
compromise,  the  days  of  mutual  concession  and  forbearance 
would  end,  and  that  the  grapple  between  the  two  opposing 
systems  would  come  face  to  face. 


64        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

This  repeal  of  a  solemn  compact,  which  had  been  re- 
spected for  more  than  thirty  years,  removed  the  harrier  to 
the  extension  of  slavery  over  a  territory,  equal  in  extent 
to  the  entire  thirteen  original  States.  The  leaders  of  the 
slaveholders  determined,  immediately  to  occupy  and  con- 
trol it.  The  people  of  the  free  States,  defeated  and  betrayed 
at  Washington,  resolved  to  prevent  it.  Douglas,  and  a  large 
portion  of  the  democratic  party,  defended  their  action  on  the 
subject,  by  taking  the  position,  that  the  people  of  each  terri- 
tory should  determine  for  themselves,  whether  they  would 
exclude  or  protect  slavery.  This  doctrine,  known  as  "  popu- 
lar sovereignty"  and  "squatter  sovereignty,"  became  one 
of  the  watch-words  of  the  party.  Each  section  determined 
to  settle  and  colonize  Kansas,  with  a  view  of  controlling  its 
status  as  a  free  or  slave  State.  This  territory  lay  directly 
west  of  Missouri,  and  the  direct  route  to  it  was  across  the 
borders  and  up  the  great  river  of  that  State.  Conscious  of 
these  advantages,  Western  Missouri,  under  the  lead  of  Gen. 
Atchison,  a  Senator,  and  late  Vice -President,  organized 
secret  societies  called  "Blue  Lodges,"  and, by  force,  endeavor- 
ed to  seize  arid  hold  Kansas.  Their  organized  bands  marched 
into  the  territory,  made  their  claims,  and,  taking  with  them 
their  negroes,  declared  that  slavery  already  existed  there,  and 
that  "  no  protection  should  be  furnished  to  abolitionists.'  By  this, 
they  meant  that  all  abolitionists  should  be  subject  to  mob  or 
"  Lynch  law."  In  New  England,  the  Northwest  and  elsewhere 
in  the  free  States,  "emigrant  aid  societies"  were  organized, 
with  a  view  to  settle  Kansas  with  free  labor.  Farmers 
were  furnished  with  mills,  farming  implements,  domestic 
animals,  seed,  and  dwelling  houses.  School  houses  and 
churches  were  also  supplied  to  the  emigrant.  The  property 
and  effects  of  the  emigrant,  so  furnished,  soon  began  to  be 
seized  by  the  slave  party,  on  its  passage  up  the  Missouri  river. 
Settlers  from  the  free  States  were  seized  and  maltreated, 
their  property  destroyed  or  plundered,  and  they  forcibly  turned 
back.  But  possessing  New  England  pluck  and  persistence, 
they  turned  aside,  and,  with  horses  and  ox  teams,  made  the 
long,  weary,  overland  journey  to  the  disputed  territory, 
through  the  free  State  of  Iowa.  It  was  a  struggle  as  to 


STRUGGLE   FOR    KANSAS.  65 

which  party  should  found  a  State.  The  slaveholders  had 
the  advantage  of  close  proximity,  and,  under  the  lead  of 
Atchison  and  Stringfellow,  sent  their  organized  bands  of 
ruffians,  armed  with  revolvers,  bowie  knives,  slaves  and 
whiskey,  as  the  material  with  which  to  build  up  the  new 
commonwealth.  It  was  found  to  be  a  bad  material.  The 
free  State  emigrant,  although  starting  from  a  distance,  often 
of  several  hundred  miles,  took  his  family,  his  farming  tools, 
the  school  books  of  his  children,  often  the  school  house  and 
church,  ready  framed  at  home ;  by  and  by,  he  also  took  his 
Sharpe's  rifle,  which  he  quickly  learned  to  use  with  skill. 
Under  the  lead  of  John  Brown,  known  in  Kansas  as  Ossa- 
watomie  Brown,  Charles  Robinson,  General  Pomeroy,  and 
Jim  Lane,  with  their  associates,  they  opened  farms,  planted 
settlements,  and  held  them.  It  involved  a  weary,  and,  for  a 
time,  a  dreadful  struggle.  On  the  side  of  the  slaveholders 
were  the  United  States  officials,  with  all  the  influence  of  the 
Federal  government,  the  State  government  of  the  border 
State  of  Missouri,  and  its  militia,  ever  ready  to  make  raids 
into  Kansas,  for  plunder,  violence  and  destruction.  The  free 
State  party  had  the  aid  of  the  Northern  press,  Yankee  en- 
terprise, ingenuity  and  persistence  ,  and  the  rough  and  rude 
sense  of  justice  and  fair  play  which  characterize  the  pioneer 
of  the  "West.  The  slave  party,  through  the  aid  of  voters, 
imported  from  Missouri,  the  Missouri  militia,  and  the  Fede- 
ral administration,  held  the  nominal  government,  and  perpe- 
trated a  series  of  the  most  shameless  outrages,  frauds,  ballot 
stuffing  and  violence  known  in  American  history,  to  secure 
a  Constitution  establishing  slavery.  But  the  free  State  men 
soon  greatly  outnumbered  their  unstable,  wandering,  plun- 
dering, whiskey-drinking  adversaries.  The  work  of  imposing 
slavery  upon  the  people  was  a  very  difficult  one.  Slaves, 
brought  into  the  country,  ran  away  and  found  freedom  and 
security.  Territorial  Governor  after  Territorial  Gover- 
nor was  appointed  by  Presidents  Pierce  and  Buchan- 
an, and  was  replaced  or  resigned,  finding  the  task  of 
imposing  slavery  upon  the  people  too  difficult.  Gov- 
ernor Geary,  one  of  the  Governors  appointed  in  the  in- 
terests of  slavery,  became  indignant  and  disgusted  at  the 
5 


66        LINCOLN  AND  THE-  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

outrages  of  the  slave  party,  and  gives  the  following  picture 
of  their  condition.  He  says,  "I  reached  Kansas  and  entered 
upon  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties  in  the  most  gloomy 
hour  of  her  history.  Desolation  and  ruin  reigned  on  every 
hand;  homes  and  firesides  were  deserted;  the  smoke  of  burn- 
ing dwellings  darkened  the  atmosphere ;  women  and  children, 
driven  from  their  habitations  wandered  over  the  prairies  and 
among  the  woodlands,  or  sought  refuge  and  protection  from 
the  Indian  tribes.  The  highways  were  infested  with  pre- 
datory bands,  while  the  towns  were  fortified  and  garrisoned 
by  armies  of  conflicting  partizans,  excited  almost  to  frenzy, 
and  determined  on  mutual  extermination."  Such  was  the 
struggle  in  Kansas,  upon  the  slavery  question.  It  was  like 
the  great  civil  war  of  which  it  was  the  type  and  prophetic 
prelude,  a  contest  between  barbarism  and  civilization. 
"Whenever  anything  like  a  fair  vote  of  the  actual  settlers 
could  be  obtained,  the  free  State  men  had  large  majorities. 
The  story  of  this  struggle  between  freedom,  and  slavery, 
between  fraud,  violence  and  outrage  on  one  side,  and  heroic 
firmness,  energy  and  determination  on  the  other ,  was  carried 
all  over  the  land,  and  made  a  most  profound  impression  upon 
the  American  people.  Time^  and  nature  have  but  lately 
healed  and  covered  the  scars  of  this  conflict.  It  was  amidst 
these  scenes  that  John  Brown,  of  Ossawatomie,  was  prepared 
by  the  murder  of  his  son,  for  his  wild  crusade  against  slavery 
in  Virginia.  It  was  here,  that  the  heroic  Lyon  and  Hunter 
learned  to  hate  that  institution.  The  plains  of  Kansas 
were  still  red  with  the  blood  of  her  martyrs  to  liberty;  her  hills 
and  valleys  were  yet  black  with  the  charred  remains  of  her 
burned  and  devastated  towns,  villages  and  cities,  attesting, 
alike,  the  heroic  constancy  of  her  people  to  freedom,  and 
the  savage  barbarity  of  the  slave  power.  When  the  convul- 
sions of  the  great  National  conflict  began  to  shake  the  land, 
Kansas  was  the  rock  which  rolled  back  the  tide  of  the  slave 
conspirators.  All  honor  to  Kansas  !  She  successfully  with- 
stood the  slave  power,  backed  by  the  Federal  Government. 
The  struggle  was  watched  by  the  people,  everywhere,  with 
the  most  intense  solicitude,  and  it  nerved  them  to  a  still 
firmer  determination  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  the 
slaveholders. 


CHAPTER   III. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

LINCOLN'S  EARLY  LIFE,  AND  EDUCATION  —  His  MOTHER  —  HE 
VOLUNTEERS  FOR  THE  BLACK  HAWK  WAR  —  POSTMASTER  — 
MODE  OF  KEEPING  GOVERNMENT  FUNDS  —  A  SURVEYOR  — 
ELECTED  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE  —  STUDIES  LAW  —  His  PROTEST 
AGAINST  SLAVERY  —  LINCOLN  AT  THE  BAR  —  EARLY  ILLINOIS' 
COURTS  —  His  MODE  OF  TRYING  CASES  —  ACCEPTS  A  CHALLENGE 
—  PLEADS  THE  CASE  OF  THE  NEGRO  GIRL  "  NANCE"  —  IN  CON- 
GRESS —  His  BILL  TO  ABOLISH  SLAVERY  —  His  PRACTICE  AT 
THE  BAR. 


was  now  about  to  come  prominently  before  the 
-L  country,  an  actor  who,  hitherto  comparatively  obscure, 
was  soon  to  become  the  most  prominent  figure  in  American 
history. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  plain,  rough,  sturdy  pioneer  of 
the  West.  The  racv  product  of  American  soil  and  American 
civilization.  No  other  age,  or  country,  could  have  produced 
his  counterpart.  No  other  section  of  his  own  country  but 
the  great  national  Northwest  could  have  produced  him.  He 
was  the  child  of  the  wilderness;  and  his  early  lessons  were 
received  on  the  puncheon  floor  of  a  western  log  cabin.  Self- 
made  and  self-educated  ;  a  giant  in  frame  ;  ungraceful  and 
awkward  in  person,  but  most  kind  and  genial  in  his  disposi- 
tion ;  with  sentiments  as  pure,  elevated  and  noble,  as  were 
ever  ascribed  to  the  embodiment  of  the  most  perfect  chivalry, 
or  the  purest  Christianity;  a  profound  thinker;  reasoning  out 
his  opinions  for  himself;  of  great  sagacity;  of  an  almost  in- 
stinctive discretion,  and  good  sense;  of  unblemished  private 
character;  of  a  truthfulness  and  honesty  which,  long  before 
he  attained  national  celebrity,  had  earned  for  himself,  among 

67 


68        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  quick-witted  backwoodsmen  dressed  in  deerskin  and 
Kentucky  Jeans,  (who,  in  imitation  of  an  Indian  custom, 
were  in  the  habit  of  giving  characteristic  names,)  the 
cognomen  of  "  HONEST  OLD  ABE.'  This  man,  issuing  from 
among  the  class  of  poor  whites,  called  by  the  slave-holding 
aristocracy,  "poor,  white  trash,"  now  came  upon  the  arena, 
and  threw  all  his  energies  into  the  contest  between  Liberty 
and  Slavery.  And  he  plead  the  side  of  freedom  with  an 
earnestness,  a  profound  conviction,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
with  a  moderation  and  discretion,  which  soon  made  him  a 
prominent  leader.  /His  language  possessed  a  plainness, 
quaintness,  directness  and  clearness  of  illustration,  a  rugged, 
Anglo-Saxon  style,  wonderfully  adapted  to  reacji  the  sense 
and  understanding  of  the  common  peopled  ^There  never 
was  a  time  when  Lincoln,  at  the  bar,  in  the  log  school-house, 
court-room  or  tavern,  was  not  surrounded  by  a  group  of  ad- 
miring listeners,  to  whom  his  speeches,  anecdotes  and  con- 
versation had  an  irresistible  attraction.  Hence  the  people, 
for  miles,  attended  court  and  political  meetings  "  to  hear  Lin- 
coln."f  )fl?he  training  of  the  man,  for  the  great  part  he  was  to 
act  in  the  drama,  was  not  in  the  schools;  perhaps  it  was  bet- 
ter: from  childhood  he  had  been  accustomed  to  struggle  with, 
and  overcome  difficulties;  wiih  the  basis  of  perfect  truth, 
candor,  integrity,  modesty  and  sobriety,  he  acquired  self-con- 
trol, self-reliance,  and  ability  to  use  promptly  a  clear  judgment 
and  sound  common  sense.  |  Noblest  son  of  the  Republic,  he 
was  transferred,  with  no  change  of  manner,  from  the  rude 
life  of  the  frontier  to  the  capital. 

Here,  before  entering  upon  the  story  of  the  great  civil  war, 
and  the  great  conflict  of  ideas  which,  under  his  leadership, 
was  carried  to  a  successful  issue;  in  which  liberty,  law  and 
nationality  triumphed  over  slavery,  anarchy,  and  disunion, 
let  us  pause  in  the  narration  of  our  great  epic,  and  learn, 
from  his  youth  and  training,  what  manner  of  man  this  was, 
who,  was  now  so  modestly,  yet  so  firmly,  to  grasp  the  helm, 
and  conduct  the  Republic  through  the  stormiest  period  of 
modern  history. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  in  Hardin,  now  Larue  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  12th  of  February,  1809.  The  place  waa 


LINCOLN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  69 

about  twenty  miles  south  of  the  Ohio  River,  the  dividing  line 
between  the  slave  state  of  Kentucky,  and  the  free  states  of 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois.  His  grandfather,  who  bore  the 
name  of  Abraham,  was  among  those  hardy  pioneers  to  the 
"  dark  and  bloody  ground,"  a  descriptive  phrase  given  to  Ken- 
tucky on  account  of  its  deep  forests  and  bloody  Indian  wars, 
of  which  he  was  a  victim.  He  was  shot  by  an  Indian,  while 
at  work  in  his  field,  near  his  log  cabin.  Thomas  Lincoln,  the 
father  of  Abraham,  was  only  six  years  of  age  when  he  was 
left  an  orphan.  He  married  Nancy  Hanks,  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia. The  father  and  mother  were  plain,  hard-working, 
religious,  uneducated  people,  accustomed  to  hardship  and 
toil.  His  mother  died  when  he  was  only  ten  years  of  age, 
but  she  lived  long  enough  to  make  a  deep  and  lasting  impres- 
sion upon  her  son.  He  ever  spoke  of  her  with  deep  feeling 
and  grateful  affection.  He  said,  with  his  eyes  suffused  with 
tears,  "  All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel 
mother." 

Before  Abraham  was  eight  years  old,  the  family  moved  to 
Spencer  county,  Indiana.  This  change,  from  a  slave  to  a  free 
state,  was  made  by  the  parents  of  Lincoln,  that  their  children 
might  live  where  labor  was  respected,  add  where  they  might 
have  a  fair  chance  of  acquiring  a  respectable  position  in 
life.  It  was  a  long,  hard,  weary  journey ;  a  portion  of  the 
way  was  through  the  primeval  forests,  where  they  were 
obliged  to  cut  a  road  with  the  axe.  Young  Lincoln  had  lit- 
tle school  education ;  his  mother  taught  him  to  read  the  Bible 
and  to  write;  and,  perhaps,  the  first  use  the  motherless  boy 
made  of  this  acquisition,  was  to  write  a  letter  to  an  old  re- 
ligious friend  of  his  mother,  a  traveling  preacher  of  Ken- 
tucky, begging  him  to  come  and  perform  religious  services 
over  her  grave.  She  had  died  in  1818,  when  Abraham  was  in 
his  tenth  year.  Mr.  Elkins,  the  preacher,  came;  and,  one 
year  after  her  death,  the  family  and  neighbors  gathered 
around  the  forest  tree,  beneath  which  they  had  laid  her  re- 
mains, and  performed  such  rude,  but  sincere,  impressive 
religious  services,  as  are  usual  among  the  pioneers  of  the 
frontier.  Lincoln's  reverence,  through  life,  for  religion,  his 
truthfulness  and  integrity,  had  their  origin  in  his  mother's 


70        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

example  and  early  teaching.  Her  death,  the  affection  he 
bore  her,  the  sad  and  solemn  rites  of  her  burial,  were  never 
obliterated  from  his  mind  and  heart. 

He  had,  in  all, about  one  year's  schooling;  but  his  mother 
stimulated  his  natural  love  of  books,  and  he  read  everything 
he  could  find  to  read  in  the  backwoods,  seeking,  by  every 
possible  means,  to  improve  himself.  He  read  the  Bible,  and 
committed  a  large  portion  of  it  to  memory,  Esop's  Fables, 
Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  "Weem's  life  of  Washington,  a 
life  of  Henry  Clay,  and  an  odd  volume  of  Burns'  Poems._ 

These  books  constituted  his  library,  and  these  he  read  and 
reread,  until  large  portions  of  them  became  indelibly  fixed 
in  his  memory;  thus  laying  the  foundation  of  a  character. 
that  became,  in  its  maturity,  the  wonder  and  admiration  of 
his  country.  Here,  in  the  far  backwoods,  he  toiled  upon  the 
farm,  until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age.  Then  he  took 
charge  of  a  flat-boat  and  cargo,  down  the  rivers  Ohio  and 
Mississippi,  to  New  Orleans.  He  had  become  a  tall,  athletic 
man,  having  attained  the  height  of  six  feet  four  inches. 

In  readiness  to  extricate  himself  from  a  dilemma,  to  do 
promptly  the  wisest  thing  which  could  be  done  under  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  might  be  placed,  he  was  the  equal 
of  any  yankee  in  New  England.  A  gentleman  reports  that 
the  first  time  he  ever  saw  Lincoln,  he  was  "  in  the  Sangamon 
river,  his  trowsers  rolled  up  five  feet  more  or  less,  trying  to 
pilot  a  flat-boat  over  a  mill  dam.  The  boat  was  so  full  of 
water  it  was  hard  to  manage.  Lincoln  got  the  scow  partly 
over,  bored  a  hole  through  the  projecting  part,  and  let  the 
water  run  out." 

In  1830,  the  Lincoln  family  removed  to  a  place  in  Macon 
county,  Illinois,  near  Decatur,  and  it  was  here  that  the  pow- 
erful young  man  performed  those  wonderful  feats  in  rail- 
splitting,  in  aiding  his  father  to  fence  his  farm,  which  earned 
for  him  the  sobriquet  of  "the  rail-splitter."  At  this  period 
of  his  life,  he  was  a  simple,  hard  working,  rough,  kindly, 
genial,  studious  laborer,  with  no  bad  habits  nor  vicious  tastes, 
but  striving,  always,  to  improve  himself;  dressed  in  the 
homely  domestic  homespun  cloth  of  the  country,  he  was  an 
ungainly  giant,  utterly  unconscious  of  the  great  intellectual 


HIS  EDUCATION.  71 

powers,  which  were  slowly,  but  surely,  growing  and  maturing 
in  the  silent  solitude  of  his  life.  A  friend  of  his,  sketched 
a  picture  of  the  future  President,  at  this  period  of  his  life, 
while  pursuing  his  studies.  He  is  represented  as  lying  on  a 
trundle-bed,  with  one  leg  stretched  out,  rocking  the  cradle 
containing  the  child  of  his  hostess,  while  he,  himself  is  ab- 
sorbed in  the  study  of  English  grammar.  He  pursued  his 
studies  diligently,  and  whatever  he  undertook,  he  thoroughly 
mastered.  Most  of  his  life,  up  to  the  period  of  his  majority, 
was  passed  in  the  solitude  of  the  frontier.  With  few  neigh- 
bors, and  these  absorbed  in  the  laborious  struggle  for  sub- 
sistence, he  passed  the  years  of  his  childhood  and  youth. 
For  the  rest,  as  Bancroft  says,  "  from  day  to  day  he  lived  the 
life  of  the  American  people,  walked  in  its  light,  reasoned 
with  its  reason,  thought,  with  its  power  of  thought,  felt  the 
beatings  of  its  mighty  heart,  and  so  in  every  way  was  a  child 
of  nature,  a  child  of  the  West,  and  a  child  of  America." 
His  character  and  intellect  developed  slowly.  Indeed  down 
to  the  period  of  his  death,  Abraham  Lincoln  was,  as  facts 
will  prove,  constantly  growing  in  intellectual  power,  improv- 
ing and  perfecting  his  moral  and  religious  nature;  so  that, 
when  he  fell,  he  was  a  far  more  perfect  man  than  at  any  pre- 
vious period  of  his  life.  Solitude  and  self-culture  and  slow 
growth  are,  for  minds  of  high  capacity,  most  favorable  to 
strong  and  full  development.  It  is  doubtful  whether,  with 
all  the  teaching  of  the  schools,  Abraham  Lincoln  would  have 
been  better  adapted  to  his  great  mission,  than  by  the  teach- 
ings of  the  life  and  circumstances  in  which  he  was  reared. 
Perhaps,  as  Byron  says : 

"  Must  such  minds  be  nourished  in  the  wild, 
Deep  in  the  unpruned  forest,  midst  the  roar 
Of  cataracts,  where  nursing  nature  smiled 

On  infant  Washington." 

But  his  education  was,  as  yet,  scarcely  begun,  and  was  to 
be  fashioned  by  after  events  the  faintest  glimmer  of  which 
had  not  yet  dawned  upon  the  simple  hearted  boy. 

In  1832,  difficulties  between  the  Sac  Indians,  under  their 
Chief,  Black  Hawk,  and  the  whites,  occurred,  known  as  the 
Black  Hawk  war.  Volunteers  were  called  for  by  Governor 


72        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Reynolds,  of  Illinois,  and  a  company  was  raised  in  Menard 
county  and  neighborhood.  Among  the  volunteers  was  Lin- 
coln. He,  and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Kirkpatrick,  were  can- 
didates for  the  position  of  Captain.  The  mode  of  election  was 
for  each  candidate  to  take  his  position  by  himself,  and  the 
men  were  directed  to  arrange  themselves  in  line,  with  the 
one  they  preferred  for  their  leader.  Lincoln's  line  was  three 
times  as  long  as  Kirkpatrick's,  and  he  was  triumphantly 
elected.  Speaking  of  this  incident,  when  President,  he  said 
that  he  was  more  elated  over  this,  his  first  triumph,  than  any 
other  election  in  his  life.  He  was  very  popular  among  the 
volunteers,  on  account  of  his  great  physical  strength,  and  his 
ability  to  tell  more  and  better  stories  than  any  other  man  in 
the  little  army.  He  served  during  the  campaign,  but  had 
no  opportunity  of  testing  his  prowess  against  the  Indians. 
After  the  war,  he  held,  for  a  short  time,  the  office  of 
Postmaster  at  New  Salem.  v 

On  his  return  from  the  campaign  of  the  Black  Hawk  war, 
Lincoln  being  twenty-three  years  of  age,  his  neighbors 
brought  him  out  as  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature.  The 
vote  given  for  him  by  the  people  of  New  Salem  was  unani- 
mous. There  were  two  candidates  for  Congress  voted  for, 
and  their  aggregate  vote  was  206,  Mr.  Lincoln  received  207. 
This  unanimous  vote  showed  his  personal  popularity.  The 
people  of  New  Salem  asked  and  obtained  for  him  the  appoint- 
ment of  Postmaster.  He  accepted  it,  because  it  gave  him  an 
opportunity  to  read  all  the  newspapers  taken  in  the  town.  It 
was  in  relation  to  the  funds  received  by  him  as  Postmaster, 
that  an  incident  occurred  that  gave  a  striking  illustration  of 
his  scrupulous  integrity.  He  had  left  New  Salem,  and  had 
removed  to  Springfield,  and  was  struggling  with  poverty ; 
indeed  he  was  so  poor  that  he  had  difficulty  in  supplying  the 
necessaries  of 'life.  After  his  removal  to  Springfield,  and 
some  years  after  he  had  ceased  to  be  Postmaster,  a  draft  was 
sent  out  for  collection  for  the  balance,  $16.00,  of  Post>office 
money  received  by  him.  It  was  contrary  to  the  regulations 
of  the  Post  Office  Department  for  him  to  pay  this  balance 
until  it  was  drawn  for.  My  informant,  Dr.  Henry,  accom- 
panied the  agent  with  the  draft,  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  office,  where 


HIS  MODE  OF  KEEPING  GOVERNMENT  FUNDS.  73 

it  was  presented  for  payment.  Knowing  Lincoln's  poverty, 
and  doubting  whether  he  had  the  money  on  hand  to  meet 
the  draft,  the  doctor  had  accompanied  the  officer,  with  the 
intention  of  loaning  him  the  money  to  pay  it. 

Upon  the  drafts  being  presented,  Lincoln  asked  the  officer 
to  be  seated  a  moment,  went  to  his  boarding  house,  and 
directly  returned  with  an  old  stocking  with  a  quantity  of 
silver,  and  copper  coin,  tied  up  in  it.  Untieing  the  stocking, 
he  poured  the  contents  upon  the  table  and  proceeded  to  count 
the  coin.  It  was  in  the  small  silver  and  copper  coin,  sixpences, 
shillings,  quarter  dollars,  and  half  dollars  and  cents,  such  as  the 
country  people  were  in  the  habit  of  using  in  those  days,  in 
paying  postage.  On  counting  the  coin,  it  was  found  to  be 
the  exact  amount  of  the  draft,  and  the  identical  coin  which 
had  been  received.  Lincoln  never  used,  even  temporarily, 
any  money  that  was  not,  his.  He  said  he  felt  that  the  money 
belonged  to  the  Government, and  that  he  had  no  right  to  ex- 
change or  use  it  for  any  purpose  of  his  own.  This  evidence 
of  strict  integrity  and  fidelity  to  trust  was  the  more  striking, 
because  he  had  frequently  during  the  period  he  had  held  this 
money,  been  compelled  to  make  large  discounts  upon  notes 
he  had  received  for  fees,  and  sometimes  to  borrow  money  to 
pay  his  small  bills. 

At  this  period  of  his  life  Lincoln  became  like  Washington, 
an  accurate,  practical  surveyor.  He  commenced  reading  law 
while  living  at  New  Salem.  Major  John  T.  Stuart  encour- 
aged him,  loaned  him  books,  which  he  carried  in  his  arms  to 
his  home,  and  there  read  law  part  of  the  time,  and  practiced 
surveying  to  pay  for  his  board  and  clothing.  In  1834,  he  was 
elected  to  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  and  walked  to  Yandalia, 
more  than  one  hundred  miles,  to  take  his  seat.  He  was  re- 
elected  in  1836.  At  the  session  of  1836,  he  met,  as  a  fellow 
member,S.  A.  Douglas,  and  these  two  men,  taking  opposite 
sides,  soon  became  prominent  leaders,  Lincoln  of  the  whig, 
and  Douglas  of  the  democratic  party  of  Illinois.  In  1838, 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  again  elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  he  re- 
ceived the  vote  of  his  party  for  Speaker,  lacking  but  one  vote 
of  being  elected.  In  1840,  he  was  again  elected  and  again 


74        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

received  the  vote  of  the  whig  members  of  the  Legislature, 
for  Speaker. 

The  popularity  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  position  as  a  leader, 
is  established  by  the  fact,  that  he  received,  again  and  again, 
the  votes  of  his  party  friends,  for  Speaker.  The  legislation 
at  this  period  of  the  history  of  Illinois,  consiste'd  mainly,  in 
passing  acts  for  the  opening  of  roads,  the  passage  of  local  bills, 
and  for  the  construction  of  a  canal,  to  connect  Lake  Michigan 
and  the  Mississippi,  by  the  Illinois  river;  known  as  the  Illi- 
nois and  Michigan  Canal ;  the  adoption  of  a  general  system 
of  internal  improvements  by  railroads,  and  the  promotion 
of  education.  In  regard  to  all  these  measures  Lincoln  was 
an  active  and  influential  member.  In  March,  1837,  resolu- 
tions of  an  extremely  pro-slavery  character,  were  introduced 
into  the  Legislature  and  carried  through  by  large  majorities. 
Illinois,  at  that  time,  was  made  up  largely,  of  emigrants 
from  the  slave  States,  filled  with  the  prejudices  of  that  sec- 
tion, and  the  feeling  against  anti-slavery  men  was  violent  and 
almost  universal.  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  two  men,  who  had 
the  moral  courage  to  put  on  record,  at  that  period,  a  protest 
against  these  pro-slavery  resolutions.  In  this  protest,  he  and 
his  associate,  Dan  Stone,  declared  their  belief,  that  slavery 
was  founded  in  both  injustice  and  bad  policy. 

Lincoln  had  been  admitted,  in  1837,  as  an  attorney  and 
counsellor  at.  law,  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  but  his 
duties  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature  interfered,  materially, 
with  his  practice.  Upon  his  retirement,  he  devoted  himself 
with  great  energy  and  zeal  to  his  profession. 

Illinois  was,  at  this  time,  divided  into  several  judicial  cir- 
cuits ;  each  circuit  consisting  of  several  counties,  and  the 
Judges  of  these  circuits,  meeting  together,  at  the  Capital, 
constituted  the  Supreme  Court;  to  which  cases  were  taken, 
by  appeal,  and  writ  of  error.  The  Judges  and  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  bar,  generally  started  together,  to  "  ride  the  cir- 
cuit," There  were  few,  and  frequently  no  lawyers  in  those 
counties,  where  there  was  no  considerable  village  or  town, 
and  the  members  of  the  bar,  traveled  on  horseback  folio  wing 
the  court,  from  county  to  county. 


ILLINOIS  COURTS.  75 

The  country  was  new,  sparsely  settled,  the  people  hardy, 
fearless,  honest,but  spirited  and  litigious.  The  court  houses 
were  generally  built  of  logs,  sometimes  framed  and  boarded 
up.  With  a  raised  desk,  behind  which  sat  the  Judge ;  a 
small  table  for  the  clerk,  and  another  larger  table,  sometimes 
covered  with  coarse  green  cloth,  around  which  sat  the  bar. 
Rude  chairs,  or  ruder  benches,  constituted  the  seats  for  the 
lawyers  and  jury.  The  court  room  was  always  crowded. 
Here  were  rehearsed  and  acted  the  dramas,  the  tragedy, 
and  the  comedy  of  real  life;  and  the  court  house  was  always 
very  attractive  to  the  people  of  the  back-woods.  It  supplied 
the  place  of  a  theatre  and  concert  room,  and  other  places  of 
amusement  of  older  settlements  and  cities ;  hence  crowds 
always  attended  the  courts,  to  see  the  Judges,  and  hear  the 
lawyers  "  plead."  A  court  room  in  the  West,  was  ever  a 
popular  institution ;  the  advocates  had  their  partizans,  politi- 
cal and  personal,  and  the  merits  of  each  were  canvassed  in 
every  cabin  and  school  house,  at  every  house  raising,  and  bee, 
and  horse-race  in  the  county.  The  lawyers  were  stimulated 
to  the  utmost  exertion  of  their  powers,  not  alone,  by  contro- 
versy and  contention  for  success,  but  by  the  consciousness 
that  every  effort  was  watched  with  the  greatest  eagerness 
by  friends,  rivals,  and  partizans.  At  this  time  the  Judges, 
who  composed  the  bench  of  Illinois,  were  very  able  men. 
Justice  McLean,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
was  the  circuit  Judge,  holding,  personally,  two  terms  of  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court  at  the  Capital  in  Springfield. 
Judge  Nathaniel  Pope,  father  of  Major  General  John  Pope, 
was  the  district  Judge.  He  was  a  man  of  great  vigor  of 
mind  and  independence  of  character.  Although  he  had  read 
a  much  smaller  number  of  books  than  Judge  McLean,  such 
was  the  strength  of  his  reasoning  powers,  that  when  the  dis- 
trict and  circuit  Judges  differed,  as  was  very  often  the  case, 
on  any  question  of  law,  Pope  was  quite  able  to  hold  his  own 
with  his  superior  in  rank. 

On  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  among 
the  most  prominent  men  were  William  Wilson,  Chief  Justice, 
Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  Thomas  Ford,  afterwards  Governor, 
Sidney  Bruce,  afterwards  Senator  of  the  United  States, 


76        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  at  a  later  day  Lyman  Trumbull, 
John  Dean  Oaten,  and  others.  There  gathered  at  an  early 
day,  around  the  plain  pine  tables  of  the  frontier  court  houses 
of  Illinois,  a  very  remarkable  combination  of  men.  Among 
them,  and  immediately  a  leader,  was  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
who  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1834,  O.  H.  Browning, 
late  Senator,  admitted  in  1835,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Lyman 
Trumbull,  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  and  a  dis- 
tinguished member  of  the  Senate,  admitted  in  1837,  Richard 
fates,  Governor  and  Senator,  admitted  in  1838,  David  Davis, 
now  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
Besides  these,  there  were  E.  D.  Baker,  the  eloquent  Senator 
from  Oregon,  and  the  martyr  at  Ball's  Bluff;  General  John  J. 
Hardin,  who  fell  upon  the  bloody  field  of  Buena  Vista,  Gov- 
ernor William  H.  Bissell,  whose  eloquent  vindication  of  the 
bravery  of  the  Illinois  Volunteers  in  the  Mexican  war, 
against  the  aspersions  of  the  traitor  Davis,  is  still  remem- 
bered in  the  traditions  of  great  speeches  in  Congress ;  Gen- 
eral James  Shields,  Justin  Butterfield,  Logan,  Richardson, 
Washburn,  Judd,  and  many  others,  prominent  in  the  civil 
and  military  history  of  the  country.  It  was  among  such  men 
that  Lincoln  contended,  at  the  bar  and  on  the  stump,  and 
was  trained  for  the  high  and  solemn  duties,  which  were  be- 
fore him.  From  1840  to  1860,  his  name  will  be  found,  as 
often  as  any,  in  the  judicial  Reports  of  Illinois. 

The  circuit  practice,  as  conducted  in  Illinois,  was  admira- 
bly adapted  to  educate,  develope  and  bring  out,  all  that  a 
man  had,  of  intellect  and  character.  Few  books  could 
be  obtained  upon  the  circuit,  and  no  large  libraries  for  con- 
sultation, were  to  be  had  anywhere.  A  case  lawyer  was  help- 
less in  the  hands  of  the  intellectual  giants  which  were  pro- 
duced by  these  Circuit  Court  contests,  where  questions  must 
be  argued  and  settled  upon  principle  and  analogy.  A  few 
elementary  books  were  carried  about  in  the  saddle  bags, 
along  with  the  very  scanty  wardrobe  of  the  attorney;  such 
as  Blackstone,  Kent's  Commentaries,  Chitty's  Pleadings  and 
Starkie's  Evidence.  These  were  read  and  re-read,  until  the 
text  was  as  familiar  as  the  alphabet.  By  such  aids  as  these 
afforded,  and  the  application  of  principles,  all  the  complex 


LINCOLN  AT  THE  BAR.  77 

questions  which  arose,  were  settled.  No  better  school  for  in- 
tellectual training  could  be  found  anywhere.  Lincoln  rapidly 
rose  to  be  among  the  first  at.  the  Illinois  bar.  He  continued 
his  general  studies,  reading  history  and  English  literature, 
so  far  as  the  few  books  he  could  procure  would  enable  him. 
He  mastered  Euclid,  while  traveling  the  circuit.  As  a  law- 
yer, he  had  some  very  striking  peculiarities.  First,  he 
thoroughly  mastered  every  case.  In  his  power  of  analysis 
and  clearness  of  statement,  he  had  no  superior,  if  any  equal. 
His  love  of  truth,  fairness  and  justice  were  never,  to  any  ex- 
tent, perverted  by  his  profession ;  consequently,  on  the  wrong 
side,  he  was  weak,  but  on  the  right  side,  he  was  perfectly 
irresistible  with  court  and  jury.  He  was  always  popular  with 
the  bench,  the  bar,  the  jury  and  the  spectators.  His  humor 
and  power  of  illustration  by  apt  comparison  and  story-telling, 
his  power  to  ridicule  by  apt  and  ludicrous  anecdotes  were 
inexhaustible.  "  Biding  the  circuit "  involved  all  sorts  of  per- 
sonal adventures.  Hard  fare,  at  miserable  country  taverns, 
sleeping  on  the  floor,  and  fording  streams  are  among  the  com- 
mon everyday  incidents.  In  fording  streams,  the  future 
President,  was  sometimes  sent  forward  as  a  pioneer.  His 
extremely  long  legs  enabled  him,  by  removing  his  pantaloons, 
boots  and  stockings,  and  taking  his  coat-tails  under  his  arms, 
to  ascertain  without  wetting  his  garments,  where  the  streams 
offered  the  best  fording  places,  and  often  to  pilot  the  party, 
through  streams,  that,  at  first  sight,  seemed  unfordable. 

It  was  the  habit  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  always  in  an  important 
case,  to  make,  mentally,  an  argument  against  his  side  of  the 
case,  and  answer  it. 

His  statement  of  his  case  as  a  lawyer,  or  as  a  stump 
speaker,  was  generally  a  demonstration.  He  had  the  power 
of  divesting  it  of  all  extraneous  circumstances,  and  stating 
simply  and  clearly  the  exact  issue,  the  precise  turning  point 
in  the  discussion. 

He  was  always  so  unassuming,  so  modest,  and  so  respect- 
ful, and  yet  so  dignified  in  the  assertion  of  a  right,  that  he 
disarmed  opposition,  and  nobody,  whose  opinion  had  not 
already  been  formed,  could  listen  to  Lincoln  long, without 
wishing  his  to  be  the  winning  side.  Indeed  he  was  a  great 


78        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

favorite  on  the  circuit,  and  his  arrival  at  court  was  always 
hailed  with  joy  by  bench  and  bar.  His  inexhaustible  store 
of  anecdotes,  his  good  humor  and  kind  feelings  made  him, 
always  most  welcome. 

It  was  the  universal  practice  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  aid  by  his 
counsel  and  advice,  the  younger  members  of  the  bar,  in  the 
preparation  and  management  of  their  cases.  He  never  took 
a  technical  advantage,  and  would,  if  his  opponent  was  young, 
or  a  stranger,  point  out  to  him  formal  errors  in  his  pleading 
or  practice.  He  wished  to  succeed  only  on  the  merits  of  his 
case.  His  manner  of  conducting  jury  trials  was  peculiar: 
he  was  familiar,  frequently  colloquial ;  often,  at  the  summer 
term,  taking  off  his  coat,  and  leaning  upon  the  rail  of  the 
jury  box,  he  would  single  out  a  leading  jury  man  and  addres- 
sing him,  in  a  conversational  tone,  would  with  the  utmost 
candor  and  fairness,  reason  the  case.  When  he  perceived 
that  he  had  secured  the  judgment  of  the  one  so  addressed, 
he  would  then  turn  to  another,  and  address  him  in  the  same 
manner,  until  he  was  satisfied  the  jury  were  with  him.  But 
at  times,  when  thoroughly  aroused  by  injustice,  fraud,  or  false- 
hood, his  denunciation  was  of  crushing  severity.  There 
have  been  instances  in  which  parties  and  witnesses,  unable  to 
withstand  his  exposure  and  invective,  were  driven  from  the 
court  room. 

He  was  very  felicitous  in  his  examination  of  witnesses.  He 
generally  kept  them  in  good  humor  with  himself,  and  his 
own  love  of  humor  and  story-  telling,  led  him  sometimes, 
to  ask  a  witness  if  he  had  ever  heard  a  particular  story;  this 
was  sure  to  be  a  story  so  apt  in  its  illustration  of  the  point 
he  was  making,  that  it  furnished  an  argument  which  the 
jury  did  not  forget. 

A  year  or  two  before  his  marriage,  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  in- 
duced to  accept  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel  with  James  Shields, 
since  Senator  and  General. 

Shields  was  at  that  time  a  young,  hot-blooded,  gallantlrish 
barrister,  living  at  Springfield. 

A  practical  joke  had  been  played  upon  the  gallant,  and 
susceptible  young  Irishman,  by  some  of  the  lively,  and 
thoughtless  young  ladies  of  the  city,  and  in  allusion  to  it,  a 


LINCOLN  ACCEPTS  CHALLENGE  FROM  SHIELDS.  79 

sarcastic,  and  witty  poem  appeared  in  the  Sangamon  Journal, 
then  edited  by  Simeon  Francis;  Shields'  hot  blood  was  roused, 
and  he  went  at  once  to  Francis,  and  demanded  the  name  of  the 
author,  otherwise  he  would  hold  Francis  personally  responsi- 
ble. The  poem  was  in  fact  written  by  a  young  lady.  Francis 
was  not  willing  to  expose  the  young  lady,  and  yet  was  without 
the  courage  to  meet  the  fiery  Irishman  in  the  field.  Remem- 
bering that  Lincoln  was  a  friend  of  this  young  lady,  he  in  his 
dilemma,  sought  his  advice. 

Lincoln,  at  once,  told  Francis  to  say  to  Shields,  that  he 
might  hold  him  responsible  for  the  poem.  Shields  imme- 
diately challenged  Lincoln,  and  he  accepted  the  challenge, 
selecting  broadswords  as  the  weapons.  The  place  of  meeting 
was  an  island  in  the  Mississippi.  Arrangements  for  the  meet- 
ing were  completed,  and  the  parties  started  to  go  to  it,  but 
through  the  influence  of  friends,  the  matter  was  arranged. 
Lincoln  stated  afterwards,  that  he  selected  broadswords,  be- 
cause his  arms  were  long,  and  he  believed,  that  without 
hurting  Shields,  he  could  protect  himself. 

In  November,  1842,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Todd,  daughter 
of  Hon.  Robert  S.  Todd,  of  Kentucky.  "With  her  he  lived 
most  happily,  until  he  fell,  covering  her  with  his  blood,  when 
so  fiendishly  assassinated  by  Booth,  the  wretched  instrument 
of  the  slaveholders.  He  was  ever  a  devoted  and  most  affec- 
tionate husband  and  father ;  and  in  all  his  domestic  relations, 
indulgent,  kind  and  loving. 

At  the  July  term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  1841,  Mr.  Lincoln 
brought  before  it  a  case  involving  a  discussion  of  the  ordin- 
ance of  1787,  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  Northwest  territory, 
and  the  Constitution  of  Illinois  prohibiting  slavery  within 
that  State.  Slaves  were  held  by  some  of  the  French  settlers 
in  Illinois,  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  ordinance  of 
1787,  and  the  Constitution  of  the  State ;  but  in  violation  of 
law. 

A  suit  was  brought  and  judgment  rendered  in  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Tazewell  county,  upon  a  note,  given  for  a  negro 
girl  named  "  Nance."  She  was  represented  to  have  been  an 
indentured  slave  or  servant,  and  sold  as  such ;  the  note  was 
given  for  her,  and  judgment  rendered  upon  it.  Mr.  Lincoln 


80        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

brought  the  case  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  made  an  ex- 
haustive argument  against  the  judgment.  He  took  the  position 
that  the  note  was  void;  that  the  girl,  "Nance,"  was  free 
and  could  not  be  the  subject  of  sale.  That  the  girl,  residing 
in  Illinois,  was  free,  by  virtue  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  and 
the  Constitution,  prohibiting  slavery.  He  argued,  tha.t  the 
presumption  of  law  was,  that  every  person  was  free,  and  this 
without  regard  to  color ;  the  record  showing,  that  the  note 
in  question  was  given  for  a  negro  girl,  the  note  was  abso- 
lutely, void.  The  court  sustained  these  views,  and  reversed 
the  judgment.  It  is  believed  that  no  attempt  has  since  been 
made  to  sell  a  human  being  in  the  State  of  Illinois.* 

In  1843,  there  were  three  prominent  gentlemen  spoken  of 
for  Congress,  in  the  Springfield  district,  viz.,  Colonel  E.  D.  Ba- 
kei',  afterwards  Senator  from  Oregon,  John  J.  Hardin,  of  Mor- 
gan county,  and  Mr.  Lincoln.  Baker's  friends  carried  the  San- 
gamon  county  delegates,  and  appointed  Lincoln  one  of  them, 
to  go  to  the  convention, instructinghim  to  vote  for  Baker.  He 
said,  "  in  trying  to  get  the  nomination  for  Baker,  I  shall  be 
'fixed'  a  good  deal  like  the  fellow  who  is  made  groomsman  to 
the  man,  who  has '  cut  him.  out,'  and  is  marrying  his  own  gal !' ' 
General  Hardin,  however,  secured  the  nomination,  and 
was  elected.  In  1844  came  the  Presidential  contest  between 
Clay  and  Polk.  From  boyhood,  Clay  had  been  the  political 
idol  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  he  went  into  the  contest  for  him 
with  his  whole  heart.  As  the  candidate  for  Presidential  elec- 
tor, he  canvassed  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  a  portion  of  Indi- 
ana, for  his  favorite.  In  this  canvass",  he  met  Judge  Douglas, 
and  other  leading  Democrats,  and  established  his  position  as 
one  of  the  ablest  political  debaters  of  the  country.  He  wras 
greatly  disappointed  and  chagrined  by  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Clay. 
In  1846,  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  Kentucky,  to  hear  Mr.  Clay 
make  a  speech  upon  gradual  emancipation.  Both  the 
orator  and  the  subject  possessed  great  interest  for  him. 

With  all  his  modesty  and  personal  kindness,  no  one  ever 
doubted  the  courage  of  Lincoln.  Any  number  of  incidents 
illustrating  this,  could  be  cited.  On  one  occasion,  while  Col- 

*  An  Imperfect  report  of  this  case  will  be  found  in  3  Scammon,  Dl.  Reps.,  p.  7L 


LINCOLN  IN  CONGRESS.  81 

onel  Baker  was  speaking,  some  rowdies  undertook  to  remove 
him  from  the  stand.  Baker  was  speaking  directly  under  a 
scuttle,  and  it  turned  out  that  Lincoln  was  above,  listening  to 
the  speech.  No  sooner  were  the  threats  made,  and  before  the 
belligerents  could  reach  the  stand,  the  tall,  athletic  form  of 
Lincoln  descended  through  the  opening  and  springing  to  the 
side  of  Baker,  exclaimed,  "  Gentlemen,  let  us  not  disgrace 
the  age  arid  country  in  which  we  live  !  This  is  a  land  where 
freedom  of  speech  is  guaranteed.  Mr.  Baker  has  a  right  to 
speak,  and  ought  to  be  permitted  to  do  so.  I  am  here  to  pro- 
tect him,  and  no  man  shall  take  him  from  this  stand  if  I  can 
prevent  it." 

In  1846,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  for  Congress,  and 
"  stumped  "  his  district  as  the  candidate  of  the  whig  party. 
Texas  had  been  annexed ;  the  Mexican  war  was  pending ; 
the  tariff  of  1842,  had  been  repealed.  These  subjects  formed 
the  topics  of  discussion,  especially  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
in  the  interests  of  slavery.  Lincoln  received  more  than  his 
party  strength,  in  his  county  and  district,  showing  his  great 
personal  popularity,  and  was  elected.  He  took  his  seat,  in 
the  Thirtieth  Congress,  December,  1847,  the  only  whig 
member  from  Illinois. 

Mr.  Douglas  had,  already,  run  a  brilliant  career  in  the 
House,  and  at  this  same  session,  took  his  seat  for  the  first 
time,  in  the  Senate.  They  had  met  in  the  Illinois  Legistature. 
Douglas  was,  ever,  the  more  adroit  politician.  He  was  act- 
ing with  a  party,  strongly  in  the  majority,  which  he  marshaled 
and  controlled.  A  reference  to  the  Congressional  Globe,  of 
this  period,  will  show  as  members  of  this  Congress,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  George  Ashmun,  Caleb  B.  Smith,  John  G. 
Palfrey,  Robert  E.  Winthrop,  Jacob  Collamer,  Andrew  John- 
son, Samuel  F.  Vinton;  and  also  Robert  Toombs,  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  Robert  Barnwell  Rhett,  Howell  Cobb,  promin- 
ent leaders  of  the  rebellion.  In  the  Senate,  were  Daniel 
Webster,  John  Davis,  John  P.  Hale,  General  John  A.  Dix, 
Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  "William  L.  Dayton,  Simon  Cameron, 
Mason  and  Hunter,  from  Virginia,  John  C.  Calhoun,  John 
J.  Crittenden,  Thomas  Corwin,  Jefferson  Davis,  Henry 
S.  Foote,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  and  Lewis  Cass. 
t> 


82        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Lincoln  went  into  Congress,  with  the  reputation  of  an 
able  political  debater,  which  reputation  he  sustained  and  in- 
creased. He  took  a  more  prominent  part  in  the  debates 
than  is  usual  for  a  new  member  during  his  first  term. 
He  spoke  on  the  general  political  questions  of  the  day ;  the 
Mexican  war;  and  on  several  questions  regarding  the  ordin- 
ary business  of  legislation.  On  the  12th  of  January,  1848, 
he  made  a  speech  on  the  President's  message  and  the  war, 
which  established  his  reputation  in  Congress  as  an  able  de- 
bater. The  speech  is  clear,  direct,  argumentative ;  without 
any  waste  of  words,  compact,  and  full  of  matter. 

Mr.  Douglas,  in  their  joint  debate  at  Ottawa,  charged  him 
"  with  taking  the  side  of  the  common  enemy  against  his  own 
country,"  in  the  Mexican  war. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  in  reply,  said,  "I  was  an  old  whig,  and  when- 
ever the  democratic  party  tried  to  get  me  to  vote  that  the  war 
had  been  righteously  begun  by  the  President,  I  would  not  do 
it.  But  when  they  asked  for  money  or  land  warrants,  or  any- 
thing to  pay  the  soldiers,  I  gave  the  same  vote  that  Judge 
Douglas  did.  When  he  conveys  the  idea,  that  I  withheld  sup- 
plies from  the  soldiers  who  were  fighting  in  the  Mexican  war, 
or  did  anything  else  to  hinder  the  soldiers,  he  is,  to  say  the 
least,  grossly  and  altogether 'mistaken,  as  the  records  will 
prove." 

On  the  20th  of  June,  1848,  General  Cass  having  been 
nominated  for  President,  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  an  able  speech  in 
support  of  appropriations  for  the  improvement  of  Western 
harbors  and  rivers,  opposed  the  election  of  Cass,  and  ridiculed 
his  position  on  that  subject. 

He  made  another  speech  on  the  27th  of  July,  after  the 
whigs  had  nominated  General  Taylor  for  President,  which  is 
full  of  ability,  keen  sarcasm,  and  is  worthy  of  comparison 
with  the  great  efforts  which  he  afterwards  made  in  his  debates 
upon  the  slavery  question.  It  was  designed  as  a  campaign 
document  and  for  that  purpose  was  very  effective.  He  said : 

The  gentleman  from  Georgia.  (Mr.  Iverson,)  says,  we  have  deserted  all  our  prin- 
ciples, and  taken  shelter  under  General  Taylor's  military  coat-tail ;  and  he  seems 
to  think  this  is  exceedingly  degrading.  Well,  as  his  faith  is,  so  be  it  unto  him.  But 
can  he  remember  no  other  military  coat-tail  under  which  a  certain  other  party 
have  been  sheltering  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century?  Has  he  no  acquaintance 


LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  IN  CONGRESS.  83 

with  the  ample  military  coat-tail  of  General  Jackson?  Does  he  not  know  that  his 
own  party  have  run  the  last  flve  Presidential  races  under  that  coat-tali,  and  that 
they  are  now  running  the  sixth  under  the  same  cover?  Yes,  sir,  that  coat-tail  was 
used,  not  only  for  General  Jackson  himself,  but  has  been  clung  to  with  the  grip  of 
death  by  every  Democratic  candidate  since.  You  have  never  ventured,  and  dare 
not  now  venture,  from  under  it.  Your  campaign  papers  have  constantly ' been 
"Old  Hickories,'  with  rude  likenesses  of  the  old  General  upon  them;  hickory  poles 
and  hickory  brooms  your  never  ending  emblems ;  Mr.  Polk,  himself,  was  "  Young 
Hickory,"  "Little  Hickory,"  or  something  so;  and  even  now  your  campaign  paper 
here  is  proclaiming  that  Cass  and  Butler  are  of  the  true  "  Hickory  Stripe."  No,  sir ; 
yoru  dare  not  give  it  up.  Like  a  horde  of  hungry  ticks,  you  have  stuck  to  the  tail 
of  the  Hermitage  lion  to  the  end  of  his  life,  and  you  are  still  sticking  to  it,  and 
drawing  a  loathsome  sustenance  from  it  after  he  is  dead. 

A  fellow  once  advertised  that  he  had  made  a  discovery,  by  which  he  could  make 
a,  new  man  out  of  an  old  one,  and  have  enough  stuff  left  to  make  a  little  yellow 
clog.  Just  such  a  discovery  has  General  Jackson's  popularity  been  to  you.  You 
Mot  only  twice  made  President  of  him  out  of  it,  but  yon  have  had  enough  of  the 
stuff  left  to  make  Presidents  of  several  comparatively  small  men  since ;  and  it  is 
your  chief  reliance  now  to  make  still  another. 

Mr.  Speaker,  The  gentleman  says  we  have  deserted  our  principles,  and  turned 
Henry  Clay  out,  like  an  old  horse,  to  rot. 

Old  horses  and  military  coat-tails,  or  tails  of  any  sort,  are  not  figures  of  speech 
such  as  I  would  be  the  first  to  introduce  into  discussion  here;  but  as  the  gentleman 
from  Georgia  has  thought  fit  to  introduce  them,  he  and  you  are  welcome  to  all  you 
have  made,  or  can  make,  by  them.  If  you  have  any  more  old  horses,  trot  them 
out ;  any  more  tails,  just  cock  them,  and  come  at  us. 

I  repeat,  I  would  not  introduce  this  mode  of  discussion  here ;  but  I  wish  gentle- 
men on  the  other  side  to  understand,  that  the  use  of  degrading  figures  is  a  game  at 
which  they  may  not  find  themselves  able  to  take  all  the  winnings.  "  We  give  it  up." 

Aye,  you  "  give  it  up,"  and  well  you  may,  but  from  a  very  different  reason  from 
that  which  you  would  have  us  understand.  The  point  —  the  power  to  hurt  —  of  all 
figures,  consists  in  the  truthfulness  of  their  application;  and  understanding  this, 
you  may  well  give  it  up.  They  are  weapons  which  hit  you,  but  miss  us. 

But,  in  my  hurry,  I  was  very  near  closing  on  the  subject  of  military  coat-tails, 
before  I  was  done  with  it.  There  is  one  entire  article  of  the  sort  I  have  not  dis- 
cussed yet;  I  mean  the  military  tail  you  democrats  are  now  engaged  in  dovetailing 
on  to  the  great  Michigander.  Yes,  sir,  all  his  biographers,  (and  they  are  legion,) 
have  him  in  hand,  tying,  tying  him  to  a  military  tail,  like  so  many  mischievous 
boys  tying  a  dog  to  a  bladder  of  beans.  True,  the  material  they  have  is  very  lim- 
ited ;  but  they  drive  at  it,  might  and  main.  He  invaded  Canada  without  resistance, 
and  he  ouivaded  it  without  pursuit  As  he  did  both  under  orders,  I  suppose  there 
was,  to  him,  neither  credit  in  them ;  but  they  are  made  to  constitute  a  large  part 
of  the  tail.  He  was  volunteer  aid  to  General  Harrison  on  the  day  of  the  battle  of 
the  Thames ;  and,  as  you  said  in  1840,  Harrison  was  picking  whortleberries,  two 
miles  off,  while  the  battle  was  fought,  I  suppose  it  is  a  just  conclusion,  with  you, 
to  say  Cass  was  aiding  Harrison  to  pick  whortleberries.  This  is  about  all,  except 
the  mooted  question  of  the  broken  sword.  Some  authors  say  he  broke  it ;  some 
say  he  threw  it  away ;  and  some  others,  who  ought  to  know,  say  nothing  about  It. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  a  fair  historical  compromise  to  say,  if  he  did  not  break  it,  he 
did  not  do  anything  else  with  it. 

By  the  way,  Mr.  Speaker;  did  you  know  I  am  a  military  hero?  Yes,  sir,  in  the 
days  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  I  fought,  bled,  and  came  away.  Speaking  of  General 
Cass'  career,  reminds  me  of  my  own.  I  was  not  at  Stillman's  defeat,  but  I  was 
about  as  near  it,  as  Cass  was  to  Hull's  surrender;  and,  like  him,  I  saw  the  place 
very  soon  afterwards.  It  is  quite  certain  I  did  not  break  my  sword,  for  I  had  none 
to  break;  but  I  bent  my  musket  pretty  badly  on  one  occasion.  If  Cass  broke  his 
sword,  the  idea  is,  he  broke  it  in  desperation ;  I  bent  my  musket  by  accident.  If 
General  Cass  went  in  advance  of  me  in  picking  whortleberries,  I  guess  I  surpassed 
him  in  charges  upon  the  wild  onions.  If  he  saw  any  live  fighting1  Indians,  it  was 
more  than  I  did,  but  I  had  a  good  many  bloody  struggles  with  the  musquitoes ;  and 
although  I  never  fainted  from  loss  of  blood,  I  can  truly  say  I  was  often  very  hungry. 


84        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Speaker,  if  I  should  ever  conclude  to  doff  whatever  our  democratic  friends 
may  suppose  there  Is  of  black-cockade  federalism  about  me,  and,  thereupon,  they 
shall  take  me  up  as  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  1  protest  they  shall  not 
make  fun  of  me,  as  they  have  of  General  Cass,  by  attempting  to  write  me  into  a 
military  hero. 

Mr.  Speaker,  let  our  democratic  friends  be  comforted  with  the  assurance,  that  we 
are  content  with  our  position,  content  with  our  company,  and  content  with  our 
candidate;  and  that,  although  they,  in  their  •generous  sympathy,  think  we  ought 
to  be  miserable,  we  really  are  not,  and  now  they  may  dismiss  the  great  anxiety 
they  have  on  our  account. 

They  are  kind  enough  to  remind  us  that  we  have  some  dissensions  in  our  ranks ; 
I  knew  we  had  dissenters,  but  I  did  not  know,  they  were  trying  to  get  our  candi- 
date away  from  us.  Have  the  democrats  no  dissenters?  Is  it  all  union  and  har- 
mony in  your  ranks?  No  bickering?  No  divisions?  If  there  be  doubt  as  to  which 
of  our  divisions  will  get  our  candidate,  is  there  no  doubt  as  to  which  of  your  candi- 
dates will  get  your  party?  I  have  heard  some  things  from  New  York ;  and  if  they 
oie  true,  we  might  well  say  of  your  party  there,  as  a  drunken  fellow  once  said  when 
he  heard  the  reading  of  an  indictment  for  hog-stealing.  The  clerk  read  on  till  he 
got  to,  and  through  the  words  "  did  steal,  take,  and  carry  away,  ten  boars,  ten  sows, 
ten  shoats,  and  ten  pigs,"  at  which  he  exclaimed— "Well,  by  golly,  that  is  the  most 
equally  divided  gang  of  hogs  I  ever  did  hear  of."  If  there  is  any  gang  of  hogs  more 
equally  divided  than  the  democrats  of  New  York  are  about  this  time,  I  have  not 
heard  of  it. 

On  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  a  trip 
into  JSTew  England',  and  spoke  often  and  earnestly  in  favor  of 
General  Taylor's  election.  He  also  stumped  Illinois  and 
other  parts  of  the  West,  with  great  effect  during  this  Presi- 
dential canvass.  General  Taylor's  election  inspired  hopes 
that  the  administration  would  be,  at  least,  fair  and  just 
towards  the  North  on  the  slavery  question. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-first  Congress,  the 
most  important  and  significant  act  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  was 
the  introduction  into  the  House,  of  a  bill  to  abolish  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  bill  provided  that  no  per- 
son from  without  the  district  should  be  held  to  slavery  within 
it,  and  n-o  person  thereafter,  born  within  the  district,  should 
be  held  to  slavery.  It  provided  that  officers  of  the  govern- 
ment, being  citizens  of  slave  states,  coming  into  the  district 
on  public  business,  might  bring  their  slaves  temporarily  into 
the  district,  and  hold  them  while  necessarily  engaged  in  pub- 
lic business.  It  provided  for  the  emancipation  of  all  slaves 
legally  held  within  the  district,  at  the  will  of  the  masters,  and 
that  full  compensation  should  be  made  by  the  government, 
and  that  the  act  should  be  subjected  to  the  approval  of  the 
people  of  the  district. 


BILL  TO  ABOLISH  SLAVERY  .  85 

The  provisions  of  this  bill  have  been  quoted  as  evidence 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  a  thoroughly  anti-slavery  man.  So 
far  from  proving  this,  it  establishes  the  fact  that  he  was  such, 
and  it  proves  also,  that  he  was  a  practical  statesman,  and  not 
a  visionary  theorist.  He  believed  slavery  was  unjust  to  the 
slave,  and  impolitic  for  the  nation,  and  he  meant  to  do  all  in 
his  power  to  get  rid  of  it.  He  prepared  his  bill  with  reference 
to  the  condition  of  public  sentiment,  at  that  time,  and  what 
was  possible  to  be  accomplished.  The  bill  represents  what 
lie  hoped  could,  by  the  action  of  Congress,  become  a  law, 
rather  than  his  own  abstract  views  of  justice  and  right.  The 
result  showed  that  even  this  bill  would  not  be  tolerated  by 
the  slaveholders.  Their  opposition  was  so  decided  and 
unanimous,  that  the  bill  could  not  even  be  brought  to  a  vote. 

On  the  question  whether  slaves  used  and  lost  by  the  offi- 
cers of  the  government  while  engaged  in  the  Seminole  war, 
should  be  paid  for,  as  property,  which  was  raised  in  the  cele- 
bratedPachecocase,  Mr.  Lincoln  voted,  "no!"  He  would  not 
pay  for  them ;  thus  refusing  to  recognize  property  in  slaves, 
as  against  the  right  of  the  government  to  the  services  of  all 
citizens,  or  persons  black  or  white,  in  time  of  war. 

Mr.  Gott,  of  New  York,  introduced  a  resolution  instruct- 
ing the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia,  to  report  a 
bill  abolishing  the  slave  trade.  Mr.  Lincoln  moved  an 
amendment,  instru  ;ting  the  Committee  to  report  a  bill  to 
abolish,  not  the  slave  trade,  but  slavery. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Congressional  term  ended  March  4th,  1849; 
he  declined  a  reelection,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  eloquent 
E.  D.  Baker. 

He  was  a  candidate  for  the  appointment  of  Commissioner 
of  the  General  Land  Office,  from  President  Taylor;  for  which 
place,  he  was  recommended  by  the  whig  State  Central  Com- 
mittee of  Illinois. '  It  was  given  to  Justin  Butterfield,  a 
distinguished  lawyer  of  Chicago. 

Is^Mr.  Lincoln  was  tendered  the  position  of  Secretary, 
and  then  of  Governor  of  Oregon ;  but  fortunately  for  him, 
and  the  country,  providentially,  I  ought  to  say,  he  declined. 
There  was  work  for  him  this  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
In  1849-50,  he  was  voted  for  by  his  party  in  the  Illinois 


86        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Legislature,  for  the  Senate ;  but  the  democrats  had  a  large 
majority.  The  vote  was  a  recognition  of  his  position  as  the 
leader  of  his  party. 

From  Mr.  Lincoln's  retirement  from  Congress,  in  1849, 
until  the  passage  of  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill,  in  1854, 
he  was  engaged  in  the  laborious  and  succesful  practice  of 
his  profession.  He  rode  the  circuit,  attended  the  terms  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  United  States  District  and  Circuit 
Courts,  and  held  a  leading  position  at  the  bar. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  father  of  four  children,  Robert,  Ed- 
ward who  died  in  infancy;  William,  the  beautiful  and  most 
promising  boy,  who  died  at  Washington,  during  his  Presi- 
dency, and  Thomas.  The  oldest  and  youngest,  are  living. 
Robert,  a  promising  young  man,  who  graduated  with  dis- 
tinction at  Harvard,  Massachusetts,  and  who  served  for  a 
short  time,  on  the  stall'  of  General  Grant.  Thomas,  the 
youngest,  is  receiving  his  education  at  the  excellent  public 
schools  in  Chicago.  The  tenderness,  affection,  and. indul- 
gence of  Mr.  Lincoln  for  his  family, were  conspicuous,  even 
While  burdened  with  the  cares  of  the  Presidency.  He  was 
an  indulgent  and  most  affectionate  father.  The  loss  of  his 
son  Willie,  seemed  to  make  his  affection  for  the  youngest  a 
passion.  In  the  midst  of  the  cares  and  annoyances  of  the 
Presidency,  he  was  in  the  daily  habit  of  reading  to  this  child, 
a  chapter  in  the  Bible.  He  governed  his  children  by  affec- 
tion. His  severest  censure  was  an  affectionate  reproach. 
After  the  death  of  William,  he  seemed  to  cling,  if  possible, 
still  more  closely  to  the  others,  and  it  was  no  unusual  thing, 
for  the  visitor  at  the  White  House,  on  the  gravest  subject, 
to  find  the  President,  with  his  young  boy,  "  Taddy,''  as  he 
was  called,  in  his  arms. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  good,  natural  mechanic,  and  when  he 
again  entered  public  life,  was  rapidly  acquiring  distinction  as 
a  patent  lawyer.  In  the  great  case  of  McCormick  against 
Manny,  involving  the  question  of  infringement  of  the  patent 
of  McCormick's  celebrated  reaper,  he  was  engaged  for  Manny. 
It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  in  this  case,  he  was  opposed,  among 
others,  by  two  members  of  his  cabinet,  Messrs.  Seward  and 


LINCOLN  AGAIN  AT  THE  BAR.  87 

Stanton,  the  latter  then  practicing  law  at  Pittsburgh,  and 
Washington,  with  great  distinction.  Mr.  Lincoln  invented, 
and  patented,  an  apparatus  for  lifting  steamers  over  shoals 
and  bars,  in  the  Western  rivers.  The  curious,  may  find  the 
model,  made  by  himself,  among  the  curiosities  of  the  Patent 
Office,  at  the  Capital.  His  practical  skill,  as  a  mechanic,  his 
wonderful  power  of  statement  and  illustration,  his  ability  to 
make  the  most  abstruse  point  clear  to  the  common  mind, 
made  him  almost  unequalled  as  a  patent  lawyer.  He  had,  at 
this  period  of  his  life,  a  very  large,  and  it  might  have  been, 
a  very  lucrative  practice,  but  his  fees  were,  as  his  brethren 
of  the  law  called  them,  ridiculously  small.  He  lived  simply 
and  respectably,  with  no  expensive  tastes  or  habits,  his  wants 
being  few  and  simple.  The  only  instance  known  of  his  tak- 
ing a  fee,  regarded  as  large,  was  the  charge  of  five  thousand 
dollars,  to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  for  services,  in  a  very 
important  case  in  the  Supreme  Court.  This  rich  corporation, 
with  a  road  and  branches,  running  more  than  seven  hundred 
miles  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  the  case  involving  questions 
of  great  difficulty,  and  of  vast  pecuniary  importance  to  the 
corporation,  his  friends  insisted  that  he  should  charge  a 
liberal  fee  for  the  very  important  and  valuable  services  he 
rendered.  He  never,  knowingly,  accepted  a  fee  to  support 
frau'd,  injustice,  or  wrong;  but  to  the  poor,  the  oppressed, 
the  weak,  his  services  were  ever  ready,  with  or  without  a  fee. 
The  son  of  a  poor  widow,  who  had,  in  his  early  struggles, 
befriended  Lincoln  and  rendered  him  many  kind  offices,  was 
indicted  for  murder;  Lincoln,  the  moment  he  heard  of  it, 
wrote  her  a  letter  volunteering  to  defend  her  son.  It  was 
a  case  where  public  prejudice  was  strong  against  the  accused, 
and  the  principal  witness  swore,  that  he  saw,  by  the  bright 
light  of  the  moon,  the  prisoner  give  the  death-blow.  Mr. 
Lincoln  showed,  by  reference  to  the  almanac,  that  there  was  no 
moon  on  the  night  in  question.  The  case  brought  out  all  his 
power,  as  an  advocate.  His  appeal  and  arguments  were  irre- 
sistible, and  he  carried  the  jury  and  the  crowd  with  him. 
When  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  "  not  guilty"  the  aged 
mother  fainted  in  the  arms  of  her  son.  Such  was  Lincoln's 
grateful  return  to  the  poor  woman,  who  had  aided  him  in 


88        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

his  days  of  struggle  with  poverty.  In  his  arguments  at  the 
bar,  Mr.  Lincoln's  style  was  generally  plain  and  unimpas- 
sioned,  and  his  professional  bearing  was  so  high  and  honora- 
ble, that  no  man  ever  questioned  his  truthfulness,  or  his 
honor.  'No  one,  who  ever  watched  him  for  half  an  hour,  in 
a  hard  contested  case,  would  doubt  his  ability.  He  had  a 
clear  insight  into  the  human  heart;  knew  jury,  witnesses, 
parties,  attorneys,  and  how  best  to  address  and  manage  all. 
His  statement  of  his  case  was  an  argument  of  itself;  his 
illustrations,  often  quaint  and  homely,  yet  always  clear  and 
presented  with  sincerity  and  earnestness  of  manner,  gener- 
ally carried  conviction.  He  never  misstated  evidence,  or 
law,  but  met  the  case  squarely  and  fairly.  Such  was  Mr. 
Lincoln  at  the  bar,  a  fair,  honest,  able  lawyer,  on  the  right 
side,  always  successful — avoiding,  carefully,  the  wrong  side, 
and  when  he  found  himself  upon  it,  either  throwing  up  his 
case,  or  making  an  effort  so  weak,  that  the  jury,  generally 
said,  "  Lincoln  is  on  the  wrong  side;  he  don't  try." 

The  last  case  which  Mr.  Lincoln  ever  tried,  was  the  case 
of  Jones  v.  Johnson,  tried  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court 
at  Chicago,  in  the  Spring  of  1860,  before  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Drummond,  District  Judge.  The  case  involved  the  title  to 
land  of  great  value,  which  had  been  formed  by  accretion,  on 
the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  by  the  gradual  action  of  the 
lake.  It  led  to  an  investigation  of  ancient  land  marks  and 
boundaries,  old  Government  surveys,  and  maps;  the  loca- 
tion of  the  lake  shore  when  the  town  of  Chicago  was  first 
platted  into  town  lots,  etc.  It  involved  the  recollections  of 
the  old  settlers,  and  was  a  case  peculiarly  fitted  for  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's powers.  The  case  was  tried  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  and 
Messrs.  Wilson  &  Fuller,  and  others,  for  the  plaintiff,  Jones, 
and  by  Judge  B.  S.  Morris,  and  the  author,for  the  defendant. 

Mr.  Lincoln  obtained  a  verdict  in  favor  of  his  client,  al- 
though in  the  previous  trials,  the  result  had  been  the  other 
way. 


OHAPTEE   IT. 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  FROM  1854  TO  1858. 

LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATE  AT  SPRINGFIELD,  1855  —  AT  PEO- 
RIA — ELECTION  OF  TRUMBULL  TO  THE  SENATE — REORGANIZA- 
TION OF  PARTIES  ON  THE  SLAVERY  ISSUE — THE  REPUBLICAN 
PARTY  —  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1856  —  MARGARET  GARNER 
— BROOKS'  ASSAULT  ON  SUMNER — LINCOLN'S  HATRED  OF  SLAV- 
ERY —  BUCHANAN  —  KANSAS  —  LECOMPTON  —  DOUGLAS  —  THE 
DRED  SCOTT  CASE — SLAVERY  DOMINANT,  AND  ITS  EFFECTS 
UPON  THE  REPUBLIC. 

IN  1854,  events  occurred,  which  brought  into  public  action 
all  the  power  and  energy  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  the  struggle  for,  and  outrages  in  Kan- 
sas, brought  him  again  prominently  before  the  people  of  Illi- 
nois, and  from  this  time,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  conflict 
between  freedom  and  slavery,  until  he  was  elevated  to  the 
Presidency.  The  conviction  settled  upon  his  mind,  that  there 
could  be  no  peace  on  the  slavery  question,  until  freedom  or 
slavery  should  triumph. 

When  Senator  Douglas  returned  to  Illinois,  after  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  he  was  met  by  a  storm  of 
indignation,  which  would  have  overwhelmed  a  man  of  less 
power  and  will.  Like  a  bold  and  couragous  man,  confident  of 
his  power  over  the  people,  he  met  the  storm,  and  sought  to 
overcome  it.  At  his  first  attempt  to  address  the  people  at 
Chicago,  he  was  refused  a  hearing,  but  he  would  be,  arid  was 
heard.  Early  in  October,  the  State  fair  was  held  at  Spring- 
field, and  his  personal  and  political  friends  from  all  parts  of 
the  State,  made  it  a  point  to  be  there,  as  it  was  known  Doug- 
las would  be  present  and  attempt  to  vindicate  his  action. 
When  it  was  known  that  Douglas  was  to  speak,  Lincoln  was 

89 


90        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

called  upon  by  those  who  disapproved  of  the  course  of  the 
Senator,  to  reply.  Douglas  spoke  to  a  vast  crowd  of  people, 
with  his  usual  great  ability.  His  long  experience  in  debate, 
his  confidence  in  himself,  made  him  somewhat  arrogant  and 
overbearing.  Lincoln  listened  to  his  speech,  and  at  the  close, 
it  was  announced,  that  he  would,  on  the  following  day,  reply. 
Douglas  was  present  at  this  reply,  which  occupied  more  than 
three  hours;  during  all  this  long  period,  Lincoln  held  his 
vast  audience  in  close  attention.  No  report  of  this  speech 
has  been  made,  but  it  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  greatest 
efforts  of  his  life.  A  by-stander,  describing  the  speaker  and 
the  speech,  says.  "  His  whole  heart  was  in  the  subject.  He 
quivered  with  feeling  and  emotion.  The  house  was  as 
still  as  death."  The  effect  of  the  speech  was  most  magnetic 
and  powerful ;  cheer  upon  cheer  interrupted  him.  Women 
waved  their  handkerchiefs,  men  sprung  from  their  seats  and 
waved  their  hats,  in  uncontrollable  enthusiasm. 

As  soon  as  Lincoln  concluded,  Douglas  sprung  to  the  stand 
and  said  he  had  been  abused,  "though  in  a  perfectly  courte- 
ous manner."  He  spoke  until  the  hour  for  supper,  but  with- 
out his  usual  success.  He  said  he  would  continue  his  re- 
marks in  the  evening,  but  he  did  not.  He  was  evidently, 
unprepared  for  the  tremendous  effort  of  Lincoln,  and  could 
not  immediately,  recover  from  it. 

Their  next  place  of  meating  was  at  Peoria;  Mr.  Lincoln  fol- 
lowed Douglas  to  that  place,  and  challenged  the  discussion. 
On  this  occasion,  as  at  Springfield,  Lincoln  replied  to  Doug- 
las, in  a  speech  of  some  three  hours  length,  and  carried  the 
audience,  almost  unanimously  with  him.  On  these  two  occa- 
sions, more  perhaps  than  any  other  in  his  life,  was  Douglas 
disconcerted  by  the  vigor  and  power  of  the  reply  to  him.  A 
consciousness  of  being  in  the  wrong  may  have  contributed  to 
this  result.  It  was  perfectly  clear,  that  Lincoln  spoke  from 
the  most  deep  and  earnest  conviction  of  right,  and  his  man- 
ner indicated  this.  Mr.  Lincoln  desired  to  continue  the  dis- 
cussion, with  the  author  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  in  other 
parts  of  the  State,  but  Douglas  declined. 

General  Shields,  who  was  the  colleague  of  Douglas  in  the 
Senate,  whose  term  was  about  to  expire,  had  voted,  under 


ELECTION  OF  TRUMBULL  TO  THE  SENATE.  91 

the  influence  of  Douglas,  for  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill.  He 
was  a  candidate  for  reelection.  Mr.  Lincoln  having  been  the 
leader  of  the  whig  party,  now  the  leader  of  all  who  opposed 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  the  Kansas  out- 
rages, was  brdught  prominently  forward  for  the  place.  The 
free  soil  democrats, whigs,  and  liberty  party  men,  were  united 
and  carried  a  majority  of  the  Legislature.  Lincoln  would 
have  been  elected  Senator,  as  he  was  the  choice  of  a  large 
majority  of  the  anti-Nebraska  members,  so  elected;  but 
among  the  Senators,  who  had  been  elected  as  democrats,  and 
who  held  over,  but  who  would  vote  for  an  anti-Nebraska 
democrat,  for  the  Senate,  were  N.  B.  Judd,  B.  C.  Cook,  Pal- 
mer, (now  Major  General  Palmer,)  and  Parks.  These  gentle- 
men, while  appreciating  Mr.  Lincoln's  ability,  and  his  great 
services,  felt  that  they  could  not  vote  for  a  whig,  and  brought 
forward  Lyman  Trumbull,  as  a  candidate.  On  ascertaining 
these  facts,  seeing  danger,  that  unless  prevented  by  the  imme- 
diate concentration  of  the  anti-Nebraska  members,  Governor 
Matteson,  a  democrat  would  be  elected,  Mr.  Lincoln,  with 
the  generous  magnanimity  and  unselfish  devotion  to  princi- 
ple which  ever  characterized  him,  withdrew  his  name  as  a 
candidate;  and  by  earnest,  personal  appeals,  induced  his 
friends  to  vote  solid  for  Judge  Trumbull,  and  thus  secured 
his  election.  Meanwhile  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress  had 
been  elected  and  convened  in  December,  1855.  The  old 
whig  party  had  been  dissolved,  and  out  of  it  had  sprung  two 
parties,  calling  themselves  the  American,  and  the  republican 
parties.  At  this  Congress,  neither  party  having  a  majority,  a 
long  struggle  ensued  for  the  election  of  Speaker,  which  after 
sixty  days'  ballotting,  resulted  in  the  election  of  N.  P.  Banks, 
of  Massachusetts,  over  ex-Governor  Aiken,  of  South  Carolina. 
The  slavery  question  absorbed  public  attention,  and  political 
contests  before  the  people,  centered  more  and  more  upon 
that  question,  as  the  Presidential  election  of  1856  approached. 
The  friends  of  freedom,  elevated  by  the  consciousness  of 
a  great  cause,  animated  by  the  advocacy  of  great  principles, 
and  a  generous  love  of  liberty,  conscious  of  the  moral  sub- 
limity of  their  position,  grew  more  and  more  confident  of 
success.  The  slavery  question,  had  shattered  and  broken  up 


92        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  old  party  organizations.  From  the  fragments  of  former 
parties,  there  existed  the  material,  which  if  it  could  be 
united,  and  brought  together,  would  constitute  a  powerful 
and  successful  party. 

There  had  been  in  the  great  democratic  organization,  an 
earnest  and  powerful  element  opposed  to  slavery;  but  as  that 
party  had  passed  more  and  more  into  the  control  Of  the  slave- 
holders, this  element  had  been  driven  out.  The  old  whig 
party  had  been  broken  up ;  the  party  calling  itself  American, 
was  not  sufficiently  broad,  national,  and  catholic  to  suit  the 
American  people.  The  time  had  come,  it  was  believed  by 
many,  for  the  organization  of  a  new  party,  which  should 
embody  the  vitality,  vigor,  and  the  genuine  democratic  prin- 
ciples of  the  ancient  democracy ;  a  party  which  earnestly  and 
heartily  believed  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  a  party 
that  should  combine  the  best  elements  of  the  old  parties,  and 
all  the  earnest  anti-slavery  men  of  the  country. 

This  new  organization  needed  a  leader,  and  found  one, 
unconciously  to  itself,  and  to  him,  in  Abraham  Lincoln.  He 
was  selected  by  the  instincts  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  In 
principle,  in  character,  he  was,  of  all  others,  the  representative 
man  of  this  new  organization. 

The  aggressions  of  the  slaveholders,  and  their  outrages  in 
Kansas,  had  intensified  the  feeling  of  hostility  to  slavery, 
and  in  that  hostility,  was  to  be  found  a  common  bond  of 
union. 

Hitherto  the  democratic  party,  under  the  attractive  name 
of  democracy,  had  secured  the  vote  of  the  foreign  born  citi- 
zens of  the  republic.  But  a  large  and  intelligent  class,  in- 
cluding the  Swedes  and  Norwegians,  and  a  very  numerous - 
body  of  Germans,  and  others,  when  they  saw  an  organiza- 
tion distinctly  hostile  to  slavery,  which,  in  all  its  forms  they 
abhored,  placing  itself  upon  the  broad  principle  of  liberty, 
felt  that  their  true  position  was  in  the  ranks  of  this  new  party. 
If  this  powerful  foreign  element  could  be  detached  from  the 
democracy,  and  join  the  new  party  now  crystalizing,  it 
would  contribute  very  largely  towards  its  early  success. 

But  there  were  strong  prejudices  to  be  overcome  between 
these  foreign  born  citizens  and  that  portion  of  the  new  party 
who  had  been  called  Americans. 


THT  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  93 

The  new  party  was  organized  in  the  Northwest,  and  thus 
the  first  cordial  union  between  the  Americans,  and  the  foreign 
born  citizens,  was  established  upon  the  basis  of  hostility  to, 
and  the  restriction  of,  slavery.  The  leaders  of  this  new 
party  called  a  convention  at  Pittsburgh,  on  the  22d  of  Febru- 
ary, 1856.  This  convention  laid  down  a  platform  of  broad, 
comprehensive  principles,  and  inaugurated  the  republican 
party.  F.  P.  Blair,  Sen.,  was  a  leading  member  of  this 
convention. 

A  convention  of  the  people  of  Illinois  was  called  at  Bloom- 
ington,  in  May,  1856,  to  appoint  delegates  to  the  National 
convention  which  was  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  in  June,  to 
nominate  candidates  for  President  and  Vice  President.  The 
free-soil  democrats,  anti-Nebraska  democrats,  whigs,  Ameri- 
cans, and  liberty  men  of  Illinois,  and  of  all  nationalities, 
were  brought  together  at  this  convention,  and  mainly  through 
the  influence  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  united  on  the  broad  platform 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  hostility  to  the  ex- 
tension of  slavery. 

Great  difficulty  was  found  in  laying  down  a  satisfactory 
platform  of  principles;  finally,  after  much  controversy  and 
discussion,  with  no  satisfactory  result,  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was 
present,  was  sent  for- by  the  committee  on  resolutions,and 
he  solved  the  difficulty,  by  suggesting  that  all  could  unite 
on  the  principles  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence and  hostility  to  the  extension  of  slavery.  This  sug- 
gestion was  immediately  accepted.  "  Let  us,"  said  he,  "  in 
building  our  new  party,  plant  ourselves  on  the  rock  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,"  and  "  the  gates  of  hell,  shall 
not  be  able  to  prevail  against  us."  The  convention,  there- 
upon resolved, 

"  That  all  men  are  endowed  with  the  inalienable  right  to 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  and  that  the  ob- 
ject of  government  is  to  secure  these  rights  to  all  persons 
within  its  jurisdiction;"  this,  and  hostility  to  slavery,  and  a 
determination  to  resist  its  further  extension,  was  the  sub- 
stance of  the  platform  adopted.  Thus  was  organized  the 
party,  that  revolutionized  the  democratic  State  of  Illinois, 


94        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

against   the   powerful  influence  of  Douglas,  and  ultimately 
elected  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency. 

The  representatives  of  this  new  party  from  all  parts  of 
the  free  States,  and  some  of  the  slave  States,  met  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  June,  1856.  The  great  difficulty  in  regard  to 
union  was  again  successfully  encountered,  and  overcome, 
mainly  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  his  friends 
from  the  Northwest.  The  platform  was  substantially  the 
same  as  that  on  which  the  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  had  de- 
termined to  fight  the  battle  in  Illinois.  The  convention 
nominated  John  C.  Frement  for  President,  and  William  L. 
Dayton,  for  Vice  President.  It  was  at  this  convention,  that 
Mr.  Lincoln,  as  the  leading  statesman  of  the  broad,  national 
Northwest  began  to  be  appreciated,  and  in  the  informal  ballot 
for  Vice  President,  he  received  one  hundred  and  ten  votes. 

The  democratic  party  met  at  Cincinnati,  on  the  2d  of  June, 
and  on  the  first  ballot  for  President,  the  vote  was  for  James 
Buchanan,  135,  Franklin  Pierce,  122,  S.  A.  Douglas,  33.  On 
the  sixteenth  ballot,  the  vote  stood,  Buchanan,  168,  Douglas, 
121.  Buchanan  was  afterwards  nominated,  Douglas  being 
considered  unavailable,  because  of  his  direct  connection  with 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  and  Pierce,  because 
of  the  outrages  committed  upon  the  free  State  setlers  in 
Kansas,  under  his  administration.  John  C.  Breckenridge  was 
nominated  for  Vice  President. 

The  convention,  although  it  could  not  nominate  Douglas, 
yet  "  adopted  the  principles  contained  in  the  organic  laws,  estab- 
lishing the  Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  It  also 
endorsed  the  compromise  measures  of  1850. 

By  the  course  of  the  Southern  whigs,  in  voting  for  the  re- 
peal of  the  Missouri  compromise,  and  the  subsequent  support 
by  its  leaders,  of  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  that 
venerable  party  was  broken  up,  a  large  portion  of  its  young 
and  active  men  joined  the  free-soil  democrats  and  liberty 
men,  in  organizing  and  strengthening  the  republican  party. 

A  portion  of  its  aged  and  very  respectable  members,  some- 
times called  "Silver  Greys,"  from  their  venerable  appearance, 
made  up,  what  was  called  an  American  party,  and  these 
nominated  Millard  Fillmore  for  President,  and  Andrew  J. 


ELECTION  OF  EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-SIX.  95 

Donellson,  for  Vice  President.  When  the  convention  nomin- 
ating these  gentlemen,  laid  upon  the  table,  a  resolution,  de- 
claring, "  That  the  convention  should  nominate  no  man  for 
President  and  Vice  President,  who  was  not  in  favor  of  inter- 
dicting the  introduction  of  slavery  into  territory  North  of 
36°  30",  by  Congressional  action;"  about  fifty  delegates 
withdrew  from  the  convention,  and  gave  their  influence  for 
Fremont  and  Dayton. 

The  republican  convention,  nominating  Fremont  and  Day- 
ton, placed  itself  distinctly  and  squarely  on  the  great  principle 
of  American  freedom  so  emphatically  asserted  in  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  and  declared,  "  That  with  our  repub- 
lican Fathers,  we  believe  it  to  be  a  self-evident  truth,  that 
all  men  are  endowed  with  the  inalienable  rights  of  life,  lib- 
erty, and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  and  that  it  was  the  ob- 
ject of  the  Federal  Government  to  secure  these  rights  to  all 
persons,  within  its  exclusive  jurisdiction,  and  the  convention 
denied  the  right  of  Congress,  a  territorial  Legislature,  or  any 
individual,  or  association  of  individuals,  to  give  legal  exist- 
ence to  slavery  in  any  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  de- 
clared that  it  was  the  right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit 
in  the  territories,  these  twin  relics  of  barbarism,  poligamy, 
and  slavery." 

Then  followed  one  of  the  most  animated,  and  closely  con- 
tested political  campaigns  known  in  the  history  of  the  repub 
lie.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  October  State  elections,  the  suc- 
cess of  the  republican  party  seemed  very  probable.  The 
democratic  party,  however,  succeeded  in  carrying,  by  small 
majorities,  Pennsylvania,  and  Indiana,  and  this  virtually, 
settled  the  contest.  Buchanan  received  172  electoral  votes, 
Fremont,  114;  and  Fillmore,  the  vote  of  the  State  of  Mary- 
land. The  republican  vote  was  largely  increased,  by  the  out- 
rages upon  Northern  feeling,  in  the  offensive  and  inhuman 
enforcement  of  the  fugitive  slave  law. 

Two  incidents  occurred,  during  the  year,  and  before  the 
Presidential  election,  calculated  to  inflame  the  feelings  of  he 
free  States,  and  strikingly  illustrative  of  the  character  of 
slavery  and  the  barbarism  produced  by  it. 


96        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

One  morning,  in  January,  18.56,  two  families  of  slaves 
escaped  from  Kentucky,  and  flying  across  the  Ohio  river, 
on  the  ice,  they  found  refuge  in  the  house  of  a  poor  negro. 
They  were  followed,  traced,  overtaken,  and  breaking  open 
the  door,  a  scene  burst  upon  the  eyes  of  the  pursuers, 
which  exhibits  slavery  as  it  was,  before  the  war.  In  one 
corner  of  the  room,  lay  a  beautiful  child,  nearly  white,  bleed- 
ing to  death,  with  its  throat  cut.  In  an  adjoining  room,  was 
the  mother  of  the  bleeding  child,  Margaret  Garner,  with 
two  other  wounded  children,  with  the  bloody  knife  in  her 
hand,  seeking  to  take  their  lives,  desiring  to  kill  all  her 
children  rather  than  they  should  be  taken  back  to  slavery. 

They  were  all  arrested,  and  the  living  taken  back  to  Ken- 
tucky— sent  South,  and  all  trace  of  them  lost  in  that  hell  of 
slavery  existing  in  the  Gulf  States.  This  mother,  who  thus 
sought  liberty  for  her  children  in  death,  was  a  beautiful  mu- 
latto, twenty-three  years  of  age,  of  good  character ;  she  said  she 
had  determined  to  kill  all  her  children,  and  then  herself, 
rather  than  go  back  to  slavery. 

The  other  incident,  to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  was 
the  attack  upon  Charles  Sumner,  Senator  from  Massachu- 
setts, by  Preston  Brooks,  a  member  of  Congress  from  South 
Carolina.  Mr.  Sumner  had  made  an  eloquent  speech,  on  the 
Kansas  question,  exhibiting  the  barbarism  of  slavery,  and 
had  spoken,  with  some  severity  of  Butler,  of  South  Carolina, 
a  relative  of  Brooks.  Mr.  Brooks,  with  Keitt,  and  other 
abettors,  stole  into  the  Senate  Chamber,  approached  Sumner 
from  behind,  while  seated,  writing  at  his  desk,  knocked  him 
to  the  floor,  and  continued  to  beat  him,  while  insensible 
until  his  rage  was  thoroughly  satisfied. 

The  House  o/  Representatives  censured,  did  not  expel 
Brooks.  He  resigned  and  was  reflected  without  opposition. 
His  constituents  lauded  the  "  chivalric  act!''  Sumner's  real 
assassin  was  slavery !  He  has  lived  to  see  that  assassin  after 
striking  at  the  life  of  the  Nation,  and  at  last,  thoroughly 
arousing  it  —  crushed  beneath  that  Nation's  manhood  and/ 
power. 

There  were,  during  this  canvass,  many  threats,  by  leading 
men  in  the  slave  States,  that  in  case  Fremont  should  be 


LINCOLN'S  HOSTILITY  TO  SLAVERY  INCREASES.  97 

elected,  the  slave  States  would  secede  from  the  Union.  Little 
consideration,  or  attention  was  given  to  those  threats  ;  they 
were  regarded  as  idle  gasconade,  only  meant  to  influence 
voters. 

The  struggle  between  freedom  and  slavery,  still  went  on. 
The  slaveholders,  elated  with  their  triumph  in  the  election  of 
Buchanan,  were  now  confident  of  success.  The  friends  of  free- 
dom, so  far  from  being  discouraged  by  Fremont's  defeat, 
became  conscious  of  their  power,  and  nerved  themselves  for 
still  greater  efforts.  The  contest  of  1856  being  over,  they 
did  not  disband  their  forces  and  lay  down  their  arms,  but 
prepared  for  success  in  1860.  Old  party  issues  and  parties 
disappeared,  and  slavery  extension  became  the  vital  issue. 
Very  few,  however,  if  any,  doubted  that  the  contest  would 
t>e  settled  by  peaceful  agencies,  and  that  the  decision  of  the 
ballot  box  would  be  acquiesced  in,  or  if  not,  would  be 
appealed  for  new  trial  to  the  next  election,  as  was  ever  the 
American  custom. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  opposition  to  slavery,  became  more  and 
more  intense  with  time,  and  the  development  of  its  cruelties. 
Writing  to  a  friend  in  1855,  he  said,  "  I  hate  to  see  the  poor 
creatures  hunted  down,  caught,  and  carried  back  to  theii 
stripes  and  unrequited  toil."  Seeing,  in  a  steamboat,  going 
down  the  Ohio,  a  dozen  slaves  shackled  together  with  irons, 
he  said,  "  That  sight  was  a  continual  torment  to  me,  and  I 
see  something  like  it  every  time  I  travel  the  Ohio,  or  any 
other  slave  border." 

It  was  in  the  campaign  of  1856,  that  no  longer  embarrassed 
by  party,  but  standing  on  the  platform  of  freedom,  with 
which  his  whole  soul  sympathised,  he  exclaimed,  with  pro- 
phetic enthusiasm,  /""We  will,  hereafter,  speak  for  freedom, 
and  against  slavery,  as  long  as  the  Constitution  guarantees 
free  speech;  until  everywhere,  on  this  wide  land,  the  sun 
shall  shine,  and  the  rain  shall  fall,  and  the  wind  shall  blow 
upon  no  man  who  goes  forth  to  unrequited  toil." 

Ah !  how  little  did  Lincoln  think,  when  on  the  prairies  of 
Illinois,  he  uttered  that  noble  sentiment,  that  in  less  than 
eight  years,  his  voice  should  utter  the  potential  word  of 
7 


98        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"emancipation"  from  the  date  of  which,  thereafter,  "no  man 
should  go  forth  to  unrequited  toil." 

In  March,  1857,  Mr.  Buchanan  was  inaugurated  and  organ- 
ized his  cabinet ;  Lewis  Cass  was  made  Secretary  of  State, 
Ilowell  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  John 
B.  Floyd,  of  Virginia,  Secretary  of  War ;  Isaac  Toucey,  of 
Connecticut,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  Jacob  Thompson,  of 
Mississippi,  Secretary  of  the  Interior ;  Aaron  V.  Brown,  of 
Tennessee,  Postmaster  General;  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  of 
Pennsylvania,  Attorney  General. 

The  contest  for  the  possession  of  Kansas,  between  freedom 
and  slavery,  still  went  on.  The  free-State  men,  after  seeing 
Kansas  repeatedly  invaded  by  armed  men  from  Missouri,  the 
polls  taken  possession  of,  a  legislature  elected  by  non-resid- 
ents, and  the  acts  of  such  a  Legislature  recognized  by  the 
Federal  officials,  refused  to  participate  in  these  mock  elec- 
tions, and  calling  a  convention  of  the  actual  settlers,  the 
people  elected  delegates,  which  met  at  Topeka,  adopted  a 
free-State  Constitution,  submitted  it  to  the  people,  and  it  was 
almost  unanimously  adopted.  They  then  proceeded  to  elect 
officers  under  it.  This  brought  the  contending  parties  into 
direct  collision,  and  civil  war  menaced  Kansas.  Congress,  in 
the  winter  of  1856,  had  appointed  an  investigating  Committee 
consisting  of  William  A.  Howard,  of  Michigan,  John  Sher- 
man, of  Ohio,  and  M.  Oliver,  of  Missouri,  which,  after  full  in- 
vestigation, reported,  that  every  election  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  United  States  officials,  had  been  controlled, 
not  by  actual  settlers,  but  by  residents  of  Missouri,  and 
that  every  officer,  in  the  territory,  owed  his  election  to 
non-residents. 

The  people's  officers,  elected  under  the  Topeka  Constitu- 
tion, had  been  arrested  and  the  Legislature  dispersed  under 
orders  of  the  President,  by  United  States  regular  troops.  In 
January,  1858,  a  body,  calling  itself  the  Legislature  of  Kan- 
sas, elected  by  fraud,  pretended  to  submit  to  a  vote  of  the 
people,  a  Constitution,  called  from  the  place  where  the  Legis- 
lature had  met,  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  The  law  by 
which  this  was  submitted  to  a  vote,  contained  a  provision, 
that  all  votes  should  be  "for  the  Constitution  with  slavery; 


THE  LECOMPTON  CONSTITUTION.  99 

or  for  the  Constitution  without  slavery;"  and  yet  the  Consti- 
tution itself  recognized  slavery,  and  contained  a  provision 
restricting  the  Legislature  from  interfering  with  slavery  then 
in  the  territory,  before  1864! 

The  people,  by  a  vote  of  10,226,  againstj  to  less  than  200, 
for,  this  Constitution,  expressed  their  opinion  of  the  trick, 
and  yet  Mr.  Buchanan  liad  the  shameless  effrontery  to  urge 
upon  Congress,  the  admission  of  Kansas  under  this  Lecomp- 
ton  swindle !  It  was  by  such  disgraceful  means  that  the  states- 
men, so  called,  of  the  slave  States,  sought  to  force  slavery 
upon  Kansas. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  fatal  to  the 
supremacy  of  the  slave  power,  and  the  attempt  to  force  slav- 
ery upon  Kansas,  and  surreptitiously  to  introduce  her  into 
the  Union  as  a  slave  State,  under  the  lead  of  Buchanan, 
shattered  the  democratic  party,  and  contributed  largely  to 
the  triumph  of  the  republican  or  free-soil  party  of  1860. 

Douglas  had  the  sagacity  to  see  whither  the  extreme  course 
of  the  administration  was  tending,  and  the  courage  to  resist 
it.  He  led  the  opposition  in  the  Senate  to  the  Lecompton 
Constitution,  and  thereby  atoned  to  some  extent,  for  his 
instrumentality  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Missouri  Compromise. 

He  presented,  in  February,  1858,  the  remonstrance  of  the 
Governor  and  State  officers  elect,  of  Kansas,  elected  under 
the  Topeka  Constitution,  against  its  admission  under  the 
Lecompton  Constitution.  In  the  debate  on  this  question, 
Mr.  Fessenden,  of  Maine,  said  the  people  of  Kansas  had 
thrown  a  majority  of  over  10,000  votes  against  this  very 
Constitution.  That  the  great  question  through  all  the  Kansas 
struggle  had  been,  slavery,  or  no  slavery.  The  leading  idea 
of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  to  make  Kan- 
sas a  slave  State.  This  was  denied  by  Mr.  Douglas,  but  was 
reiterated  by  Mr.  Fessenden. 

A  passage  occurred  in  this  debate  between  Mr.  Fessenden 
and  Jefferson  Davis,  of  curious  interest.  Mr.  Davis  expressed 
his  concurrence  not  only  with  the  message  of  the  President, 
but  his  hearty  approbation  of  the  high  motives  that  actuated 
him  when  he  wrote  it.  Apparently  looking  forward  to  the 
separation  of  States,  he  held  that  a  Senator,  while  sitting  in 


100       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  Senate  Chamber,  was  in  the  relation  of  a  minister  to  a 
friendly  Court,  and  that  the  moment  he  sees  the  government  in 
hostility  to  his  own  State,  his  honor,  and  the  honor  of  his  State 
compel  him  to  vacate  the  seat  he  holds.  "  I  am,  said  he, 
not  in  the  habit  of  paying  lip  service  to  the  Union.  If 
through  a  life,  not  now  a  short  one,  a  large  portion  of  which 
has  been  spent  in  the  public  service,  I  have  given  no  better 
proof  of  my  affection  for  this  Union  than  my  declarations, 
I  have  lived  to  little  service  indeed.  Whatever  evil  may  be 
in  store  for  us,  I  trust  I  shall  be  able  to  turn  to  the  past  and 
say,  that  up  to  the  period  when  I  was  declining  into  the 
grave,  I  served  a  government  I  loved,  and  served  it  with  my 
whole  heart." 

Mr.  Fessenden  said,  "  /  have  avowed  no  disunion  senti- 
ments here  or  elsewhere.  Can  the  Hon.  Senator  from 
Mississippi  say  as  much  ?" 

Mr.  Davis,  "  Yes." 

Mr.  Fessenden,  "  I  am  glad  to  hear  him  say  so,  as  the 
newspapers  have  represented  him  as  making  a  speech  in  Mis- 
sissippi, in  which  he  said  he  came  into  Mr.  Pierce's  cabinet  a 
disunion  man." 

Although  the  bill  passed  th,e  Senate,  yet  by  the  determined 
and  powerful  opposition  of  the  republican  members,  aided 
by  a  few  votes  which  followed  Douglas  from  the  democratic 
ranks,  the  measure  finally  failed. 

The  opposition  of  Douglas  to  their  schemes  exasperated 
the  slaveholding  Senators,  and  they  sought  to  degrade  him  by 
removing  him  from  the  position  which  he  had  long  held,  of 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  territories.  This  was  done 
on  motion  of  the  infamous  Slidell,  of  Louisiana. 

But  Douglas  never  exhibited  more  commanding  ability 
than  when  he  led  the  opposition  in  the  Senate  to  the  Leeomp- 
ton  cheat.  The  defeat  of  this  scheme  was  for  him  a 
magnificent  Congressional  triumph. 

Buchanan  sent  his  tool,  Slidell,  to  Illinois  to  organize  a 
third  party  to  defeat  Douglas  in  the  approaching  canvass  for 
the  Senate. 

But  before  approaching  the  great  intellectual  combat  be- 
tween the  two  champions  of  the  Northwest,  Lincoln  and 


THE  DEED  SCOTT  CASE.  101 

Douglas,  we  must  mention  two  or  three  other  important 
topics  which  entered  into  the  discussion  referred  to,  and 
constitute  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  times. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Executive  and  Legislative  Depart- 
ments of  the  Government  had  long  been  under  the  control 
of  the  slaveholders.  The  Judicial  Department,  over  which 
had  once  presided  the  pure  and  spotless  abolitionist,  John 
Jay,  and  the  great  Constitutional  lawyer  and  intellectual 
giant,  John  Marshall,  had  become  an  object  of  profound 
reverence  to  the  people.  It  had  been  the  arena  of  the  high- 
est forensic  discussions,  involving  the  most  important  ques- 
tions of  private  rights  and  Constitutional  power.  The  great 
advocates  of  the  country,  lawyers  whose  names  are  classic 
in  forensic  literature,  Pinckney,  Henry,  Emmet,  Wirt,  Mason, 
Dexter,  Webster,  Clay,  Sargent,  Ogden,  and  others,  had 
there  discussed  with  matchless  ability,  questions  involving 
State  rights,  and  National  sovereignty  and  power,  as  well  as 
the  laws  of  Nations,  and  maritime  and  municipal  law.  This 
court  had  come  to  be  regarded  by  the  American  people  as 
the  most  dignified,  enlightened,  and  august  tribunal  on  earth. 
The  period  had  now  come  in  which  the  National  Judiciary 
was  to  be  prostituted,  and  American  Jurisprudence  disgraced 
by  its  efforts  to  uphold  and  strengthen  slavery. 
•  Dred  Scbtt,  a  negro,  held  as  a  slave  in  Missouri,  had  been 
voluntarily  taken  by  his  master  into  the  free  State  of  Illi- 
nois, and  subsequently  to  Fort  Snelling,  in  territory  lying 
North  of  the  line  of  36°  30",  where  slavery  was  prohibited 
by  law. 

Upon  the  well  settled  principle  of  law,  a  master  volun- 
tarily bringing  a  slave  upon  territory  where  slavery  is 
prohibited,  the  slave  becomes  free.  Dred  Scott  became  a 
freeman,  and  he  brought  suit  for  his  liberty,  and  the  case 
went  up  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  for  final 
decision,  was  argued,  and  was  to  have  been  decided  at  the 
term  of  1855. 

But  a  majority  of  the  judges,  in  view  of  the  pending  Pre~ 
idential  election,  and  the  intense  feeling  then  existing  on  the 
slavery  question,  postponed  the  decision  until  the  next  term, 
which  would  be  subsequent  to  the  Presidential  election. 


102       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

That  decision,  when  promulgated,  so  shocked  the  moral 
sense  of  the  people,  and  was  such  a  palpable  violation  of  law 
and  decency,  that  there  is  little  doubt  if  published  before  the 
election, it  would  have  changed  the  result. 

The  court,  through  Chief  Justice  Taney,  held:  First,  That 
Dred  Scott  being  descended  from  an  African  slave,  was  not, 
and  could  not  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  therefore 
could  not  maintain  a  suit  in  the  Federal  Courts.  This  ended 
the  case.  But  the  point  had  been  made  that  Scott  was  free 
by  operation  of  the  Missouri  Prohibition  of  1820.  The 
Chief  Justice,  and  a  majority  of  his  associates  eagerly  seized 
the  opportunity  to  pronounce  the  prohibition  of  slavery  un- 
constitutional and  void;  and  they  went  on  to  say  that  by  vir- 
tue of  the  Constitution,  slavery  existed  in  all  the  territories 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  Congress  could  not  prohibit  it. 

Thus  the  revolution  was  complete. 

The  Federal  Government  was  organized  upon  the  princi- 
ple that  slavery  was  local,  confined  to  State  limits,  and  Con- 
gress prohibited  it  in  all  the  then  existing  territories. 

The  Chief  Justice,  and  his  associates,  now  decided  that 
slavery,  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution,  was  legal  in  all  the 
territories,  and  that  the  right  to  take  and  hold  slaves  in  all 
the  territories,  was  a  right  which  Congress  could  not  prohibit. 

The  Chief  Justice  endeavored  to  show  that  colored  men 
were  not  included  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  under 
the  language  of  "all  men  are  created  equal,  etc.;"  but  he  de- 
clared that  "  for  more  than  a  century  before  the  date  of  that 
instrument,  they  had  been  regarded  as  beings  of  an  inferior 
order,  and  altogether  unfit  to  associate  with  the  white  race; 
and  so  far  inferior,  that  "  they  had  no  tights  which  the  white  man 
'was  bound  to  respect;"  and  that  the  negro  might  justly  and 
lawfully  be  reduced  to  slavery  for  his  benefit. 

Mr.  Justice  Curtiss,  in  his  able,  dissenting  opinion,  showed 
that  so  far  from  this  being  true,  that  in  the  States  of  New 
Hampshire,  New  York,  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  and 
North  Carolina,  negroes  had  been  not  only  citizens,  but  elec- 
tors and  voters.  Mr.  Justice  Catron,  of  Tennessee,  dissented 
from  the  opinion  of  the  court  that  Congress  could  not  legis- 
late for  the  territories;  he  said  "More  than  sixty  years  have 


THE  DRED  SCOTT  CASE.  103 

passed  away  since  Congress  has  exercised  power  to  govern 
territories  by  its  legislation  directly,  or  by  territorial  charters, 
subject  to  repeal;  and  it  is  now  too  late  to  call  in  question 
that  power." 

Thus  slavery  triumphed  in  every  department  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  seemed  to  hold  an  intrenched  and  unassailable 
'  position. 

How  does  George  Bancroft,  the  life  long  democrat,  but 
with  a  reputation  as  a  historian,  which  will  not  permit  him 
to  withhold  the  truth — when  speaking  at  the  grave  of  Lin- 
coln, and  in  the  presence  of  Eternity,  characterise  this 
decision?  He  says: 

The  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  without  any  necessity  or  occasion,  volun- 
teered to  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  theory  of  slavery ;  and  from  his  court  there  lay 
no/appeal  but  to  the  law  of  humanity  and  history.  Against  the  Constitution, 
against  the  memory  of  the  Nation,  against  a  previous  decision,  against  a  series  of 
enactments,  he  decided  that  the  slave  is  property ;  that  slave  property  is  entitled 
to  no  less  protection  than  any  other  property ;  that  the  Constitution  upholds  it  in 
every  territory  against  any  act  of  a  local  Legislature,  and  even  against  Congress 
iiself ;  or,  as  the  President  for  that  term  tersely  promulgated  the  saying,  "  Kansas 
is  as  much  a  slave  State]  as  South^ Carolina  or  Georgia;  slavery,  by  virtue  of  the 
Constitution,  exists  in  every  territory."  * 

I  have  thus  hastily  and  imperfectly,  but  I  hope  sugges- 
tively and  truthfully, traced  the  progress  of  the  slave  power 
in  the  republic,  from  the  revolution,  down. 

At  the  close  of  the  revolution,  it  was  a  feeble,  tolerated, 
local  institution.  The  moral  sense  and  religious  convictions, 
as  well  as  the  political  sentiments,  genius,  principles  of  the 
republic  were  against  it. 

But  slavery,  having  in  an  unfortunate  moment,  been  toler- 
ated by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  under  the  belief 
that  it  would  be  but  a  temporary  evil,  soon  aspired  to  power 
and  became  the  master  of  the  Government.  Conscious  of 
its  inherent  weakness,  it  demanded  additional  territory  for 
its  expansion.  First,  Louisiana,  then  Florida,  then  the  re- 
peal of  the  Missouri  restriction,  that  it  might  go  North  and 
West,  as  well  as  South;  then  Texas,  then  the  war  on  Mexico 
for  more  territory.  Up  to  the  period  of  the  Dred  Scott  deci- 
sion, slavery  had  generally  been  successful  upon  all  the  issues 
made  with  freedom.  It  was  now  perfectly  absolute  on  the 

*  Bancroft's  oration  on  Lincoln,  p.  13  and  14. 


104       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

bench  of  the  Supreme  Court,  as  was  painfully  illustrated  by  the 
doctrines  announced  in  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  It  controlled 
the  action  of  Congress.  It  directed  who  should  be  Presi- 
dent; and  no  party  had  thus  far  succeeded,  which  placed 
in  nomination  any  man  openly  hostile  to  it.  The  army  and 
the  Navy,  with  West  Point,  and  the  Naval  school  for  its  nur- 
series, were  its  right  and  left  hand  to  carry  out  its  purposes. 
The  control  of  the  National  treasure,  collected  and  paid 
largely  in  the  free  States,  was  in  the  hands  of  slaveholders. 
The  slaveholder  held  the  purse  and  the  sword;  he  ruled  at 
the  "White  House,  in  Congress,  and  on  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court;  and  represented  the  republic  at  home  and 
abroad. 

The  fairest  portion  of  the  republic,  with  the  richest  soil 
and  the  most  genial  climate,had  been  blighted  by  its  curse. 

That  portion  of  the  Union  where  slavery  existed,  was 
comparatively  poor,  sparsely  settled,with  little  thrift  or  com- 
fort; with  no  manufactures,  little  commerce;  very  far  behind 
the  free  States  in  culture,  arts,  and  intelligence.  Contrasted 
with  the  South,  with  its  rich,  natural  advantages,  was  rocky, 
coldj  bleak,  barren  New  England.  Under  the  influence  of 
free  labor,  every  valley  blo9ming  like  a  garden,  her  fields 
smiling  with  abundant  harvests,  every  hill  sheltering  a  thriv- 
ing village,  with  every  element  of  comfort;  with  commerce 
whitening  every  sea;  with  a  skilled  and  intelligent  labor  which 
sends  its  manufactures  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

Free  labor  produces  this  contrast,  and  everywhere  the 
passing  stranger  reads  in  every  object  he  sees,  that  liberty 
dwells  among  the  hills  and  mountains  of  New  England, 
while  slavery  blackens  and  desolates  the  sunny  plains  of  the 
South.  In  the  free  States  were  to  be  found  everywhere,  the 
church,  the  school  house,  the  comfortable  home,  the  news- 
paper, the  library,  and  everywhere  domestic  comfort,  refine- 
ment, culture,  the  arts  and  taste;  Christian  civilization  in  its 
highest  forms.  In  the  South  were  a  few  opulent  families 
living  in  luxury  and  ease;  families  highly  educated,  refined, 
of  great  social  attraction,  while  the  great  mass  of  the  white 
people  were  ignorant,  idle,  and  rude;  with  the  great  planta- 
tion, the  slave-huts,  squalor,  ignorance,  brutality.  Slavery 


EFFECTS  OF  SLAVERY.  105 

everywhere,  operating  as  a  moral  blight;  reducing  rapidly  a 
once  noble  race  into  barbarism. 

The  effect  of  slavery  in. retarding  the  material  prosperity 
of  the  country,  may  be  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  census 
tables,  and  a  comparison  between  the  free,  and  slave  States. 
Taking  for  illustration,  New  York  and  Virginia.  By  the 
census,  the  population  of  Virginia  in  1790,  was  748,308,  and 
in  1860,  1,596,318,  making  the  ratio  of  increase,  113,  32  per 
cent.  In  1790,  Few  York  numbered  340,120,  and  in  1860, 
3,880,735,  the  ratio  of  increase  being  1,040,99.  Thus  the 
rate  of  increase  in  New  York,  exceeded  that  of  Virginia, 
more  than  nine  to  one. 

In  1790,  the  population  of  Virginia,  was  largely  more  than 
double  that  of  New  York.*  In  1860,  the  population  of  New 
York  was  very  largely  more  than  double  that  of  Virginia. 

In  1790,  Virginia,  in  population,  ranked  first  of  all  the 
States,  and  New  York  the  fifth.  In~1860,  they  had  reversed 
their  position,  and  New  York  was  the  first,  and  Virginia  the 
fifth.  At  the  same  rate  of  progress,  from  1860,  to  1900,  as 
from  1790  to  1860,  Virginia  retaining  slavery,  would  have 
sunk  from  the  first,  to  the  twenty-first  State,  and  would  still 
continue  at  each  scceeding  decade,  descending  the  inclined 
plane  toward  the  lowest  position  of  all  the  States. 

Such  has  been,  and  still  continues  to  be,  the  effect  of  slav- 
ery, in  dragging  down  that  once  great  State  from  the  first, 
toward  the  last  in  rank  in  the  Unioii.  But  if,  as  in  the  ab- 
sence of  slavery  must  have  been  the  case,  Virginia  had  in- 
creased from  1790  to  1860,  in  the  same  ratio  as  New  York, 
her  population  in  1860,  would  have  been  7,789,141,  and  she 
must  always  have  remained  the  first  in  rank  of  all  the  States. 
The  census  proves  that  slavery  greatly  retards  the  increase 
of  wealth. 

By  tables  33  and  36  of  the  census  of  1860,  it  appears,  omit- 
ting commere,  that  the  products  of  industry,  as  given,  viz : 
of  agriculture,  manufactures,  mines,  and  fisheries,  were  that 
year,  in  New  York,  $606,000,000,  or  $156  per  capita,  and  in 
Virginia,  120,000,000,  or  $75  per  capita.  This  shows  a  total 
value  of  product  in  New  York,  more  than  five  times  greater 

See  preliminary  census  Rep.,  p.  132. 


106       LTNCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

than  in  Virginia,  and  per  capita,  more  than  two  to  one.  In- 
cluding the  earnings  of  commerce  and  all  business  not  given 
in  the  census,  it  will  be  shown  that  the  value  of  the  pro- 
ducts and  earnings  of  New  York,  in  1860,  exceeded  those  of 
Virginia,  at  least  seven  to  one.* 

The  war  taxes  of  the  Republic  may  be  very  great,  but  the 
tax  of  slavery  is  far  greater,  and  the  relief  from  it,  in  a  few 
years,  will  add  much  more  to  the  National  wealth  than  the 
whole  deduction  made  by  the  war  debt. 

The  population  of  the  United  States  would  have  reached, 
in  1860,  nearly  40,000,000,  and  our  wealth  have  been  more 
than  doubled,  if  slavery  had  been  extinguished  in  1790 ;  this 
is  one  of  the  revelations  made  by  the  census;  whilst  in 
science,  in  education,  and  National  power,  the  advance  would 
have  been  still  more  rapid,  and  the  moral  force  of  our  ex- 
ample and  success  would  have  controlled  for  the  benefit  of 
mankind,  the  institutions  of  the  world. 

Having  shown  how  much  the  material  progress  of  Vir- 
ginia, has  been  retarded  by  slavery,  let  us  now  consider  its 
effect  upon  her  moral  and  intellectual  development. 

The  number  of  newspapers  and  periodicals  in  New  York, 
in  1860,  was  542,  of  which,  365  were  political,  56  religious, 
63  literary,  58  miscellaneous;  and  the  number  of  copies  cir- 
culated in  1860,  was  320,930,884. 

The  number  in  Virginia,  was  139;  of  which,  117  were 
political,  13  religious,  3  literary,  6  miscellaneous;  and  the 
number  of  copies  circulated  in  1860,  was  26,772,568.  Thus 
the  annual  circulation  of  the  press  in  New  York,  was  twelve 
times  as  great  as  that  of  Virginia. 

The  number  of  public  schools  in  Virginia,  in  1850,  was 
2,937,  teachers  3,005,  pupils  67,438,  colleges,  academies,  etc., 
pupils  10,326,  attending  school  during  the  year,  as  returned 
by  families,  109,775;  native  white  adults  of  the  State  who 
cannot  read  or  write,  75,868. 

Public  libraries,  54;  volumes,  88,462;  value  of  churches, 
2,902.220.  By  table  155,  compendium  of  census,  the  per  cent- 
age  of  native  free  population  in  Virginia,  over  20  years  of  age 

*  Most  of  these  calculations  are  taken  from  an  able  pamphlet  of  the  Hon.  Robert 
J  Walker. 


EFFECTS  OF  SLAVERY.  107 

who  cannot  read  or  write,  is  19.90,  and  in  New  York,  1.87 ;  in 
North  Carolina,  30.34;  in  Maryland,  11.10;  in  Massachusetts, 
32,  or  less  than  one-third  of  one  per  cent.  In  New  England 
the  per  centage  of  native  whites  who  cannot  read  or  write  is 
0.42,  or  less  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent.;  and  in  the 
Southern  States  20.30,  or  50  to  1,  in  favor  of  New  England. 
But  if  we  take  the  whole  adult  population  of  Virginia,  in- 
cluding whites,  free  blacks  and  slaves,  42.05  per  cent.,  or 
nearly  one-half  cannot  read  or  write,  and  in  North  Cardlina, 
more  than  one-half  cannot  read  or  write.  We  have  seen  by 
the  above  official  tables  of  the  census  of  1850,  that  New 
York,  compared  with  Virginia,  had  nearly  ten  times  as  many 
pupils  at  schools,  colleges  and  academies,  twenty  times  as 
many  books  in  libraries,  and  largely  more  than  seven  times 
the  value  of  churches;  while  the  ratio  of  native  white  adults 
who  cannot  read  or  write,  was  more  than  10  to  1,  in  Virginia, 
compared  with  New  York.  "We  have  seen  also,  that  in  North 
Carolina,  nearly  one-third  of  the  native  white  adults,  and  in 
Virginia,  nearly  one-fifth  cannot  read  or  write,  and  in  New 
England,  1  in  every  400;  in  New  York,  1  in  every  131;  in 
the  South  and  Southwest,  1  in  every  42  of  the  native  white 
adults.  The  comparison  of  other  free  and  slave  States  would 
exhibit  the  same  results. 

Let  us  compare  for  a  moment,  the  two  great  Western 
States,  Illinois,  a  free  State,  and  Missouri,  until  the  rebellion, 
a  slave  holding  State. 

The  Comparison  will  furnish  just  results  in  regard  to  the 
effects  of  slavery,  for  while  Missouri  has  increased  since  1810, 
in  wealth  and  population,  much  more  rapidly  than  any  of 
the  slave  States,  there  are  several  free  States  whose  relative 
advance  has  exceeded  Illinois.  The  rapid  growth  of  Mis- 
souri is  owing  to  her  immense  area,  her  fertile  soil,  her 
mighty  rivers  (the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,)  her  central  and 
commanding  position,  and  to  the  fact,  that  she  had  so  small 
a  number  of  slaves  to  the  square  mile,  as  well  as  to  the  free 
population. 

The  population  of  Illinois,  in  1810,  was  12,282,  and  in  1860, 
1,711,951;  the  ratio  of  increase  from  1810  to  1860,  being 
13,838.70.  (Table,  Census  1860.)  The  population  of  Mis- 


108       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

souri,  in  1810,  was  20,845,  and  in  1860,  1,182,012;  the  ratio 
of  increase  from  1810  to  1860,  being  5,570.48.  (Ib.)  The 
rank  of  Missouri,  in  1810,  was,  22,  and  of  Illinois,  23.  The 
rank  of  Missouri  in  1860,  was  8,  and  of  Illinois,  4. 

The  area  of  Missouri  is  67,380  square  miles,  beinsr  the  4th 
in  rank,  as  to  area,  of  all  the  States.  The  area  of  Illinois  is 
55,405  square  miles,  ranking  the  10th.  Missouri,  then  has 
11,875  more  square  miles  than  Illinois.  This  excess  is  greater 
by  749  square  miles  than  the  aggregate  area  of  Massachusetts, 
Delaware,  and  Rhode  Island,  containing  in  1860,  a  popula- 
tion of  1,517,902.  The  population  of  Missouri  per  square 
mile  in  1810,  exceeded  that  of  Illinois  .08;  but,  in  1860,  the 
population  of  Missouri  per  square  mile,  was  17.54,  ranking 
the  22d,  and  that  of  Illinois,  30.90,  ranking  the  13th.  Illi- 
nois, with  her  ratio  to  the  square  mile,  and  the  area  of  Mis- 
souri, would  have  had  in  1860,  a  population  of  2,082,042; 
and  Missouri,  with  her  ratio  and  the  area  of  Illinois,  would 
have  had  in  1860,  a  population  of  971,803,  making  a  differ- 
ence in  favor  of  Illinois,  of  1,110,239,  instead  of  529,939. 
The  absolute  increase  of  population  of  Illinois  per  square 
mile,  from  1850  to  1860,  was  15.54,  and  of  Missouri,  7.43, 
Illinois,  ranking  the  6th,  in,  this  ratio,  and  Missouri,  the 
14th.  These  facts  prove  the  vast 'advantages  which  Missouri 
possessed  in  her  larger  area,  as  compared  with  Illinois. 

But  Missouri,  in  1810,  we  have  seen,  had  nearly  double 
the  population  of  Illinois.  Now,  reversing  their  numbers  in 
1810,  the  ratio  of  increase  of  each  remaining  the  same,  the 
population  of  JQlinois,  in  1860,  would  have  been  2,905,014, 
and  of  Missouri,  696,983.  If  we  bring  the  greater  area  of 
Missouri  as  an  element  into  this  calculation,  the  population 
of  Illinois  in  1860,  would  have  exceeded  that  of  Missouri, 
more  than  two  millions  and  a  half. 

By  census  table  36,  the  cash  value  of  the  farms  of  Illinois, 
in  1860,  was  $432,531,072,  and  of  Missouri,  $230,632,126, 
making  a  difference  in  favor  of  Illinois,  of  $201,898,946, 
which  is  the  loss  which  Missouri  has  sustained  by  slavery  in 
the  single  item  of  the  value  of  her  farm  lands.  Abolish 
slavery  there,  and  the  value  of  the  farm  lands  of  Missouri 
would  soon  equal  those  of  Illinois,  and  augment  the  wealth 


EFFECTS  OF  SLAVERY.  109 

of  the  farmers  of  Missouri,  over  two  hundred  millions  of 
dollars.  But  these  farm  lands  of  Missouri  embrace  only 
19,984,809  acres,  (table  36,)  leaving  unoccupied  23,138,391 
acres.  The  difference  between  the  value  of  the  unoccupied 
lands  of  Missouri  and  Illinois,  is  six  dollars  per  acre,  at  which 
rate  the  increased  value  of  the  unoccupied  lands  of  Missouri, 
in  the  absence  of  slavery,  is  $148,830,346,  Thus  it  appears, 
that  the  loss  to  Missouri,  in  the  value  of  her  lands,  caused  by 
slavery,  is  $340,729,292.  If  we  add  to  this  diminished  value 
of  town  and  city  property  in  Missouri,  from  the  same  cause, 
the  total  loss  in  that  State  in  the  value  of  real  estate,  exceeds 
$400,000,000,  which  is  nearly  twenty  times  the  value  of  her 
slaves. 

By  table  35,  the  increase  in  the  value  of  real  and  personal 
property  of  Illinois,  from  1850  to  1860,  was  $715,595,276,- 
being  457.93  per  cent,  and  Missouri,  $363,966,691,  being 
265.18  per  cent.  At  the  same  ratio  of  increase  from  1860  to 
1870,  the  total  wealth  of  Illinois,  would  be  $3,993,000,000, 
and  of  Missouri,  $1,329,000,000,  the  difference  being  $2,664,- 
000,000,  caused  by  slavery,  which  is  more  than  twice  the 
value  of  all  the  slaves  in  the  Union,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
slaveholder's  war. 

These  comparisons  could  be  extended  to  all  the  free,  and 
lately  slave  States,  with  the  same  results. 

Virginia  was  a  considerable  colony  when  Pennsylvania 
was  occupied  exclusively  by  Indian  tribes. 

In  1790,  the  population  of  Virginia  exceeded  that  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 313,925,  yet  in  1860,  Pennsylvania  exceeded  Vir- 
ginia, 1,308,797.  The  ratio  of  increase  in  Virginia,  being 
from  1790  to  1860,  113.32  per  cent.,  and  in  Pennsylvania, 
during  the  same  period,  569.03  per  cent. 

The  effects  of  slavery  upon  morals  and  civilization  will  be 
strikingly  illustrated  by  the  barbarities  and  cruelties  of  the 
great  civil  war,  upon  a  description  of  which  I  must  soon 
enter.  When  it  is  remembered  that  there  were  nearly  four 
millions  of  people  among  whom  marriage  had  no  legal  ex- 
istence, the  family  relation  no  legal  recognition,  where  it 
was  a  penal  offence  to  teach  a  negro  child  to  read  the  Holy 
Bible;  where  the  chastity  of  the  colored  woman  was  without 


110       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

protection,  where  a  negro  could  not  be  a  witness  in  a  court 
of  Justice,  the  reflecting  mind  will  be  able  to  form  a  correct 
estimate  of  the  moral  condition  of  both  blacks  and  whites 
growing  out  of  this  institution  of  slavery. 

While  idleness,  ignorance,  license,  and  the  exercise  of 
unrestrained,  and  irresponsible  power  growing  out  of  slavery 
produced  its  legitimate  effects,  demoralization,  licentiousness, 
and  vice  of  all  kinds,  and  rapidly  reduced  a  noble  race  of 
men,  capable  of  the  sublime  heroism,  and  self-denial 'of  the 
Revolution,  to  that  of  a  semi-barbarous  condition,  there 
were  many  exceptions,  and  localities,  where  the  institution 
was  patriarchal  in  its  character,  and  where  the  high  moral 
character  of  the  masters,  with  leisure,  means,  and  taste  for/ 
intellectual  culture,  produced  a  high  order  of  men. 

There  were  localities  at  the  South  where  existed  the  most 
attractive  and  charming  illustrations  of  social  culture  and  re- 
finement. There  were  families  who  regarded  their  position 
as  masters,  as  responsible  trusts;  who  felt  themselves  respon- 
sible to  God  for  the  moral  and  physical  well-being  of  their 
dependants.  There  were  to  be  found  many  philanthropists 
and  noble  women  in  the  slave  States,  who  devoted  themselves 
to  the  moral  culture  and  well-being  of  their  servants,  with  a 
philanthropy  as  devoted  and  self-sacrificing  as  any  that  sent 
the  missionary  to  christianize  heathen  in  foreign  lands. 

There  also,  were  very  many  specimens  of  that  genial  hos- 
pitality, that  kindness,  grace,  and  refinement,  which  gave  to 
social  life,  at  the  South,  its  proverbial  charm. 

But  these  were  becoming  more  and  more  exceptional,  as 
the  degeneracy,  and  profligacy,  resulting  from  slavery 
extended. 

It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  be  born,  reared,  and  live  with 
a  race,  over  which  is  exercised,  unrestricted,  irresponsible 
power,  subsisting  upon  its  unrequited  toil,  pampered  by 
idleness,  and  license,  without  moral  degradation. 

Especially  did  slavery  unfit  the  people  of  the  South  for 
the  administration  of  Republican  Government.  It  under- 
mined the  purity,  simplicity  and  virtue  which  must  ever  be 
the  basis  of  a  successful  Republic. 


EFFECTS  OF  SLAVERY.  Ill 

The  slaveholders,  as  a  class,  were  tyrants,  and  loving  to 
erercise  power  themselves,  disregarded  the  rights  of  others, 
and  the  restraints  of  law.  As  a  class,  the  slaveholders  would 
gladly  have  changed  the  Government  to  that  of  an  aristocracy 
or  monarchy,  so  that  it  would  have  secured  slavery.  They 
verified  the  truth  stated  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  letter,  dated 
April,  1859,  to  the  republicans  of  .Boston,  who  celebrated 
f Jefferson's  birth-day.  He  said: 

This  is  a  world, of  compensation,  and  he  who  would  be  no  slave,  must  consent  to 
have  no  slave.  Those  who  deny  freedom  to  others,  deserve  it  not  for  themselves, 
and  under  a  just  God,  cannot  long  retain  it. 

The  degeneracy  of  the  slaveholders,  was  exhibited  but  too 
often  and  too  sadly,  during  the  war.  As  a  class,  with  many 
.honorable  exceptions,  they  were  cruel,  treacherous,  and 
barbarous. 

NQW  that  slavery  is  extinct,  the  true  manhood  of  the  South 
will  again  arise,  and  regain  its  former  position;  we  shall 
again  see  worthy  successors  of  Washington,  Madison,  and 
Jefferson,  in  Virginia,  and  the  South,  who  will  arise  and  help 
to  rear,  shape,  and  preserve  that  vast  Continental  Republic 
of  justice,  intelligence  and  virtue,  which  is  now  to  arise. 

But  it  is  time  to  return  to  the  sketch  of  that  universal  agi- 
tation of  the  slavery  question  which  produced  the  slavehold- 
er's rebellion,  and  in  which  this  institution  was  to  die,  as 
the  result  of  the  war  brought  on  by  itself,  and  by  which  it 
sought  to  strengthen  and  perpetuate  its  power. 


OHAPTEE   Y. 


LINCOLN  FROM  1857  TO  1860  — THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS 
DEBATES. 

LINCOLN'S  NOMINATION  FOR  THE  SENATE  —  His  SPRINGFIELD 
SPEECH  —  HE  CHALLENGES  DOUGLAS  TO  JOINT  DISCUSSION  — 
DOUGLAS  ACCEPTS — THE  DEBATE — THE  MEETING  AT  FREEPORT 
—SPEECH  AT  COLUMBUS — AT  CINCINNATI — AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE 
— THE  "RAIL-SPLITTER." 

T)ERHAPS,  the  man  to  whom  Abraham  Lincoln  was  more 
J-  indebted  for  his  greatness  and  his  fame,  than  any  other, 
was  his  great  political  rival,  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln said,  on  one  occasion,  in  1856,  of  Mr.  Douglas,  "  Twen- 
ty-two years  ago,  Judge  Douglas  and  I,  first  became  ac- 
quainted; we  were  both  young  then — he  a  trifle  younger 
than  I.  Even  then  we  were  both  ambitious,  I,  perhaps,  quite 
as  much  as  he.  With  me,  the  race  of  ambition  has  been  a 
failure — a  flat  failure.  With  him,  it  has  been  one  of  splendid 
success.  His  name  fills  the  Nation,  and  it  is  not  unknown 
in  foreign  lands.  I  affect  no  contempt  for  the  high  eminence 
he  has  reached;  so  reached  that  the  oppressed  of  my  species 
might  have  shared  with  me  in  the  elevation  ,  I  would  rather 
stand  on  that  eminence,  than  wear  the  richest  crown  that 
ever  pressed  a  monarch's  brow."  These  great  men,  alike 
self-made,  self-educated,  coming  early  in  life  to  Illinois,  soon 
became  leaders,  each  of  his  party.  Lincoln  had  contended 
for  supremacy,  in  generous  emulation  with  Hardin,  Baker, 
Browning,  Logan,  and  Trumbull.  Douglas  had  had  keen 
rivals  in  Breese,  Shields,  Young,  McClernand,  and  others; 
but  in  1857,  each  was  confessedly,  the  leader  of  his  party  in 
Illinois.  No  two  men  were  ever  more  unlike.  Physically 
and  mentally,  they  were  contrasts.  Lincoln  was  the  real, 

112 


S.  A.  DOUGLAS.  113 

literal,  physical  giant;  Douglas  was  "the  Little  Giant,"  in 
person,  but  a  real  giant  in  intellect,  as  has  already  been  stated. 
Douglas  was  bold,  unflinching,  impetuous,  denunciatory,  and 
determined;  possessing  in  an  eminent  degree,  those  qualities 
which  create  personal  popularity;  and  he  was  ever  the  idol 
of  his  friends.  His  iron  will,  indomitable  energy,  firm  faith 
in  himself  and  his  cause,  united  with  frank,  genial,  magnetic 
manners ;  familiar,  accessible  and  generous,  made  him  alto- 
gether one  of  the  strongest  men  in  the  Nation.  These  two 
men,  as  has  been  stated,  were  members  of  the  Illinois 
Legislature  together,  as  early  as  1836. 

Douglas  had  distinguished  himself  as  an  able  debater  and 
controversialist,  in  Illinois,  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  His  position  on  the 
slavery  question  had  not  been  consistent.  He  had  voted  for  the 
Wilmot  proviso,  and  to  extend  the  Missouri  compromise  line 
across  Texas.  He  finally  settled  down  upon  the  position  of 
"popular  sovereignty,"  or  "squatter  sovereignty"  as  it  was 
called;  that  is,  that  the  people  of  each  territory  should  settle 
the  slavery  question  for  themselves.  It  being,  as  he  declared, 
his  true,  intent  and  meaning,  "  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any 
State  or  territory,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave 
the  people  thereof,  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions'  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States."  As  already  stated,  he 
had  reported  and  carried  through  Congress,  the  bill  to  repeal 
the  Missouri  Compromise.  When  Mr.  Buchanan's  adminis- 
tration became  a  party  to  the  conspiracy  to  force  Kansas  to 
become  a  slave  State,  Douglas  was  faithful  to  this  principle, 
and  defended  the  right  of  the  people,  to  decide  freely  and 
fairly,  the  question  for  themselves.  This  brought  him  in  col- 
lision with  Buchanan  and  the  slave  power,  and  the  slave 
leaders  in  the  Senate  sought  to  degrade  him,  by  removing 
him  from  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on  Territories. 
He  aided  effectually  in  defeating  the  scheme  to  force  a  pro- 
slavery  Constitution  upon  Kansas. 

His  Senatorial  term  was  drawing  near  its  close,  and  in 
July,  1858,  he  came  home  to  enter  upon  the  canvass,  for 
reelection.  In  June,  1858,  the  Republican  State  Convention 
8 


114  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

met  at  Springfield,  and  nominated,  with  perfect  unanimity, 
and  amidst  the  greatest  enthusiasm,  Abraham  Lincoln,  as 
their  candidate  for  the  Senate.  The  speech  which  Mr.  Lin- 
coln made  on  that  occasion,  brief  as  it  is,  is  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  in  American  History.  He  gave  so  clear  an 
exposition  of  the  antagonism,  and  the  "  irrepressible  conflict " 
between  liberty  and  slavery,  that  his  words  immediately 
seized  the  attention  of  the  whole  Nation,  and  became  histori- 
cal. Up  to  that  time  his  position  on  the  slavery  question, 
had  not  entirely  satisfied  the  radical  anti-slavery  men  of 
Northern  Illinois.  But  when  that  philosophic  speech  was 
pronounced,  one  of  the  most  radical  men  present  exclaimed, 
"  Lincoln  is  right  in  principle,  if  he  is  not  quite  up  to  us  in 
details;"  the  man  who  plants  himself  on  a  great  principle, 
will  soon  be  right  on  all  details.  Governor  Seward,  after- 
wards, at  Rochester,  New  York,  October  25th,  1858,  ex- 
pressed the  same  idea,  in  words  which  have  also  become 
memorable.  "  It  is,"  said  he,  "  an  irrepressible  conflict  between 
opposing  and  enduring  forces,  and  it  means  that  the  United 
States  will  sooner  or  later  become  either  an  entirely  slave- 
holding  Nation,  or  an  entirely  free  labor  Nation."  The 
speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  is  the  text  of  the  great  debate  between 
himself  and  Douglas,  and  its  importance  demands  its 
insertion : 


MR.  PRESIDENT,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION:  If  we  could  first  know 
where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are  tending,  we  could  better  judge  what  to  do,  and 
how  to  do  it.  We  are  now  far  Into  the  fifth  year,  since  a  policy  was  initiated  with 
the  avowed  object,  and  confident  promise  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation. 
Under  the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has  not  only  not  ceased,  but  has 
constantly  augmented.  In  my  opinion,  it  will  not  cease,  until  a  crisis  shall  have 
been  reached  and  passed.  "A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand."  I  believe 
this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not 
expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved  —  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall  —  hut  I  do  ex- 
pect it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or  all  the  other. 
Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it 
where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate 
extinction ;  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward,  till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful 
in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new  — North  as  well  as  South. 

Have  we  no  tendency  to  the  latter  condition? 

Let  any  one  who  doubts,  carefully  contemplate  that  now  almost  complete  legal 
combination  —  piece  of  machinery,  so  to  speak  —  compounded  of  the  Nebraska 
doctrine,  and  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  Let  him  consider  not  only  what  work  the 
machinery  is  adapted  to  do,  and  how  well  adapted ;  but  also  let  him  study  the  his- 
tory of  its  constrnction,  and  trace,  if  he  can,  or  rather  fail,  ii  he  can,  to  trace  the 
evidences  of  design,  and  concert  of  action,  among  its  chief  architects,  from  the 
beginning. 


LINCOLN'S  SPRINGFIELD  SPEECH,  JUNE,  1858.  115 

The  new  year  of  1854  found  slavery  excluded  from  more  than  half  the  States  by 
State  Constitutions,  and  from  most  of  the  National  territory  by  Congressional  pro- 
hibition. Four  days  later,  commenced  the  struggle  which  ended  in  repealing  that 
Congressional  prohibition.  This  opened  all  the  National  territory  to  slavery,  and 
was  the  first  point  gained. 

But,  so  far,  Congress  only  had  acted ;  and  an  indorsement  by  the  people,  real  or 
apparent,  was  indispensable,  to  save  the  point  already  gained,  and  give  chance  for 
more. 

This  necessity  had  not  been  overlooked ;  but  had  been  provided  for,  as  well  aa 
might  be,  in  the  notable  argument  of  "squatter  sovereignty,"  otherwise  called 
"  sacred  right  of  self-government,"  which  latter  phrase,  though  expressive  of  the 
only  rightful  basis  of  any  government,  was  so  perverted  In  this  attempted  use  of  it 
as  to  amount  to  just  this :  That  if  any  one  man  choose  to  enslave  another,  no  third 
man  shall  be  allowed  to  object.  That  argument  was  incorporated  into  the  Nebraska 
bill  itself,  in  the  language  which  follows :  "  It  being  the  true  intent  and  meaning 
of  this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it 
therefrom ;  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Uni- 
ted States."  Then  opened  the  roar  of  loose  declamation  in  favor  of  "  Squatter  Sove- 
reignty," and  "  sacred  right  of  self-government."  "  But,"  said  opposition  members, 
"  let  us  amend  the  bill  so  as  to  expressly  declare  that  the  people  of  the  Territory 
may  exclude  slavery-"  "Not  we,"  said  the  friends  of  the  measure;  and  down  they 
voted  the  amendment. 

While  the  Nebraska  bill  was  passing  through  Congress,  a  law  case  involving  the 
question  of  a  negro's  freedom,  by  reason  of  his  owner  having  voluntarily  taken  him 
first  into  a  free  S  ate  and  then  into  a  free  Territory  covered  by  the  Congressional 
prohibition,  and  held  him  as  a  slave  for  a  long  time  in  each,  was  passing  through 
the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the  District  of  Missouri ;  and  both  Nebraska  bill, 
and  law  suit  were  brought  to  a  decision  in  the  same  month  of  May,  18M.  The  negro's 
name  was  "  Dred  Scott,"  which  name  now  designates  the  decision  finally  made  in 
the  case.  Before  the  then  next  Presidential  election,  the  law  case  came  to,  and  was 
argued  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States;  but  the  decision  of  it  was  de- 
ferred until  after  the  election.  Still,  before  the  election,  Senator  Trumbull,  on  the 
floor  of  the  Senate,  requested  the  leading  advocate  of  the  Nebraska  bill  to  state  his 
opinion  whether  the  people  of  a  Territory  can  Constitutionally  exclude  slavery 
from  their  limits ;  and  the  latter  answers :  "  That  is  a  question  for  the  Supreme 
Court." 

The  election  came.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  elected,  and  the  endorsement,  such  as  it 
was,  secured.  That  was  the  second  point  gained.  The  indorsement,  however,  fell 
short  of  a  clear  popular  majority  by  nearly  four  hundred  thousand  votes,  and  so, 
perhaps  was  not  overwhelmingly  reliable  and  satisfactory.  The  outgoing  President, 
In  his  last  annual  message,  as  impressively  as  possible  echoed  back  upon  the  people 
the  weight  and  authority  of  the  indorsement.  The  Supreme  Court  met  again ;  did 
not  announce  their  decision,  but  ordered  a  re-argument.  The  Presidential  inaugu- 
ration came,  and  still  no  decision  of  the  court;  but  the  incoming  President  in  his 
inaugural  address,  fervently  exhorted  the  people  to  abide  by  the  forthcoming 
decision,  whatever  it  might  be.  Then  in  a  few  days,  came  the  decision. 

The  reputed  author  of  the  Nebraska  bill  finds  an  early  occasion  to  make  a  speech 
at  this  capital  indorsing  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  vehemently  denouncing  all 
opposition  to  it.  The  new  President,  too,  seizes  the  .early  occasion  of  the  Sil- 
liman  letter  to  indorse  and  strongly  construe  that  decision,  and  to  express  his 
astonishment  that  any  different  view  had  ever  been  entertained ! 

At  length  a  squabble  springs  up  between  the  President  and  the  author  of  the 
Nebraska  bill,  on  the  mere  question  of  fact,  whether  the  Lecompton  Constitution 
was  or  was  not,  in  any  just  sense,  made  by  the  people  of  Kansas ;  and  in  that  quar- 
rel the  latter  delares  that  all  he  wants  is  a  fair  vote  for  the  people,  and  that  he 
cares  not  whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up.  I  do  not  understand  his  de- 
claration that  he  cares  not  whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up,  to  be  in- 
tended by  him  other  than  as  an  apt  definition  of  the  policy  he  would  impress  upon 
the  public  mind  —  the  principle  for  which  he  declares  he  has  suffered  so  much, 
and  Is  ready  to  suffer  to  the  end.  And  well  may  he  cling  to  that  principle.  If  he 


116       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

has  any  parental  feeling,  well  may  he  cling  to  It.  That  principle  is  the  only  shred 
left  of  his  original  Nebraska  doctrine.  Under  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  "squatter 
sovereignty  "  squatted  out  of  existence,  tumbled  down  like  temporary  scaffolding — 
like  the  mould  at  the  foundry,  it  served  through  one  blast  and  fell  back  into  loose 
sand — helped  to  carry  an  election,  and  then  was  kicked  to  the  winds.  His  late  joint 
struggle  with  the  republicans,  against  the  Lecomption  Constitution,  involves 
nothing  of  the  original  Nebraska  doctrine.  That  struggle  was  made  on  a  point— 
the  right  of  the  people  to  make  their  own  Constitution— upon  which  he  and  the 
republicans  have  never  differed. 

The  several  points  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in  connection  with  Senator  Doug- 
las'  "care  not"  policy,  constitute  the  piece  of  machinery,  in  its  present  state  of  ad- 
vancement. This  was  the  third  point  gained.  The  working  points  of  that 
machinery  are  : 

First,  That  no  negro  slave,  imported  as  such  from  Africa,  and  no  descendant  of 
such  slave,  can  ever  be  a  citizen  of  any  State,  in  the  sense  of  that  term  as  used  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  This  point  is  made  in  order  to  deprive  the 
negro,  in  every  possible  event,  of  the  benefit  of  that  provision  of  the  United  States 
Constitution,  which  declares  "  That  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to 
all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States." 

Secondly,  That  "  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  neither  Con- 
gress nor  a  Territorial  Legislature  can  exclude  slavery  from  any  United  States  ter- 
ritory. This  point  is  made  in  order  that-individual  men  may  fill  up  the  Territories 
with  slaves,  without  danger  of  losing  them  as  property,  and  thus  to  enhance  the 
chances  of  permanency  to  the  institution  through  all  the  future. 

Thirdly,  That  whether  the  holding  a  negro  in  actual  slavery,  in  a  free  State, 
makes  him  free,  as  against  the  holder,  the  United  States  courts  will  not  decide,  but 
will  leave  to  be  decided  by  the  courts  of  any  slave  State  the  negro  may  be  forced 
into  by  the  master.  This  point  is  made,  not  to  be  pressed  immediately ;  but,  if  ac- 
quiesced in  for  awhile,  and  apparently  indorsed  by  the  people  at  an  election,  then 
to  sustain  the  logical  conclusion  that  what  Dred  Scott's  master  might  lawfully  do 
with  Dred  Scott,  in  the  free  State  of  Illinois,  every  other  master  may  lawfully  do 
with  any  other  one,  or  one  thousand  slaves,  in  Illinois,  or  in  any  other  free  State. 

Auxiliary  to  all  this,  and  working  hand  in  hand  with  it,  the  Nebraska  doctrine, 
or  what  is  left  of  it,  is  to  educate  and  mould  public  opinion,  at  least  Northern  pub- 
lic opinion,  not  to  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  down  or  voted  up.  This  shows 
exactly  where  we  now  are ;  and  partially,  also,  whither  we  are  tending. 

It  will  throw  additional  light  on  the  latter,  to  go  back,  and  run  the  mind  over'the 
string  of  historical  facts  already  stated.  Several  things  will  now  appear  less  dark 
and  mysterious  than  they  did  when  they  were  transpiring.  The  people  were  to  be 
left  "  perfectly  free,"  "subject  only  to  the  Constitution."  What  the  Constitution 
had  to  do  with  it,  outsiders  could  not  then  see.  Plainly  enough  now,  it  was  an  ex- 
actly fitted  niche,  for  the  Dred  Scott  decision  to  afterwards  come  in,  and  declare  the 
perfect  freedom  of  the  people,  to  be  just  no  freedom  at  all.  Why  was  the  amend- 
ment expressly  declaring  the  right  of  the  people,  voted  down  ?  Plainly  enough 
now:  the  adoptionof  it  would  have  spoiled  the  niche  for  the  Dred  Scott  decision. 
Why  was  the  court  decision  held  up?  Why  even  a  Senator  s  individual  opinion 
withheld,  till  after  the  Presidential  election?  Plainly  enough  now:  the  speaking 
out  then  would  have  damaged  the  perfectly  free  argument  upon  which  the  election 
was  to  be  carried.  Why  the  outgoing  President's  felicitation  on  the  indorsement  ? 
Why  the  delay  of  a  re-argument?  Why  the  incoming  President's  advance  exhor- 
tation in  favor  of  the  decision?  These  things  look  like  the  cautious  patting  and 
petting  of  a  spirited  horse  preparatory  to  mounting  him,  when  it  is  dreaded  that 
he  may  give  the  rider  a  fall.  And  why  the  hasty  after-indorsement  of  the  decision 
by  the  President  and  others  ? 

We  cannot  absolutely  know  that  all  these  exact  adaptations  are  the  result  of  pre- 
concert. But  when  we  see  a  lot  of  framed  timbers,  different  portions  of  which  we 
know  have  been  gotten  out  at  different  times  and  places  and  by  different  work- 
men—  Stephen,  Franklin,  Roger,  and  James,  for  instance* — and  when  we  see  these 
timbers  joined  together,  and  see  they  exactly  make  the  frame  of  a  house  or  a  mill, 

*  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Franklin  Pierce,  Roger  B.  Tauey,  and  James  Buchanan. 


LINCOLN'S  SPRINGFIELD  SPEECH,  JUNE,  1858.  117 

all  the  tenons  and  mortices  exactly  fitting,  and  all  the  lengths  and  proportions  of 
the  different  pieces  exactly  adapted  to  their  respective  places,  and  not  a  piece  too 
many  or  too  few  —  not  omitting  even  scaffolding  —  or,  if  a  single  piece  be  lacking, 
we  see  the  place  in  the  frame  exactly  fitted  and  prepared  yet  to  bring  such  piece 
in  —  in  such  a  case,  we  find  it  impossible  not  to  believe  that  Stephen,  and  Franklin, 
and  Roger,  and  James,  all  understood  one  another  from  the  beginning,  and  all 
worked  upon  a  common  plan  or  draft  drawn  up  before  the  first  blow  was  struck. 

It  should  not  be  overlooked  that,  by  the  Nebraska  bill,  the  people  of  a  State  as 
well  as  Territory,  were  to  be  left  "perfectly  free,"  "subject  only  to  the  Constitu- 
tion." Why  mention  a  State?  They  were  legislating  for  Territories,  and  not  for  or 
about  States.  Certainly  the  people  of  a  State  are  and  ought  to  be  subject  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  but  why  is  mention  of  this,  lugged  into  this 
merely  Territorial  law  ?  Why  are  the  people  of  a  Territory  and  the  people  of  a 
State  therein  lumped  together,  and  their  relation  to  the  Constitution  therein 
treated  as  being  precisely  the  same?  While  the  opinion  of  the  court,  by  Chief 
Justice  Taney,  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  and  the  separate  opinions  of  all  the  concur- 
ring Judges,  expressly  declare  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  neither 
permits  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature  to  exclude  slavery  from  any  United 
States  Territory,  they  all  omit  to  declare  whether  or  not  the  same  Constitution  per- 
mits a  State,  or  the  people  of  a  State,  to  exclude  it.  Possibly,  this  is  a  mere  omis- 
sion ;  but  who  can  be  quite  sure,  if  Mr.  McLean  or  Curtis  had  sought  to  get  into  the 
opinion  a  declaration  of  unlimited  power  in  the  people  of  a  State  to  exclude  slav- 
ery from  their  limits,  just  as  Chase  and  Mace  sought  to  get  such  declaration,  in  be- 
half of  the  people  of  a  Territory,  into  the  Nebraska  bill;  — I  ask  who  can  be  quite 
sure  that  it  would  not  have  been  voted  down  in  the  one  case  as  it  had  been  in  the 
other  ?  The  nearest  approach  to  the  point  of  declaring  the  power  of  a  State  over 
slavery,  is  made  by  Judge  Nelson.  He  approaches  it  more  than  once,  using  the  pre- 
cise idea,  and  almost  the  language,  too,  of  the  Nebraska  act.  On  one  occasion,  his 
exact  language  is,  "  except  in  cases  where  the  power  is  restrained  by  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  the  law  of  the  State  is  supreme  over  the  subject  of  slav- 
ery within  its  jurisdiction."  In  what  cases  the  power  of  the  States  is  so  restrained 
by  the  United  States  Constitution,  is  left  an  open  question,  precisely  as  the  same 
question,  as  to  the  restraint  on  the  power  of  the  Territories,  was  left  open  in  the 
Nebraska  act.  Put  this  and  that  together,  and  we  have  another  nice  little 
niche,  whieh  we  may,  ere  long,  see-filled  with  another  Supreme  Court  decision,  de- 
claring that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  does  not  permit  a  State  to  exclude 
slavery  from  its  limits.  And  this  may  especially  be  expected  if  the  doctrine  of 
"  care  not  whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up,"  shall  gain  upon  the  public 
mind  sufficiently  to  give  promise  that  such  a  decision  can  be  maintained  when 
made. 

Such  a  decision  is  all  that  slavery  now  lacks  of  being  alike  lawful  in  all  the 
States.  Welcome,  or  unwelcome,  such  decision  is  probably  coming,  and  will  soon 
be  upon  us,  unless  the  power  of  the  present  political  dynasty  shall  be  met  and 
overthrown.  We  shall  lie  down  pleasantly  dreaming  that  the  people  of  Missouri 
are  on  the  verge  of  making  their  State  free,  and  we  shall  awake  to  the  reality  in- 
stead, that  the  Supreme  Court  has  made  Illinois  a  slave  State.  To  meet  and  over- 
throw the  power  of  that  dynasty,  is  the  work  now  before  all  those  who  would 
prevent  that  consummation.  That  is  what  we  have  to  do.  How  can  we  best  do  it  ? 

There  are  those  who  denounce  us  openly  to  their  own  friends,  and  yet  whisper  to 
us  softly,  that  Senator  Douglas  is  the  aptest  instrument  there  is  with  which  to  effect 
that  object.  They  wish  us  to  infer  all,  from  the  fact  that  he  now  has  a  little  quarrel 
with  the  present  head  of  the  dynasty ;  and  that  he  has  regularly  voted  with  us  on 
a  single  point,  upon  which  he  and  we  have  never  differed.  They  remind  us  that  he 
is  a  great  man,  and  that  the  largest  of  us  are  very  small  ones.  Let  this  be  granted. 
But  "a  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion."  Judge  Douglas,  if  not  a  dead  lion 
for  this  work,  is  at  least  a  caged  and  toothless  one.  How  can  he  oppose  the  ad- 
vances of  slavery  ?  He  dont  care  anything  about  it.  His  avowed  mission  is  im- 
pressing the  "  public  heart "  to  care  nothing  about  it.  A  leading  Douglas  democratic 
newspaper  thinks  Douglas'  superior  talent  will  be  needed  to  resist  the  revival  of 
the  African  slave  trade.  Does  Douglas  believe  an  effort  to  revive  that  trade  is  ap- 
proaching? He  has  not  said  so.  Does  he  really  think  so?  But  if  it  is,  how  can  he 


118       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

resist  it?  For  years  he  has  labored  to  prove  it  a  sacred  right  of  white  men  to  take 
negro  slaves  Into  the  new  Territories.  Can  he  possibly  show  that  it  is  less  a  sacred 
right  to  buy  them  where  they  can  be  bought  cheapest?  And  unquestionably  they 
can  be  bought  cheaper  in  Africa  than  in  Virginia.  He  has  done  all  in  his  power  to 
reduce  the  whole  question  of  slavery  to  one  of  a  mere  right  of  property ;  and  as 
such,  how  can  he  oppose  the  foreign  slave  trade  — how  can  he  refuse  that  trade  in 
that  "property"  shall  be  "perfectly  free"  —  unless  he  does  it  as  a  protection  to  the 
home  production  ?  And  as  the  home  producers  will  probably  not  ask  the  protection, 
he  will  be  wholly  without  a  ground  of  opposition. 

Senator  Douglas  holds,  we  know,  that  a  man  may  rightfully  be  wiser  to-day  than 
he  was  yesterday— that  he  may  rightfully  change  when  he  finds  himself  wrong. 
But  can  we,  for  that  reason,  run  ahead,  and  infer  that  he  will  make  any  particular 
change,  of  which  he,  himself,  has  given  no  intimation?  Can  we  safely  base  our 
action  upon  any  such  vague  inference?  Now,  as  ever,  I  wish  not  to  misrepresent 
Judge  Douglas'  position,  question  his  motives,  or  do  aught  that  can  be  personally 
offensive  to  him.  Whenever,  if  ever,  he  and  we  can  come  together  on  principle  so 
that  our  «iuse  may  have  assistance  from  his  great  ability,  I  hope  to  have  inter- 
posed no  .adventitious  obstacle.  But  clearly,  he  is  not  now  with  ns — he  does  not 
pretend  to  be  —  he  does  not  promise  ever  to  be. 

Our  cause,  then,  must  be  intrusted  to,  and  conducted  by,  its  own  undoubted 
friends — those  whose  hands  are  free,  whose  hearts  are  in  the  work  —  who  do  care  for 
the  result .  Two  years  ago  the  republicans  of  the  nation  mustered  over  thirteen  hun- 
dred thousand  strong.  We  did  this  under  the  single  impulse  of  resistance  to  a  com- 
mon danger,  with  every  external  circumstance  against  us.  Of  strange,  discordant, 
and  even  hostile  elements,  we  gathered  from  the  four  winds,  and  formed  and  fought 
the  battle  through,  under  the  constant  hot  flre  of  a  disciplined,  proud  and  pampered 
onemy.  Did  we  brave  all  then,  to  falter  now? — now,  when  that  same  enemy  is 
wavering,  dissevered  and  belligerent  ?  The  result  is  not  doubtful.  We  shall  not 
fail  —  if  we  stand  firm,  we  shall  not  fail.  Wise  counsels  may  accelerate,  or  mistakes 
delay  it,  but,  sooner  or  later,  the  victory  is  sure  to  come. 

There  is  a  tone  of  solemnity  and  deep  apprehension  in  this 
speech  of  Lincoln.  After  describing  in  words  so  clear  and 
simple  that  none  could  misunderstand,  the  conspiracy  to  ex- 
tend slavery  to  all  the  States,  he  says:  "  We  shall  lie  down, 
pleasantly  dreaming  that  the  people  of  Missouri  are  on  the 
eve  of  making  that  a  free  State,  and  we  shall  awake  to  the 
reality  instead,  that  the  Supreme  Court  has  made  Illinois  a 
slave  State.  To  meet  and  overthrow  the  power  of  that 
dynasty,  is  the  work  of  all  who  would  prevent  that 
consummation.  This  is  what  we  have  to  do." 

To  this  work  his  life  was  henceforth  devoted.  He  brought 
to  the  tremendous  struggle,  physical  strength  and  endur- 
ance almost  superhuman;  an  intellect  trained  to  present 
and  discuss  political  questions  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
American  mind,  and  with  a  success  never  equalled  by  any 
other  American  orator  or  statesman. 

In  allusion  to  the  disposition  manifested  outside  of  Illinois, 
and  especially  by  the  New  York  Tribune,to  sustain  Douglas,  he 
eaid,  "  our  cause  must  be  entrusted  to,  and  conducted  by,  its 


LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  AT  SPRINGFIELD,  JUNE,  1858.        119 

own  undoubted  friends;  those  whose  hands  are  free,  and 
whose  hearts  are  in  the  work.  We  '  do  care  '  for  the  result, 
alluding  to  Douglas'  statement,  that  he  "  did  not  care  whether 
slavery  was  voted  up  or  voted  down." 

He  concludes  in  the  language  of  hopeful  prophesy.  "  We 
shall  not  fail,  wise  counsels  may  accelerate  or  mistakes  delay 
it,  but  sooner  or  later,  victory  is  sure  to  come." 

Such  was  the  high  philosophic  appreciation  by  Lincoln,  of 
the  conflict  then  pending  before  the  American  people.  The 
first  battle  was  to  be  the  intellectual  combat  between  him 
and  Senator  Douglas;  a  contest  made  in  the  watchful,  anxious 
view  of  all  the  people  of  the  Union.  Liberty  against  slavery 
was  the  clearly  defined  issue.  The  Senatorial  debate  between 
Webster  and  Hayne,  is  historical;  that  involved  questions 
of  Constitutional  construction,  State  rights,  and  theories  of 
Government. 

The  contest  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas  involved  the 
triumph  of  freedom  in  Kansas,  and  in  the  Union.  It  was  not 
a  single  debate,  but  extended  through  a  whole  campaign. 
The  great  political  parties  throughout  the  country,  paused  to 
watch  its  progress,  and  looked  with  eager  solicitude  upon 
every  movement  of  the  champions. 

"  Mr.  Douglas  arrived  at  Chicago,  from  Washington,  on  the 
9th  of  July,  and  was  recieved  with  the  most  enthusiastic 
demonstrations  by  his  friends.  He  addressed  himself  to  re- 
ply to  Mr.  Lincoln's  Springfield  speech.  Lincoln  was  present 
and, heard  the  speech  of  Douglas,  and  replied  to  it  the  even- 
ing afterward.  On  the  16th  of  July,  Mr.  Douglas  spoke  at 
Bloomington,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  present.  Douglas  again 
addressed  the  people  at  Springfield,  on  the  17th  of  July,  to 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  in  the  evening.  Thereupon  Mr. 
Lincoln  addressed  to  Mr.  Douglas  the  following  note, 
challenging  him  to  the  joint  debate: 

CHICAGO,  July  24th,  1858. 
Hon.  S.  A.  DOUGLAS, 

My  Dear  Sir:  Will  it  be  agreeable  to  you  to  make  an  arrangement  to  divide  time, 
and  address  the  same  audience,  during  the  present  canvass  ?  etc.  Mr.  Judd  is 
authorized  to  receive  your  answer,  and  if  agreeable  to  you,  to  enter  into  the  terms 
of  such  agreement,  etc.  Your  ob't  serv't, 

A.  LINCOLN. 


120  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  challenge  was  accepted,  and  it  was  arranged  that 
there  should  be  seven  joint  debates;  each  champion  alter- 
nately opening  and  closing  the  discussion;  the  opening  speech 
to  occupy  one  hour,  the  reply  one  hour  and  a  half,  and  the 
close  a  half  hour,  so  that  each  debate  should  occupy  three  hours. 
They  were  to  speak  at  Ottawa,  August  21st;  Freeport,  Au- 
gust 27th;  Jonesboro,  September  15th;  Charleston,  Septem- 
ber 18th;  Galesburg,  October  7th;  Quincy,  October  13th; 
Alton,  October  15th.  These  debates,  held  in  different  sec- 
tions of  the  State,  and  in  the  open  air,  called  together  vast 
crowds  of  people.  There  was  every  motive  to  stimulate  the 
champions  to  the  exertion  of  their  utmost  power.  Each  en- 
tertained a  sincere  conviction,  that  in  the  principles  he  advo- 
cated was  involved  the  safety,  and  perhaps  the  life  of  the 
Republic.  The  debates,  with  one  exception,  were  conducted 
with  the  dignity  and  courtesy  which  were  becoming  the 
occasion. 

The  Senatrrship  was  the  immediate  personal  prize  for  the 
victor,  and  in  the  future,  the  Presidency,  for  which  Douglas 
had  been  long  an  aspirantX  They  discussed  all  the  great  polit- 
ical questions  of  the  day,  but  each  felt  instinctively,  that  the 
vital  question,  the  question  of  questions,  was  slavery.  The 
question  of  slavery  in  the  territories,  the  Dred  Scott  decision, 
the  fugitive  slave  law,  the  opinions  of  the  Fathers,  above  all 
the  meaning  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  enumerating 
the  inalienable  rights  of  man,  were  the  topics  of  discussion. 
Douglas  went  through  this  canvass  with  the  manner  and  bearing 
of  a  conquering  hero.  There  was  something  grand,  exciting, 
a.nd  magnetic,  in  the  boldness  with  which  he  threw  himself  into 
the  discussion,  and  dealt  his  blows  right  and  left  against  the 
republican  party  on  one  side,  and  the  administration  of  Bu- 
chanan, which  sought  his  defeat,  on  the  other.  Buchanan 
sought,  by  the  use  of  Executive  patronage  and  power,  to  de- 
feat Douglas.  He  succeeded  in  seducing  a  few,  but  the  mass 
of  the  party  stood  firmly  by  the  Senator.  Douglas  and  his 
friends  were  most  liberal  in  their  expenditures.  He  had  his 
special  trains  of  cars,  his  bands  of  music,  his  processions 
with  banners  and  cannon,  and  all  the  paraphanalia  of  a  great 
leader.  Lincoln  on  the  contrary,  conducted  the  canvass  in  a 


THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATE.  121 

plain,  simple,  frugal  unostentatious  manner.  Some  idea  of 
the  simplicity  of  the  man  and  his  manners,  may  be  gathered 
from  a  remark  he  made  at  the  close  of  the  debates,  in  which 
he  said  to  a  friend,  "  I  don't  believe  I  have  expended  in  this 
canvass  one  cent  less  than  five  hundred  dollars  in  cash." 

Senator  Douglas  was  at  this  time,  undoubted!/  the  leading 
debater  in  the  United  States  Senate.  For  years  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  meet  the  trained  leaders  of  the  Nation  in 
Congress;  and  never,  either  in  single  combat,  or  receiving 
the  fire  of  a  whole  party,  had  he  been  discomfited.  His  style 
was  bold,  defiant,  aggressive,  vigorous.  He  was  fertile  in 
resources,  terrible  in  denunciation,  familiar  with  political  his- 
tory, and  handled  with  readiness  and  facility,  all  the  contro- 
versial weapons  of  debate;  of  indomitable  physical  and  moral 
courage,  and  unquestionably  the  most  formidable  man  in  the 
Nation  on  the  stump.  The  friends  of  Lincoln  were  not  with- 
out anxiety  when  the  challenge  for  a  campaign  on  the  stump 
was  given  and  accepted.  Lincoln  was  candid,  cool,  truthful, 
logical,  philosophical;  never  betrayed  into  an  unfair  state- 
ment. The  criticism  upon  him  as  a  laWyer,  was  verified  and 
illustrated  in  these  debates.  "  On  the  right  side  of  a  case, 
Lincoln  is  an  overwhelming  giant,  on  the  wrong  side,  his  sense 
of  justice  and  right,  makes  him  weak."  Douglas'  ardour  al- 
ways made  him,  for  the  time,  believe  that  the  side  he  adopted 
was  right.  Lincoln  argued  the  side  of  freedom  with  the 
most  profound  conviction  that  its  triumph  was  necessary  to 
the  existence  of  his  country.  It  was  wonderful,  how  strongly 
in  these  discussions,  as  in  all  the  acts  of  his  public  life,  he 
impressed  the  people  with  his  fairness,  honesty,  and  truth- 
fulness; every  hearer  in  the  vast  crowds  which  thronged  to 
these  discussions,  whatever  his  political  views,  went  away 
with  the  conviction,  "  Lincoln  believes  what  he  says,  he  is 
candid,  he  would  not  mistate  a  fact,  or  take  an  unfair 
advantage  to  secure  a  triumph." 

He  had  one  advantage  over  Douglas,  he  was  always  good- 
humoured  ;  he  had  always  an  apt  and  happy  story  for  illus- 
tration, and  while  Douglas  was  sometimes  irritable,  Lincoln 
never  lost  his  temper.  Douglas  carried  away  the  most  popular 
applause,  but  Lincoln  made  the  deeper  and  more  lasting 


122       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

impression.  Douglas  did  not  disdain  an  immediate,  ad  cap 
tandum  triumph,  while  Lincoln  aimed  at  permanent  convic- 
tion. Douglas  addressed  prejudice,  and  especially  the 
prejudice  against  the  negro,  with  an  adroitness  and  power 
never  surpassed. 

Lincoln  stated  his  propositions,  and  sustained  them  with 
the  fullest  historical  knowledge  and  illustration,  and  with 
irresistible  logic.  Douglas,  owing  to  the  favorable  and  unfair 
apportionment  of  the  Senators  and  Representatives  in  the 
State  Legislature,  secured  a  majority,  and  obtained  the  Sena- 
torship ;  although  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote  was  recorded 
against  him.  These  debates  made  Douglas,  Senator,  and 
Lincoln,  President. 

At  the  close  of  these  debates,  and  of  the  canvass,  the  cham- 
pions visited  the  city  of  Chicago,  at  about  the  same  time. 
Lincoln  was  in  perfect  health,  his  face  bronzed  by  the  prai- 
rie suns,  but  looking  and  moving  like  a  trained  athlete.  His 
voice  was  clearer,  stronger,  and  better  than  when  he  began 
the  canvass.  Douglas  was  physically,  much  broken.  He  was 
so  hoarse  that  he  could  scarcely  articulate,  and  was  entirely 
unintelligible  in  an  ordinary  tone.  Few  men  living  could 
have  gone  through  these  open  air  discussions  without  break- 
ing down,  and  few  could  have  recovered  from  them  so  soon. 
Douglas'  speedy  recovery,  exhibited  his  wonderful  vigor  and 
elasticity. 

The  most  prominent  feature  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches  in 
this  canvass  is  his  constant  reference  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Mr.  Douglas  knew  that  in  Illinois,  at  that 
time  there  was  a  deep  seated,  nearly  universal  prejudice 
against  the  negro.  He  sought  continually,  to  use  that  pre- 
judice against  Mr.  Lincoln;  sometimes  most  unfairly  misre- 
presenting him  to  be  in  favor  of  social,  as  well  as  political 
equality,  between  the  races. 

The  points  made  by  Lincoln  in  these  debates,  were : 

First,  That  the  country  could  not  permanently  endure, 
half  slave  and  half  free,  and  that  slavery  was  wrong  in  itself. 

Second,  He  attacked  the  popular  sovereignty  doctrine  of 
Douglas.  His  clear,  simple  statement  of  it,  was  its  crushing 


THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATE.  123 

refutation.  He  said  it  meant  simply,  "  if  one  man  choose  to 
enslave  another,  no  third  man  shall  be  allowed  to  object." 

Third,  He  announced  and  endeavored  to  prove  the  exist- 
ence of  a  conspiracy  to  perpetuate  and  nationalize  slavery, 
and  that  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  Dred  Scott  decisions, 
were  essential  parts  of  this  scheme. 

The  point  to  which  he  most  often  recurred,  was  the  defence 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  establishing  as  the 
very  basis  of  our  government,  the  inalienable  rights  of  man; 
planting  himself  on  the  great  principles  of  the  Declaration, 
which  received  alike  the  homa^  of  his  heart  and  the  sanc- 
tion of  his  intellect.  This  devotion  to  the  grand  idea  of 
man's  liberty  and  equality  is  the  key  note  of  the  debate. 

In  his  speech  at  Chicago,  July  10th,  1858,  in  reply  to 
Douglas,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  all  men  were 
included  in  the  "  Declaration  of  Independence,"  he  says : 

We  have  besides  these  men  descended  by  blood  from  our  ancestors  —  among  us, 
perhaps  half  our  people,  who  are  not  descendants  at  all  of  these  men ;  they  are 
men  who  have  come  from  Europe,  German,  Irish,  French,  and  Scandinavian  — 
men  that  have  come  from  Europe  themselves,  or  whose  ancestors  have  come 
hither  and  settled  here,  finding  themselves  our  equals  in  all  things.  If  they  look 
back  through  this  history  to  trace  their  connection  with  those  days  by  blood,  they 
flnd  they  have  none,  they  cannot  carry  themselves  back  into  that  glorious  epoch 
and  make  themselves  feel  that  they  are  part  of  us ;  that  when  they  look  through 
that  old  Declaration  of  Independence,  they  flnd  that  those  old  men  say  that,  "We 
hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created  equal,"  and  then  they 
feel  that  that  moral  sentiment  taught  in  that  day,  evidences  their  relation  to  those 
men ;  —  that  it  is  the  father  of  all  moral  principle  in  them,  and  they  have  a  right 
to  claim  it  as  though  they  were  blood  of  the  blood,  and  flesh  of  the  flesh,  of  the 
men  who  wrote  that  Declaration,  and  so  they  are.  That  is  the  electric  cord  in  that 
Declaration  that  links  the  hearts  of  patriotic  and  liberty-loving  men  together,  that 
will  link  those  patriotic  hearts  as  long  as  the  love  of  freedom  exists  in  the  minds 
of  men  throughout  the  world. 

Again  he  said  at  Springfield,  July  17th,  1858,  in  reply  to 
Douglas : 

I  adhere  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  If  Judge  Douglas  and  his  friends 
are  not  willing  to  stand  by  it,  let  them  come  up  and  amend  it.  Let  them  make  it 
read  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  except  negroes.  Let  us  have  it  decided,  whether 
the  Declaration  of-Inclependence,  in  this  blessed  year  of  1858,  shall  be  thus  amended. 
In  his  construction  of  the  Declaration  last  year,  he  said  it  only  meant  that  Ameri- 
cans in  America,  were  equal  to  Englishmen  in  England.  Then  when  I  pointed  out 
to  him  that  by  that  rule  he  excludes  the  Germans,  the  Irish,  the  Portuguese,  and  all 
the  other  people  who  have  come  amongst  us  since  the  Revolution,  he  reconstructs 
his  construction.  In  his  last  speech  he  tells  us  it  meant  Europeans.  I  press  him  a  lit- 
tle further,  and  ask  if  it  meant  to  include  the  Russians  in  Asia?  or  does  he  mean  to 
exclude  that  vast  population  from  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ? 
I  expect  ere  long  he  will  introduce  another  amendment  to  his  definition.  He  is 


7 
124  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

not  at  all  particular.  He  Is  satisfied  with  anything  which  does  not  endanger  the 
nationalizing  of  negro  slavery.  It  may  draw  white  men  down,  but  it  must  not  lift 
negroes  up.  Who  shall  say,  " I  am  the  superior,  and  you  are  the  Inferior?  " 

My  declarations  upon  this  subject  of  negro  slavery  may  be  misrepresented,  but 
cannot  be  misunderstood.  I  have  said  that  I  do  not  understand  the  Declaration  to 
mean  that  all  men  were  created  equal  in  all  respects.  They  are  not  our  equal  in 
color ;  but  I  suppose  that  It  does  mean  to  declare  that  all  men  are  equal  in  some 
respects;  they  are  equal  in  their  right  to  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness." 

Certainly  the  negro  is  not  our  equal  in  color  —  perhaps  not  in  many  other  re- 
spects ;  still,  in  the  right  to  put  into  his  mouth  the  bread  that  his  own  hands  have 
earned,  he  is  the  equal  of  every  other  man,  white  or  black.  In  pointing  out  that 
more  has  been  given  you,  you  cannot  be  justified  in  taking  away  the  little  which 
has  been  given  him.  All  I  ask  for  the  negro  is,  that  if  you  do  not  like  him,  let  him 
alone.  If  God  gave  him  but  little,  that  little  let  him  enjoy. 

Again  in  August,  at  Ottawa,  he  said: 

I  hold  that  there  is  no  reason  in  the  world  why  the  negro  is  not  entitled  to  all 
the  natural  rights  enumerated  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  right  to 
life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  I  hold  that  he  is  as  much  entitled  to 
these  as  the  white  man.  I  agree  with  Judge  Douglas,  he  is  not  my  equal  in  many 
respects  —  certainly  not  in  color,  perhaps  not  in  moral  or  intellectual  endowment. 
But  in  the  right  to  eat  the  bread,  without  the  leave  of  anybody  else,  which  his  own 
hand  earns,  he  is  my  equal  and  the  equal  of  Judge  Douglas,  and  the  equal  of  every 
living  man. 


At  Galesburg,  October,  1858,  he  said : 


The  Judge  has  alluded  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  insisted  that  ne- 
groes are  not  included  in  that  Declaration ;  and  that  it  is  a  slander  upon  the  fram- 
ers  of  that  instrument,  to  suppose  that  negroes  were  meant  therein ;  and  he  asks 
you :  "  Is  it  possible  to  believe  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  penned  the  immortal  paper, 
could  have  supposed  himself  applying  the  language  of  that  instrument  to  the  ne- 
gro race,  and  yet  held  a  portion  of  that  race  in  slavery?  Would  he  not  at  once  have 
freed  them?"  I  only  have  to  remark  upon  this  part  of  the  Judge's  speech,  and  that 
briefly,  that  I  believe  the  entire  records  of  the  world,  from  the  date  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  up  to  within  three  years  ago,  may  be  searched  in  vain  for 
one  single  affirmation,  from  one  single  man,  that  the  negro  was  not  included  hi 
the  Declaration  of  Independence;  I  think  I  may  defy  Judge  Douglas  to  show  that 
he  ever  said  so,  that  Washington  ever  said  so,  that  any  President  ever  said  so,  that 
any  member  of  Congress  ever  said  so,  or  that  any  living  man  upon  the  whole  eartb 
ever  said  so,  until  the  necessities  of  the  present  policy  of  the  Democratic  party,  in 
regard  to  slavery,  had  to  invent  that  affirmation.  And  I  will  remind  Judge  Doug- 
las and  this  audience,  that  while  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  owner  of  slaves,  as  undoubt- 
edly he  was,  in  speaking  upon  this  very  subject,  he  used  the  strong  language  that 
"he  trembled  for  his  country  when  he  remembered  that  God  was  just;"  and  I  will 
offer  the  highest  premium  In  my  power  to  Judge  Douglas  if  he  will  show  that  he, 
in  all  his  life,  ever  uttered  a  sentiment  at  all  akin  to  that  of  Jefferson. 

I  have  said  once  before,  and  I  will  repeat  it  now,  that  Mr.  Clay,  when  he  was  once 
answering  an  objection  to  the  Colonization  Society,  that  it  had  a  tendency  to  the 
ultimate  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  said  that  "  those  who  wouldr  repress  all  ten- 
dencies to  liberty  and  ultimate  emancipation  must  do  more  than  put  down  the 
benevolent  efforts  of  the  Colonization  Society— they  must  go  back  to  the  era  of  our 
liberty  and  independence,  and  muzzle  the  cannon  that  thunders  its  annual  joyous 
return  —  they  must  blot  out  the  moral  lights  around  us  —  they  must  penetrate  the 
human  soul,  and  eradicate  the  light  of  reason  and  the  love  of  liberty !"  and  I  do 
think — 1  repeat,  though  I  said  it  on  a  former  occasion  —  that  Judge  Douglas,  and 


THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATE.  125 

whoever  like  him  teaches  that  the  negro  has  no  share,  humble  though  it  may  be, 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  is  going  back  to  the  era  of  our  liberty  and  in- 
dependence, and,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  muzzling  the  cannon  that  thunders  its  an- 
nual joyous  return ;  that  he  is  blowing  out  the  moral  lights  around  us,  when  he 
contends  that  whoever  wants  slaves  has  a  right  to  hold  th^m ;  that  he  is  penetrat- 
ing, so  far  as  lies  in  his  power,  the  human  soul,  and  eradicating  the  light  of  reason 
and  the  love  of  liberty,  when  he  is  in  every  possible  way  preparing  the  public 
mind,  by  his  vast  influence  for  making  the  institution  of  slavery  perpetual  and 
national. 

At  Alton,  October  15th,  1858,  lie  said : 

At  Qalesburg  the  other  day,  I  said  in  answer  to  Judge  Douglas,  that  three  years 
ago  there  never  had  been  a  man,  so  far  as  I  knew  or  believed,  in  the  whole  world, 
who  had  said  that  the  Declaration  of  Indep^dence  did  not  include  negroes  in  the 
term  "  all  men."  I  reassert  it  to-day.  I  assert  that  Judge  Douglas,  and  all  his 
friends,  may  search  the  whole  records  of  the  country,  and  it  will  be  a  matter  of 
great  astonishment  to  me  if  they  shall  be  able  to  find  that  one  human  being  three 
years  ago,  had  ever  uttered  the  astounding  sentiment  that  the  term  "  all  men  "  in 
the  Declaration  did  not  include  the  negro.  Do  not  let  me  be  misunderstood.  I 
know  that  more  than  three  years  ago,  there  were  men  who,  finding  this  assertion 
constantly  in  the  way  of  their  schemes  to  bring  about  the  ascendency  and  perpetua- 
tion of  slavery,  denied  the  truth  of  it.  I  know  that  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  all  the  politi- 
cians of  his  school,  denied  the  truth  of  the  Declaration.  I  know  that  it  ran  along 
in  the  mouth  of  some  Southern  men  for  a  period  of  years,  ending  at  last  in  that 
shameful  though  rather  forcible  declaration  of  Pettit,  of  Indiana,  upon  the  floor  of 
the  United  States  Senate,  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  in  that  respect 
"  a  self-evident  lie,"  rather  than  a  self-evident  truth.  But  I  say,  with  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  all  this  hawking  at  the  Declaration  without  directly  attacking  it, 
that  three  years  ago,  there  never  had  lived  a  man  who  had  ventured  to  assail  it  in 
the  sneaking  way  of  pretending  to  believe  it,  and  then  asserting  it  did  not  include 
the  negro.  I  believe  the  first  man  who  ever  said  it,  was  Chief  Justice  Taney,  in 
the  Dred  Scott  case,  and  the  next  to  him  was  our  friend,  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  And 
now  it  has  become  the  catch-word  of  the  entire  party.  I  would  like  to  call  upon  his 
friends  everywhere,  to  consider  how  they  have  come  in  so  short  a  time  to  view  this 
matter  in  a  way  so  entirely  different  from  their  former  belief  ?  —  to  ask  whether 
they  are  not  being  borne  along  by  an  irresistible  current — whither,  they  know  not? 

But,  perhaps,  the  noblest  and  sublimest  utterance  in  all 
these  protracted  debates,  were  the  words  he  uttered  at  Alton 
"Is  slavery  wrong?" 

That  is  the  real  issue.  That  is  the  issue  that  will  continue  in  this  country  when 
these  poor  tongues  of  Judge  Douglas  and  myself  shall  be  silent.  It  is  the  eternal 
struggle  between  these  two  principles  — right  and  wrong — throughout  the  world. 
Theyare  two  principles  that  have  stood  face  to  face  from  the  beginning  of  time ; 
and  will  ever  continue  to  struggle.  The  one  is  the  common  right  of  humanity,  and 
the  other  the  divine  right  of  Kings.  It  is  the  same  principle  in  whatever  shape  it 
developes  itself.  It  is  the  same  spirit  that  says,  "  You  work,  and  toil,  and  earn  bread, 
and  I'll  eat  it."  No  matter  in  what  shape  it  comes,  whether  from  the  mouth  of  a 
King  who  seeks  to  bestride  the  people  of  his  own  nation  and  live  by  the  fruit  of 
their  labor,  or  from  one  race  of  men  as  an  apology  for  enslaving  another  race,  it  is 
the  same  tyrannical  principle. 

It  required  some  nerve  in  Lincoln,  in  a  State  where  the 
prejudice  against  the  negro  was  so  strong  that  the  people 


126       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

would  neither  let  him  vote  nor  testify,  nor  serve  on  a  jury, 
to  stand  up  and  proclaim  the  right  of  the  negro  to  all  the 
rights  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Mr.  Lincoln 
stated,  "that  up  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
he  had  lived  in  the  hope  that  slavery  was  in  the  course  of 
ultimate  extinction:" 


The  adoption  of  the  Constitution  and  its  attendant  history  led  the  people  to  be- 
lieve so ;  and  that  such  was  the  belief  of  the  frainers  of  the  Constitution  itself. 
Why  did  those  old  men,  about  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  de- 
cree that  slavery  should  not  go  into  the  new  territory,  where  it  had  not  already 
gone?  Why  declare  that  within  tw&ty  years  the  African  slave  trade,  by  which 
slaves  are  supplied,  might,  be  cut  off  by  Congress ?  Why  were  all  these  acts?  I 
might  enumerate  more  of  these  acts — but  enough.  What  were  they  but  a  clear 
indication  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  intended  and  expected  the  ultimate 
extinction  of  that  institution?  And  now,  when  I  say,  as  I  said  in  my  speech  that 
Judge  Douglas  has  quoted  from,  when  I  say  that  I  think  the  opponents  of  slavery 
will  resist  the  farther  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest 
with  the  belief  that  it  is  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction,  I  only  mean  to  say,  that 
they  will  place  it  where  the  founders  of  this  Government  originally  placed  it. 

He  thus  describes  his  appreciation  of  the  momentous  issue  : 

I  do  not  claim,  gentlemen,  to  be  unselfish ;  I  do  not  pretend  that  I  would  not  like 
to  go  to  the  United  States  Senate ;  I  make  no  such  hypocritical  pretence ;  but  I  do 
say  to  you  that  in  this  mighty  issue,  it  is  nothing  to  the  mass  of  the  people  of  the 
Nation,  whether  or  not  Judge  Douglas  or  myself  shall  ever  be  heard  of,  after  this 
night;  it  may  be  a  trifle  to  either  of  us,  but  in  connection  with  this  mighty 
question,  upon  which  hang  the  destinies  of  the  Nation,  perhaps,  it  is  absolutely 
nothing. 

Judge  Douglas,  in  the  speech  at  Bloomington,  July  16th, 
1858,  indicated  the  style  in  which  he  desired  to  conduct  the 
debate : 


The  Republican  Convention,  when  it  assembled  at  Springfield,  did  me  and  the 
country  the  honor  of  indicating  the  man  who  was  to  be  their  standard-bearer,  and 
the  embodiment  of  their  principles,  in  this  State.  I  owe  them  my  gratitude  for 
thus  making  up  a  direct  issue  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  myself.  I  shall  have  no 
controversies  of  a  personal  character  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  I  have  known  him  well 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  I  have  known  him,  as  you  all  know  him,  a  kind- 
hearted,  amiable  gentleman,  a  right  good  fellow,  a  worthy  citizen,  of  eminent 
ability  as  a  lawyer,  and  I  have  no  doubt,  sufficient  ability  to  make  a  good  Senator. 
The  question,  then,  for  you  to  decide  is,  whether  his  principles  are  more  in  accord- 
ance with  the  genius  of  our  free  institutions,  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  Repub- 
lic, than  those  which  I  advocate.  He  tells  you,  in  his  speech  made  at  Springfield, 
before  the  convention  which  gave  him  his  unanimous  nomination,  that: 

"  A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand."  "  I  believe  this  Government 
cannot  endure  permanently,  half  slave  and  half  free."  "  1  do  not  expect  the  Union 
to  be  dissolved  — Ldon't  expect  the  house  to  fall  — but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to 
be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other." 


THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATE.  127 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  speech  at  Quincy,  indicated  the  gravity 
of  the  great  drama : 

'/ 

He,  Douglas,  said,  too,  "  that  he  should  not  concern  himself  with  Trumbull  any 
more,  but  thereafter  he  should  hold  Lincoln  responsible  for  the  slanders  upon  him." 
When  I  met  him  at  Charleston  after  that,  although  I  think  that  I  should  not  have 
noticed  the  subject  if  he  had  not  said  he  would  hold  me  responsible  for  it,  I  spread 
out  before  him  the  statements  of  the  evidence  that  Judge  Trumbull  had  used,  and 
I  asked  Judge  Douglas,  piece  by  piece,  to  put  his  finger  upon  one  piece  of  all  that 
evidence  that  he  would  say  was  a  forgery !  When  I  went  through  with  each  and 
every  piece,  Judge  Douglas  did  not  dare  then  to  say  that  any  piece  of  it  was  a  for- 
gery. So  it  seems  that  there  are  some  things  that  Judge  Douglas  dares  to  do,  and 
some  that  he  dares  not  to  do. 

A  voice  —  "  It's  the  same  thing  with  you." 

Mr.  Lincoln  —  Yes,  sir,  it's  the  same  thing  *wlth  me.  I  do  dare  to  say  "  forgery," 
when  it's  true,  and  I  don't  dare  to  say  "forgery,"  when  it's  false.  Now,  I  will  say 
here,  to  this  audience,  and  to  Judge  Douglas,  I  have  not  dared  to  say  he  committed 
a  forgery,  and  I  never  shall  until  I  know  it;  but  I  did  dare  to  say — just  to  suggest 
to  the  Judge  —  that  a  forgery  had  been  committed,  which  by  his  own  showing,  had 
been  traced  to  him  and  two  of  his  friends.  I  dared  to  suggest  to  him  that  he  had 
expressly  promised  in  one  of  his  public  speeches  to  investigate  that  matter,  and  I 
dared  to  suggest  to  him  that  there  was  an  implied  promise  that  when  he  investi- 
gated it  he  would  make  known  the  result.  I  dared  to  suggest  to  the  Judge  that  he 
could  not  expect  to  be  quite  clear  of  suspicion  of  that  fraud,  for  since  the  time  that 
promise  was  made,  he  had  been  with  those  friends,  and  had  not  kept  his  promise 
in  regard  to  the  investigation  and  the  report  upon  it.  I  am  not  a  very  daring  man, 
but  I  dared  that  much,  Judge,  and  I  am  not  much  scared  about  it  yet.  When  the 
Judge  says  he  would'  nt  have  believed  of  Abraham  Lincoln  that  he  would  have 
made  such  an  attempt  as  that,  he  reminds  me  of  the  fact  that  he  entered  upon  this 
canvass  with  the  purpose  to  treat  me  courteously ;  that  touched  me  somewhat.  It 
sets  me  to  thinking. 

I  was  aware,  when  It  was  first  agreed  that  Judge  Douglas  and  I  were  to  have 
these  seven  joint  discussions,  that  they  were  the  successive  acts  of  a  drama  —  per- 
haps I  should  say,  to  be  enacted  not  merely  in  the  face  of  audiences  like  this,  but 
in  the  face  of  the  nation,  and  to  some  extent,  by  my  relation  to  him,  and  not  from 
anything  in  myself,  in  the  face  of  the  world ;  and  I  am  anxious  that  they  should 
be  conducted  with  dignity  and  in  good  temper,  which  would  be  beflting  the  vast 
audience  before  which  it  was  conducted. 

But  when  Judge  Douglas  got  home  from  Washington  and  made  his  first  speech 
in  Chicago,  the  evening  afterward  I  made  some  sort  of  a  reply  to  it.  His  second 
speech  was  made  at  Bloomington,  in  which  he  commented  upon  my  speech  at 
Chicago,  and  said  that  I  had  used  language  ingeniously  contrived  to  conceal  my 
intentions,  or  words  to  that  effect.  Now,  I  understand  that  this  is  an  imputation 
upon  my  veracity  and  my  candor.  I  do  not  know  what  the  Judge  understood  by 
it,  but  in  our  first  discussion  at  Ottawa,  he  led  off  by  charging  a  bargain,  somewhat 
corrupt  in  its  character,  upon  Trumbull  and  myself;  that  we  had  entered  into  a 
bargain,  one  of  the  terms  of  which  was  that  Trumbull  was  to  abolitionize  the  old 
democratic  party,  and  I,  (Lincoln,)  was  to  abolitionize  the  old  whig  party ;  — I  pre- 
tending to  be  as  good  an  old  line  whig  as  ever.  Judge  Douglas  may  not  understand 
that  he  implicated  my  truthfulness  and  honor,  when  he  said  I  was  doing  one  thing 
and  pretending  another;  and  I  misunderstood  him  if  he  thought  he  was  treating 
me  in  a  dignified  way,  as  a  man  of  honor  and  truth,  as  he  now  claims  he  was 
disposed  to  treat  me. 

Even  after  that  time,  at  Galesburg,  when  he  brings  forward  an  extract  from  a 
speech  made  at  Chicago,  and  an  extract  from  a  speech  made  at  Charleston,  to  prove 
that  I  was  trying  to  play  a  double  part— that  I  was  trying  to  cheat  the  public,  and 
get  votes  upon  one  set  of  principles  at  one  place,  and  upon  another  set  of  princi- 
ples at  another  place.  I  do  not  understand  but  what  he  impeaches  my  honor,  my 
veracity,  and  my  candor,  and  because  he  does  this,  I  do  not  understand  that  I  am 
bound,  if  I  see  a  truthful  ground  for  it,  to  keep  my  hands  off  of  him.  As  soon  as  T 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVKRY. 

learned  that  Judge  Douglas  was  disposed  to  treat  me  in  this  way,  I  signified  in  one 
of  my  speeches,  that  I  should  be  driven  to  draw  upon  whatever  of  humble  resources 
I  might  have  —  to  adopt  a  new  course  with  him.  I  was  not  entirely  sure  that  I 
should  be  able  to  hold  my  own  with  him,  but  I  at  least  had  the  purpose  made  to  do 
as  well  as  I  could  upon  him ;  and  now  I  say  that  I  will  not  be  the  first  to  cry  "  hold." 
I  think  it  originated  with  the  Judge,  and  when  he  quits,  I  probably  will.  But  I 
shall  not  ask  any  favors  at  all.  He  asks  me,  or  he  asks  the  audience,  if  I  wish  to 
push  this  matt«r  to  the  point  of  personal  difficulty  ?  I  tell  him,  no.  He  did  not 
make  a  mistake,  in  one  of  his  early  speeches,  when  he  called  me  an  amiable  man, 
though  perhaps  he  did  when  he  called  me  an  "  intelligent "  man.  It  really  hurts 
me  very  much  to  suppose  that  I  have  wronged  anybody  on  earth.  I  again  tell  him, 
no !  I  very  much  prefer,  when  this  canvass  shall  be  over,  however  it  may  result, 
that  we  at  least  part  without  any  bitter  recollections  of  personal  difficulties. 

These  discussions  were  generally  grave,  but  Lincoln  could 
not  at  all  times  refrain  from  humour.  In  his  speech  at 
Springfield,  July  17th,  1858,  he  said: 

Senator  Douglas  is  of  world-wide  renown.  All  the  anxious  politicians  of  his 
party,  or  who  have  been  of  his  party  for  years  past,  have  been  looking  upon  him 
as  certainly,  at  no  distant  day,  to  be  the  President  of  the  United  States.  They  have 
seen  in  his  round,  jolly,  fruitful  face,  post-offices,  land-offices,  marshalships,  and  cab- 
inet appointments,  chargeships,  foreign  missions  ,  and  sprouting  out  in  wonderful 
exuberance,  ready  to  be  laid  hold  of  by  their  greedy  hands.  And  as  they  have  been 
gazing  upon  this  attractive  picture  so  long,  they  cannot,  in  the  little  distraction  that 
has  taken  place  in  the  party,  bring  themselves  to  give  up  the  charming  hope,  but 
with  greedier  anxiety  they  rush  about  him,  sustain  him,  and  give  him  marches, 
triumphal  entries,  and  receptions  beyond  what,  even  in  the  days  of  his  highest 
prosperity,  they  could  have  brought  about  in  his  favor. 

On  the  contrary,  nobody  has  ever  expected  me  to  be  President.  In  my  poor,  lean, 
lank  face,  nobody  has  ever  seen  that  any  cabbages  were  sprouting  out.  These  are 
disadvantages,  all  taken  together,  that  the  republicans  labor  under.  We  have  to 
fight  this  battle  upon  principle  alone.  I  am,  in  a  certain  sense,  made  the  standard- 
bearer  in  behalf  of  the  republicans.  I  was  made  so  merely  because  there  had  to  be 
some  one  so  placed  —  I  being  in  nowise  preferable  to  any  other  one  of  the  twenty- 
five— perhaps  a  hundred,  we  have  in  the  republican  ranks.  Then  I  wish  it  to  be 
distinctly  understood  and  borne  in  mind,  that  we  have  to  fight  this  battle  without 
many  —  perhaps  without  any— of  the  external  aids  which  are  brought  to  bear 
against  us.  So  I  hope  those  with  whom  I  am  surrounded  have  principle  enough  to 
nerve  themselves  for  the  task,  and  leave  nothing  undone  that  can  be  faiily  done, 
to  bring  about  the  right  result. 

After  Senator  Douglas  left  Washington,  his  movements  were  made  known  by  the 
public  prints ;  he  tarried  a  considerable  time  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  and  it  was 
heralded  that,  like  another  Napoleon,  he  was  lying  by  and  framing  the  plan  of  his 
campaign. 

I  think  I  have  been  able  to  see  what  are  the  material  points  of  that  plan.  They 
were  not  very  numerous.  The  first  is  "popular  sovereignty."  The  second  ajid 
third  are  attacks  upon  my  speech  made  on  the  16th  of  June.  Out  of  these  three 
points  —  drawing  within  the  range  of  popular  sovereignty  the  question  of  the  Le- 
compton  Constitution  — he  makes  his  principal  assault.  Upon  these  his  successive 
speeches  are  substantially  one  and  the  same.  On  this  matter  of  popular  sove- 
reignty I  wish  to  be  a  little  careful.  Auxiliary  to  these  main  points,  to  be  sure, 
are  their  thunderings  of  cannon,  their  marching  and  music,  their  fizzle-gigs,  and 
fire-works ;  but  I  will  not  waste  time  with  them.  They  are  but  the  little  trappings 
of  the  campaign. 

Coming  to  the  substance  —  the  first  point  —  "popular  sovereignty,"  is  to  be  la- 
belled upon  the  cars  in  which  he  travels ;  put  upon  the  hacks  he  rides  in ;  to  be 
flaunted  upon  the  arches  he  passes  under,  and  the  banners  which  wave  over  him. 
It  is  to  be  dished  up  in  as  many  varieties  as  a  French  cook  can  produce  soups  from 
potatoes. 


THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATE.  129 

Lincoln  again  expresses  his  views  of  the  importance  of  the 
slavery  question : 

Although  I  have  ever  been  opposed  to  slavery,  so  far  I  rested  in  the  hope  and 
belief  that  it  was  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  I  might  have  been  mis- 
taken ;  but  I  had  believed,  and  now  believe,  that  the  whole  public  mind,  that  is, 
the  mind  of  the  great  majority,  had  rested  in  that  belief  up  to  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise.  But  upon  that  event,  I  became  convinced  that  either  I  had 
been  resting  in  a  delusion,  or  the  institution  was  being  placed  on  a  new  basis— a 
basis  for  making  it  perpetual,  national,  and  universal.  Subsequent  events  have 
greatly  confirmed  me  in  that  belief.  I  believe  that  bill  to  be  the  beginning  of  a 
conspiracy  for  that  purpose.  So  believing,  I  have  since  then  considered  that  ques- 
tion a  paramount  one.  So  believing,  I  think  the  public  mind  will  never  rest  till 
the  power  of  Congress  to  restrict  the  spread  of  it  shall  be  again  acknowledged  and 
exercised  on  the  one  hand,  or  on  the  others-all  resistance  be  entirely  crushed  out. 
I  have  expressed  that  opinion,  and  I  entertain  it  to-night.  It  is  denied  that  there 
is  any  tendency  to  the  nationalization  of  slavery  in  these  States. 

Mr.  Brooks,  of  South  Carolina,  in  one  of  his  speeches,  when  they  were  presenting 
him  canes,  silver  plate,  gold  pitchers  and  the  like,  for  assaulting  Senator  Sumner, 
distinctly  affirmed  his  opinion  that  when  this  Constitution  was  formed,  it  was  the 
belief  of  no  man  that  slavery  would  last  to  the  present  day. 

He  thus  speaks  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  Douglas' 
reverence  for  it : 

And  I  remind  him  of  another  piece  of  history  on  the  question  of  respect  for  judi- 
cial decisions,  and  it  is  a  piece  of  Illinois  history,  belonging  to  a  time  when  the 
large  party  to  which  Judge  Douglas  belonged,  were  displeased  with  a  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  because  they  had  decided  that  a  Governor  could  not 
remove  a  Secretary  of  State.  You  will  find  the  whole  story  in  Ford's  History  of 
Illinois,  and  I  know  that  Judge  Douglas  will  not  deny  that  he  was  then  in  favor 
of  overslaughing  that  decision  by  the  mode  of  adding  five  new  Judges,  so  as  to  vote 
down  the  four  old  ones.  Not  only  so,  but  it  ended  in  the  Judge's  sitting  down  on  that 
very  bench  as  one  of  the  five  new  Judges,  to  break  down  the  four  old  ones.  It  was  in  this 
way  precisely  that  he  got  his  title  of  Judge.  Now,  when  the  Judge  tells  me  that 
men  appointed  conditionally  to  sit  as  members  of  a  court,  will  have  to  be  catechis- 
ed beforehand  upon  some  subject,  I  say,  "  You  know,  Judge ;  you  have  tried  it." 
When  he  says  a  court  of  this  kind  will  lose  the  confidence  of  all  men,  will  be 
prostituted  and  disgraced  by  such  a  proceeding,  I  say,  "  You  know  best,  Judge ; 
you  have  been  through  the  mill."  But  I  cannot  shake  Judge  Douglas'  teeth  loose 
from  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  Like  some  obstinate  animal,  (I  mean  no  disrespect,) 
that  will  hang  on  when  he  has  once  got  his  teeth  fixed,  you  may  cut  off  a  leg,  or 
you  may  tear  away  an  arm,  still  he  will  not  relax  his  hold. .  *  And  so  I  may  point 
out  to  the  Judge,  and  say  that  he  is  bespattered  all  over,  from  the  beginning  of  his 
political  life  to  the  present  time,  with  attacks  upon  judicial  decisions  — I  may  cut 
off  limb  after  limb  of  his  public  record,  and  strive  to  wrench  him  from  a  single 
dictum  of  the  court— yet  I  cannot  divert  him  from  it.  He  hangs  to  the  last  to  the 
Dred  Scott  decision.  These  things  show  there  is  a  purpose  strong  as  death  and 
eternity,  for  which  he  adheres  to  this  decision,  and  for  which  he  will  adhere  to  all 
other  decisions  of  the  same  court. 

A  Hibernian  —  "  Give  us  something  beside  Drid  Scott." 
Mr.  Lincoln  —Yes ;  no  doubt  you  want  to  hear  something  that  don't  hurt. 


Judge  Douglas  is  going  back  to  the  era  of  our  Revolution,  and  to  the  extent  of 
his  ability,  muzzling  the  cannon  which  thunders  its  annual  joyous  return.  When 
he  invites  any  people,  willing  to  have  slavery,  to  establish  it,  he  is  blowing  out  the 
moral  lights  around  us.  When  he  says  he  "  cares  not  whether  slavery  is  voted 
down  or  voted  up " —  that  it  is  a  sacred  right  of  self-governmont  —  he  is,  in  my 
9 


130      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

judgment,  penetrating  the  human  soul,  and  eradicating  the  light  of  reason  and 
the  love  of  liberty  in  this  American  people.  And  now  I  will  only  say,  that  when 
by  all  these  means  and  appliances,  Judge  Douglas  shall  succeed  in  bringing  public 
sentiment  to  an  exact  accordance  with  his  own  views  —  when  these  vast  assemb- 
lages shall  echo  back  all  these  sentiments  —  when  they  shall  come  to  repeat  his 
views  and  to  avow  his  principles,  and  to  say  all  that  he  says  on  these  mighty  ques- 
tions —  then  it  needs  only  the  formality  of  the  second  Dred  Scott  decision,  which 
he  endorses  in  advance,  to  make  slavery  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well 
as  new,  North  as  well  as  South. 
My  friends,  that  ends  the  chapter.  Judge  Douglas  can  take  his  half  hour. 

A  good  specimen  of  Judge  Douglas'  boldness  and  dogmat- 
ism was  exhibited  at  Freeport,  August  27,  1858.  Douglas 
persisted  in  calling  the  Republicans  "Black  Republicans," 
although  the  crowd  called  out  and  insisted  again  and  again 
that  he  should  say  "White  Republicans" — "no  epithets."  It 
must  be  admitted  Douglas  was  insulting,  and  the  crowd  re- 
sented it.  He  was  in  the  very  strongest  Republican  district, 
and  there  were  ten  to  one  of  the  crowd  Republican,  and  yet 
Douglas  persisted  in  calling  them  "Black;"  at  length  he 
said: 

Now,  there  are  a  great  many  Black  Republicans  of  you  who  do  not  know  this 
thing  was  done.  ("  White,  white,  and  great  clamor.")  I  wish  to  remind  you  that 
•while  Mr.  Lincoln  was  speaking,  there  was  not  a  Democrat  vulgar  and  blackguard 
enough  to  interrupt  him.  But  I  know  that  the  shoe  is  pinching  you.  I  am 
clinching  Lincoln  now,  and  you  are  scared  to  death  for  the  result.  I  have  seen 
this  thing  before.  I  have  seen  men  make  appointments  for  joint  discussions,  and 
the^noment  their  man  has  been  heard,  try  to  interrupt  and  prevent,  a  fair  hearing 
of  the  other  side.  I  have  seen  your  mobs  before,  and  deny  your  wrath.  (Tremen- 
dous applause.)  My  friends,  do  not  cheer,  for  I  need  my  whole  time. 

I  have  been  put  to  severe  tests.  I  have  stood  by  my  principles  in  fair  weather 
and  in  foul,  in  the  sunshine  and  in  the  rain.  I  have  defended  the  great  principles 
of  self-government  here  among  you  when  Northern  sentiment  ran  in  a  torrent 
against  me,  and  I  have  defended  that  same  great  principle  when  Southern  senti- 
ment came  down  like  an  avalanche  upon  me.  I  was  not  afraid  of  any  test  they  put 
to  me.  I  knew  I  was  right  —  I  knew  my  principles  were  sound  —  I  knew  that  the 
people  would  see  in  the  end  that  I  had  done  right,  and  I  knew  that  the  God  of 
Heaven  would  smile  upon  me  if  I  was  faithful  in  the  performance  of  my  duty. 

At  Alton,  October  15th,  1858,  Lincoln  said,  speaking  of 
slavery : 

On  this  subject  of  treating  it  as  a  wrong,  and  limiting  Its  spread,  let  me  say  a 
word.  Has  anything  ever  threatened  the  existence  of  this  Union  save  and  except 
this  very  institution  of  slavery?  What  is  it  that  we  hold  most  dear  amongst  us  ? 
Our  own  liberty  and  prosperity.  What  has  ever  threatened  our  liberty  and  pros- 
perity save  and  except  this  institution  of  slavery?  If  this  is  true,  how  do  you 
propose  to  improve  the  condition  of  things  by  enlarging  slavery?— by  spreading 
it  out  and  making  it  bigger  ?  You  may  have  a  wen  or  cancer  upon  your  person 
and  not  be  able  to  cut  it  out  lest  you  bleed  to  death ;  but  surely  it  is  no  way  to 
cure  it,  to  engraft  it  and  spread  it  over  your  whole  body.  That  is  no  proper  way 
of  treating  what  you  regard  a  wrong.  You  see  this  peaceful  way  of  dealing  with 
it  as  a  wrong  —  restricting  the  spread  of  it,  and  not  allowing  it  to  go  into  new 
countries  where  it  has  not  already  existed.  That  is  the  peaceful  way,  the  old- 
fashioned  way,  the  way  in  which  the  fathers  themselves  set  us  the  example. 


THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATE.  131 

At  the  meeting  at  Freeport,  August  27,  1858,  occurred 
one  of  those  passages  which  brings  out  the  traits  and  charac- 
teristics of  the  champions.  Mr.  Lincoln,  after  alluding  to 
some  questions  propounded  to  him  by  Senator  Douglas,  at 
Ottawa,  said : 

I  now  propose  that  I  will  answer  any  of  the  interrogatories,  upon  condition  that 
he  will  answer  questions  from  me,  not  exceeding  the  same  number,  to  which  I 
give  him  an  opportunity  to  respond.  The  Judge  remains  silent;  I  now  say  that  I 
will  answer  his  interrogatories,  whether  he  answer  mine  or  not,  and  that  after  I 
have  done  so,  I  shall  propound  mine  to  him. 

I  have  supposed  myself,  since  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  at 
Bloom  ington,  in  May,  1856,  bound  as  a  party  man  by  the  platforms  of  the  party, 
then,  and  since.  If,  in  any  interrogatories  which  I  shall  answer,  I  go  beyond  the 
scope  of  what  is  within  these  platforms,  it  will  be  perceived  that  no  one  is 
responsible  but  myself. 

Having  said  thus  much,  I  will  take  up  the  Judge's  interrogatories,  as  I  find  them 
printed  in  the  Chicago  Times,  and  answer  them  seriatim.  In  order  that  there  may 
be  no  mistake  about  it,  I  have  copied  the  interrogatories  in  writing,  and  also  my 
answers  to  them.  The  first  one  of  these  interrogatories  is  in  these  words : 

Question  l.—I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  to-day  stands,  as  he  did  in  1854,  In 
favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  ? 

An&ver.—  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  in  favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

Q.  t, —  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands  pledged  to-day,  as  he  did  in 
1854,  against  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union,  even  if  the 
people  want  them  ? 

A.— I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of  any  more 
slave  States  into  the  Union. 

Q.  S.—I  want  to  know,  whether  he  stands  pledged  against  the  admission  of  a  new 
State  into  the  Union,  with  such  a  Constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may  see 
nt  to  make  ? 

A. — I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of  a  new  State  into  the  Union, 
with  such  a  Constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may  see  fit  to  make. 

Q.  I,. — I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ? 

A.—  I  do  not  stand  to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

Q.  S.—I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the 
slave  trade  between  the  different  States  ? 

A. —  I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the  slave  trade  between  the 
different  States. 

Q.  6.—  I  desire  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States,  North  as  well  as  South  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
line? 

A.—  I  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressly,  pledged  to  a  belief  in  the  right  and  duty  of 
Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all  the  United  States'  Territories. 

Q.  7.— I  desire  him  to  answer,  whether  he  is  opposed  to  -the  acquisition  of  any 
new  territory,  unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited  therein? 

A.—  I  am  not  generally  opposed  to  honest  acquisition  of  territory;  and,  in  any 
given  case,  I  would  or  would  not  oppose  such  acquisition,  according  as  I  might 
think  such  acquisition  would  or  would  not  aggravate  the  slavery  question  among 
ourselves. 

Now  my  friends,  it  will  be  perceived  upon  an  examination  of  these  questions 
and  answers,  that  so  far,  I  have  only  answered  that  I  was  not  pledged  to  this,  that, 
or  the  other. 


132       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  Judge  has  not  framed  his  interrogatories  to  ask  me  anything  more  than  this, 
and  I  have  answered  in  strict  accordance  with  the  interrogatories  —  and  have 
answered  truly,  that  I  am  not  pledged  at  all  upon  any  of  the  points  to  which  I  have 
answered.  But  I  am  not  disposed  to  hang  upon  the  exact  form  of  his  interroga- 
tory. I  am  rather  disposed  to  take  up,  at  least  some  of  these  questions,  and  state 
what  I  really  think  upon  them. 

The  fourth  one  is  in  regard  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
In  relation  to  that,  I  have  my  mind  very  distinctly  made  up.  I  should  be  very 
glad  to  see  slavery  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  I  believe  that  Congress 
possesses  the  constitutional  power  to  abolish  it.  Yet,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  I 
should  not,  with  my  present  views,  be  in  favor  of  endeavoring  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  unless  it  should  be  upon  these  conditions :  First,  That 
the  abolition  should  be  gradual ;  Second,  That  it  should  be  on  a  vote  of  the  majority 
of  qualified  voters  in  the  District ;  and  Third,  That  compensation  should  be  made 
to  unwilling  owners.  "With  these  three  conditions,  I  confess  I  would  be  exceed- 
ingly glad  to  see  Congress  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and,  in  the 
language  of  Henry  Clay,  "  sweep  from  our  Capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our  nation." 
I  now  proceed  to  propound  to  the  Judge  the  interrogatories,  so  far  as  I  have  framed 
them.  I  will  bring  forward  a  new  instalment  when  I  get  them  ready.  I  will  bring 
now  only  four.  The  first  one  is— 

1.  If  the  people  of  Kansas  shall,  by  means  entirely  unobjectionable  in  all  other 
respects,  adopt  a  State  Constitution  and  ask  admission  into  the  Union  \inder  it 
before  they  have  the  requisite  number  of  inhabitants,  according  to  the  English 
bill  — some  ninety-three  thousand  — will  you  vote  to  admit  them? 

2.  Can  the  people  of  a  United  States  Territory,  in  any  lawful  way,  against  the 
wish  of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits  prior  to 
the  formation  of  a  State  Constitution  ? 

8.  If  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  shall  decide  that  States  cannot 
exclude  slavery  from  their  limits,  are  you  in  favor  of  acquiescing  in,  adopting  and 
following  such  decision  as  a  rule  of  political  action  7 

4.  Are  you  in  favor  of  acquiring  additional  territory,  in  disregard  of  how  such 
acquisition  may  affect  the  nation  on  the  slavery  question? 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  answers  of  Mr.  Lincoln  are 
full,  fair  and  candid,  and  it  is  just  to  state,  that  these  answers 
were  not  satisfactory  to  the  radical  anti-slavery  men  whom 
he  addressed,  and  he  knew  they  would  not  be. 

To  the  first  question,  Mr.  Douglas  said : 

In  reference  to  Kansas,  it  is  my  opinion  that,  as  she  has  population  enough  to 
constitute  a  slave  State,  she  has  people  enough  for  a  free  State. 

I  hold  it  to  be  a  sacred  rule  of  universal  application,  to  require  a  Territory  to 
contain  the  requisite  population  for  a  member  of  Congress,  before  it  is  admitted 
as  a  State  into  the  Union ! 


To  the  second  question,  Douglas  replied : 


It  matters  not  what  way  the  Supreme  Court  may  hereafter  decide,  as  to  the 
abstract  question  whether  slavery  may  or  may  not  go  into  a  Territory  under  the 
Constitution,  the  people  have  the  lawful  means  to  introduce  it,  or  exclude  it  as  they 
please,  for  the  reason  that  slavery  cannot  exist  a  day,  or  an  hour,  anywhere,  unless 
It  is  supported  by  local  police  regulations.  Those  police  regulations  can  only  be 
established  by  the  local  legislature,  and  if  the  people  are  opposed  to  slavery,  they 
will  elect  representatives  to  that  body,  who  will,  by  unfriendly  legislation,  effect- 
ually prevent  the  introduction  of  it  into  their  midst.  If,  on  the  contrary,  they  are 


THE  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS  DEBATE.  133 

for  It,  their  legislation  will  favor  its  extension.  Hence,  no  matter  what  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Supreme  Court  may  be  on  that  abstract  question,  still  the  right  of  the 
people  to  make  a  slave  Territory  or  a  free  Territory  is  perfect  and  complete  under 
the  Nebraska  bill. 

It  was  in  regard  to  this  question  that  a  friend  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln said :  "  If  Douglas  answers  in  such  a  way,  as  to  give 
practical  force  and  effect  to  the  '  Dred  Scott '  decision,  he  in- 
evitably loses  the  battle,  but  he  will  therefore  reply,  by  de- 
claring the  decision  an  abstract  proposition ;  he  will  adhere 
to  his  doctrine  of  squatter  sovereignty,  and  declare  that  a 
territory  may  exclude  slavery."  "  If  he  does  that,"  said  Mr. 
Lincoln,  "he  can  never  be  President."  "But,"  said  the 
friend,  "he  may  be  Senator."  "Perhaps,"  replied  Lincoln, 
"but  I  am  after  larger  game;  the  battle  of  1860  is  worth  a 
hundred  of  this." 

It  is  not  known  positively  whether  Mr.  Lincoln  then  looked 
forward  to  the  possibility  of  his  being  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency;  it  is  not  improbable  that  by  his  rare  sagacity,  and 
knowledge  of  public  sentiment  he  already  saw,  in  the  rivalry 
of  prominent  leaders,  his  own  nomination.  However  this  may 
have  been,  he  believed  that  the  elevation  of  Douglas  to  the 
Executive  chair,  with  his  avowed  sentiments,  would  be  dan- 
gerous to  liberty,  and  sought  by  every  legitimate  means  to 
damage  his  prospects. 

To  the  third  question,  Mr.  Douglas  said : 

The  third  question  which  Mr.  Lincoln  presented  is,  if  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  shall  decide  that  a  State  of  this  Union  cannot  exclude  slavery  from 
its  own  limits,  will  I  submit  to  it  ?  I  am  amazed  that  Lincoln  should  ask  such  a 
question. 

He  casts  an  imputation  upon  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  by  suppos- 
ing that  they  would  violate  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  I  tell  him  that 
such  a  thing  is  not  possible.  It  would  be  an  act  of  moral  treason  that  no  man  on 
the  bench  could  ever  descend  to.  Mr.  Lincoln,  himself,  would  never,  in  his  partisan 
feelings,  so  far  forget  what  was  right,  as  to  be  guilty  of  such  an  act. 

This,  however,  from  Mr.  Douglas,  was  an  evasion,  not  an 
answer. 

To  the  fourth  question,  whether  he  "was  in  favor  of  ac- 
quiring additional  territory  in  disregard  as  to  how  such 
acquisition  may  affect  the  slavery  question,"  he  replied : 

With  our  natural  increase,  growing  with  a  rapidity  unknown  in  any  other  part 
of  the  globe,  with  the  tide  of  emigration  that  is  fleeing  from  despotism  in  the  old 
world,  to  seek  refuge  in  our  own,  there  is  a  constant  torrent  pouring  into  this 


134       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

country  that  requires  more  land  —  more  territory  upon  which  to  settle,  and  Just  as 
fast  as  our  Interests  and  our  destiny  require  additional  territory  In  the  North,  In 
the  South,  or  on  the  Islands  of  the  Ocean,  I  am  for  it,  and  when  we  acquire  it,  will 
leave  the  people,  according  to  the  Nebraska  bill,  free  to  do  as  they  please  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  and  every  other  question. 

It  was  impossible  to  reconcile  Douglas'  position  at  Free- 
port,  that  slavery  could  be  rightfully  excluded  from  a  Terri- 
tory by  legislation,  and  the  "Dred  Scott"  decision,  which 
decided  that  a  slaveholder  had  a  legal  right  to  take  his  slaves 
into  all  the  territories. 

Mr.  Lincoln  exposed  this  in  one  of  his  terse,  clear  sen- 
tences, when  he  said  "  it  was  declaring  that  a  thing  may  be 
lawfully  driven  away  from  a  place,  where  it  has  a  lawful  right 
to  go." 

These  debates,  and  the  debaters,  have  passed  into  history. 
The  world  has  pronounced  Mr.  Lincoln  the  victor,  but  it 
should  be  remembered,  in  justice  to  Douglas,  that  Lincoln 
spoke  for  liberty  and  against  the  extension  of  slavery ;  he 
was  the  organ  of  a  new  and  vigorous  party,  and  he  knew  he 
was  right.  Douglas  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  as 
well  as  Senator,  and  must  keep  one  eye  on  the  slaveholders, 
and  the  other  on  the  citizens  of  Illinois.  This  hampered 
and  embarrassed  him,  yet  he  made  a  brilliant  canvass. 

An  immense  vote  was  cast — for  Mr.  Lincoln,  126,084; 
for  Mr.  Douglas,  121,940;  and  5,091  were  given  for  the  Bu- 
chanan ticket,  which  was  run  to  defeat  Douglas. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  several  Democratic  senators  held 
over  in  districts  which  gave  Republican  majorities,  and  the 
inequality  of  the  apportionment, it  having  been  made  on  the 
basis  of  the  population  of  1850,  Mr.  Douglas  was  reflected. 

These  debates  were  published  at  the  time  in  the  leading 
newspapers  throughout  the  Union.  The  manly  bearing,  the 
vigorous  logic,  the  straight-forward  honesty  and  earnest  sin- 
cerity, as  well  as  the  intellectual  power  manifested  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  these  discussions,  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
the  people.  So  well  satisfied  was  the  Republican  party  with 
the  efforts  of  its  champion,  that  these  debates,  including  the 
speeches  of  Douglas  and  Lincoln,  were  published,  without 
alteration,  as  a  campaign  document,  and  scattered  everywhere 
throughout  the  Union. 


LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  AT  COLUMBUS.  •  135 

At  the  close  of  the  canvass,  Mr.  Lincoln  resumed  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  His  fame  as  a  lawyer  and  a 
statesman  had  extended  throughout  the  West,  and  he  was 
called  by  professional  engagements,  not  only  into  every  part 
of  Illinois,  but  into  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  Missouri  and  Ohio. 

In  1859,  he  visited  Kansas,  and  the  grateful  people  of  that 
young  State  received  him  as  one  who  had  eloquently  plead 
their  cause. 

In  the  autumn  of  1859,  Douglas  visited  and  stumped  Ohio. 
The  fame  of  Lincoln  had  extended  there,  and  he  was  sent 
for  to  come  to  that  State  and  reply.  He  went,  and  spoke  at 
Columbus  and  Cincinnati. 

A  few  extracts  are  given  from  his  speech  at  Columbus : 

The  American  people,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1854,  found  the  African  slave 
trade  prohibited  by  a  law  of  Congress.  In  a  majority  of  the  States  of  this  Union, 
they  found  African  slavery,  or  any  other  sort  of  slavery,  prohibited  by  State 
Constitutions.  They  also  found  a  law  existing,  supposed  to  be  valid,  by  which 
slavery  was  excluded  from  almost  all  the  territory  the  United  States  then  owned. 
This  was  the  condition  of  the  country,  with  reference  to  the  institution  of  slavery/ 
on  the  first  of  January,  1854.  A  few  days  after  that,  a  bill  was  introduced  into 
Congress,  which  ran  through  its  regular  course  in  the  two  branches  of  the  National 
Legislature,  and  finally  passed  into  a  law  in  the  month  of  May,  by  which  the  act 
of  Congress  prohibiting  slavery  from  going  into  the  Territories  of  the  United 
States  was  repealed.  In  connection  with  the  law  itself,  and,  in  fact,  in  the  terms 
of  the  law,  the  then  existing  prohibition  was  not  only  repealed,  but  there  was  a 
declaration  of  a  purpose  on  the  part  of  Congress  never  thereafter  to  exercise  any 
power  that  they  might  have,  real  or  supposed,  to  prohibit  the  extension  or  spread 
of  slavery.  This  was  a  very  great  change ;  for  the  law  thus  repealed  was  of  more 
than  thirty  years'  standing.  Following  rapidly  upon  the  heels  of  this  action  of 
Congress,  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  made,  by  which  it  is  declared  that 
Congress,  if  it  desires  to  prohibit  the  spread  of  slavery  into  the  Territories,  has  no 
Constitutional  power  to  do  so.  Not  only  so,  but  that  decision  lays  down  principles 
which,  if  pushed  to  their  logical  conclusion  —  I  say  pushed  to. their  logical  conclu- 
sion —  would  decide  that  the  Constitutions  of  free  States,  forbidding  slavery,  are 
themselves  unconstitutional.  Mark ''me,  I  do  not  say  the  Judge  said  this,  and  let 
no  man  say  I  affirm  the  Judge  used  these  words ;  but  I  only  say  it  is  my  opinion 
that  what  he  did  say,  if  pressed  to  its  logical  conclusion,  will  inevitably  result 
thus. 

Looking  at  these  things,  the  Republican  party,  as  I  understand  its  principles 
and  policy,  believe  that  there  is  great  danger  of  the  institution  of  slavery  being 
spread  out  and  extended,  until  it  is  ultimatel  y  made  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States 
of  this  Union ;  so  believing,  to  prevent  that  incidental  and  ultimate  consumma- 
tion, is  the  original  and  chief  purpose  of  the  Republican  organization.  I  say  chief 
purpose  of  the  Republican  organization ;  for  it  is  certainly  true  that  if  the  National 
House  shall  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Republicans,  they  will  have  to  attend  to  all 
,he  other  matters  of  National  House-keeping,  as  well  as  this. 

Of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  he  said : 

Not  only  did  that  Ordinance  prevail,  but  it  was  constantly  looked  to  whenever  a 
rtep  was  token  by  a  new  Territory  to  become  a  State.  Congress  always  turned 
their  attention  to  it,  and  in  all  their  movements  upon  that  subject,  they  traced 


136       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

their  course  by  that  Ordinance  of  "87.  When  they  admitted  new  States,  they  ad- 
vertised them  of  this  Ordinance  as  a  part  of  the  legislation  of  the  country.  They 
did  so  because  they  had  traced  the  ordinance  of  '87  throughout  the  history  of  this 
country.  Begin  with  the  men  of  the  Revolution,  and  go  down  for  sixty  entire 
years,  and  until  the  last  scrap  of  that  Territory  comes  into  the  Union  in  the  form 
of  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  everything  was  made  to  conform  with  the  Ordinance  of 
'87,  excluding  slavery  from  that  vast  extent  of  country. 

At  Cincinnati,  Lincoln  addressed  himself  to  Kentuckians 
among  others.     He  said : 

It  has  occurred  to  me  here  to-night,  that  if  I  ever  do  shoot  over  the  line  at  the 
people  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  into  a  slave  State,  and  purpose  to  do  so,  keep- 
ing my  skin  safe,  that  I  have  now  about  the  best  chance  I  shall  ever  have.  I 
should  not  wonder  that  there  are  some  Kentuckians  about  this  audience;  we  are 
close  to  Kentucky;  and  whether  that  be  so  or  not,  we  are  on  elevated  ground,  and 
by  speaking  distinctly,  I  should  not  wonder  if  some  of  the  Kentuckians  would 
hear  me  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  For  that  reason  I  propose  to  address  a  portion 
of  what  I  have  to  say  to  the  Kentuckians. 

I  say,  then,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Kentuckians,  that  I  am  what  they  call,  as  I 
understand  it,  a  "  Black  Republican."  I  think  slavery  is  wrong,  morally  and  polit- 
ically. I  desire  that  it  should  be  no  further  spread  in  these  United  States,  and  I 
should  not  object  if  it  should  gradually  terminate  in  the  whole  Union.  While  I 
say  this  for  myself,  I  say  to  you  Kentuckians,  that  I  understand  you  differ  radi- 
cally with  me  upon  this  proposition ;  that  you  believe  slavery  is  a  good  thing;  that 
'  slavery  is  right ;  that  it  ought  to  be  extended  and  perpetuated  in  this  Union.  Now, 
there  being  this  broad  difference  between  us,  I  do  not  pretend  in  addressing  myself 
to  you  Kentuckians,  to  attempt  proselyting  you ;  that  would  be  a  vain  effort.  I  do 
not  enter  upon  it.  I  only  propose  to  try  to  show  you  that  you  ought  to  nominate 
for  the  next  Presidency,  at  Charleston,  my  distinguished  friend,  Judge  Douglas. 
In  all  that  there  is  a  difference  between  you  and  him,  I  understand  he  is  sincerely 
for  you,  and  more  wisely  for  you,  than  you  are  for  yourselves. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  it  is  for  you  to  take  him  or  be  defeated ;  and  that  if  you  do 
take  him  you  may  be  beaten.  You  will  surely  be  beaten  if  you  do  not  take  him. 
We,  theRepublicans  and  others,  forming  the  opposition  of  the  country,  intend  to 
"  stand  by  our  guns,"  to  be  patient  and  firm,  and  in  the  long  run  to  beat  you 
whether  you  take  him  or  not.  We  know  that  before  we  fairly  beat  you,  we  have 
to  beat  you  both  together.  We  know  that  you  are  all  of  a  "  feather,"  and  that  we 
have  to  beat  you  altogether,  and  we  expect  to  do  it.  We  don't  intend  to  be  very 
Impatient  about  it.  We  mean  to  be  as  deliberate  and  calm  about  it  as  it  is  possi- 
ble to  be,  but  as  firm  and  resolved  as  it  is  possible  for  men  to  be.  When  we  do  as 
we  say,  beat  you,  you  perhaps  want  to  know  what  we  will  do  with  you. 

I  will  tell  you,  so  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak  for  the  opposition,  what  we  mean 
to  do  with  you.  We  mean  to  treat  you,  as  near  as  we  possibly  can,  as  Washington, 
Jefferson,  and  Madison,  treated  you.  We  mean  to  leave  you  alone,  and  in  no  way 
to  interfere  with  your  institution;  to  abide  by  all  and  every  compromise  of  the 
Constitution,  and,  in  a  word,  coming  back  to  the  original  proposition,  to  treat  you, 
so  far  as  degenerated  men  (if  we  have  degenerated,)  may,  according  to  the  examples 
of  those  noble  fathers  — Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison.  We  mean  to  remem- 
ber that  you  are  as  good  as  we;  that  there  is  no  difference  between  us  other  than 
the  difference  of  circumstances.  We  mean  to  recognize  and  bear  in  mind  always 
that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your  bosoms  as  other  people,  or  as  we  claim  to 
have,  and  treat  you  accordingly.  We  mean  to  marry  your  girls  when  we  have  a 
chance  — the  white  ones  I  mean,  and  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  once 
did  have  a  chance  in  that  way. 

I  have  told  you  what  we  mean  to  do.  I  want  to  know,  now  when  that  thing 
takes  place,  what  you  mean  to  do.  I  often  hear  it  intimated  that  you  mean  to  di- 
vide the  Union  whenever  a  republican  or  anything  like  it,  is  elected  President  of 
the  United  States.  (A  voice  —  "  That  Js  so.")  "That  is  so,"  one  of  them  says;  I 


CINCINNATI  SPEECH.  137 

wonder  if  he  is  a  Kentuckian?  (A  voice  —  "  He  is  a  Douglas  man.")  Well,  then,  I 
want  to  know  what  you  are  going  to  do  with  your  half  of  it?  Arc  you  going  to 
split  the  Ohio  down  through,  and  push  your  half  off  a  piece?  Or  are  you  going  to 
keep  it  right  alongside  of  us  outrageous  fellows?  Or  are  you  going  to  build  up  a 
wall  some  way  between  your  country  and  ours,  by  which  that  movable  property 
of  yours  can't  come  over  here  any  more,  to  the  danger  of  your  losing  it?  Do  you 
think  you  can  better  yourselves  on  that  subject,  by  leaving  us  here  under  no  obli- 
gation whatever  to  return  those  specimens  of  your  movable  property  that  come 
hither?  You  have  divided  the  Union  because  we  would  not  do  right  with  you,  aa 
you  think,  upon  that  subject;  when  we  cease  to  be  under  obligations  to  do  any- 
thing for  you,  how  much  better  off  do  you  think  you  will  be?  Will  you  make  war 
upon  ns  and  kill  us  all?  Why,  gentlemen,  I  think  you  are  as  gallant  and  as  brave 
men  as  live ;  that  you  can  flght  as  bravely  in  a  good  cause,  man  for  man,  as  any 
other  people  living;  that  you  have  shown  yourselves  capable  of  this  upon  various 
occasions ;  but  man  for  man,  you  are  not  better  than  we  are,  and  there  are  not  so 
many  of  you  as  there  are  of  us.  You  will  never  make  much  of  a  hand  at  whipping 
us.  If  we  were  fewer  in  numbers  than  you,  I  think  that  you  could  whip  us ;  if  we 
were  equal  it  would  likely  be  a  drawn  battle ;  but  being  inferior  in  numbers,  you 
will  make  nothing  by  attempting  to  master  us. 

The  most  elaborate  and  carefully  prepared  speech,  ever 
made  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  that  delivered  by  him  at  the 
Cooper  Institute,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  Tuesday 
evening,  February  29th,  1860. 

This  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  appearance  in  that  city.  The 
large  hall  was  crowded  to  hear  this  "Western  statesman,  then 
chiefly  known  as  the  successful  competitor  of  Douglas. 
Bryant,  the  poet,  presided;  if  any  came  to  hear  noisy 
declamation  or  verbiage,  they  must  have  been  disappointed. 

There  is  not  a  more  learned,  exhaustive,  logical  speech  in 
political  literature.  It  has  not  a  superfluous  word. 

He  took  for  the  text  of  his  speech,  these  words  of  Senator 
Douglas,  uttered  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  the  previous  autumn. 

"  Our  fathers  when  they  framed  the  Government  under  which 
we  live,  understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and  even  better  than 
we  do  now." 

Conceding  that  this  was  true,  Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to 
enquire,  "  what  was  the  understanding  those  fathers  had  of  the 
question  mentioned?"  (Slavery.) 

He  first  answers,  who  were  "  our  fathers  who  framed  the 
Government." 

He  s.iovved  that  the  thirty-nine  men  who  framed  the 
Constitution  were  "  our  fathers." 

"  What  is  the  question  which  these  fathers  understood  just 
as  well,  if  not  better  than  we  do  now?" 


138  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

It  is  this:  "Does  the  Constitution  forbid  our  Federal 
Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  our  Federal  territories?" 

He  then  went  in  to  a  full  historical  argument  on  the  subject, 
presenting  every  recorded  act  of  the  Fathers  upon  the  ques- 
tion. His  argument  demonstrating  the  right  of  Congress  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  the  territories,  never  has  been,  and  never 
can  be  answered. 

He  closed  this  great  speech,  which  made  a  profound  im- 
pression upon  the  thoughtful  men  of  New  York,  with  these 
memorable  words.  "  Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might, 
and  in  that  faith  let  us  to  the  end,  dare  to  do  our  duty,  as  we 
understand  it." 

This  effort  was  so  dignified  in  manner,  and  style,  it  exhib- 
ited such  logic,  and  learning,  and  was  in  every  way  so  dif- 
ferent from  what  was  expected,  that  the  orator  from  the 
prairies  awoke  the  next  mornyig  to  find  himself  famous. 

This  speech  was  very  widely  circulated  and  read,  and  pre- 
pared the  minds  of  the  people  for  his  nomination  for  the 
Presidency. 

As  the  Presidential  election  of  1860,  approached,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's name  was  more  and  more  frequently  mentioned  in 
connection  with  that  position.  The  prominent  candidates, 
however,  continued  to  be  Senators  Seward  and  Cameron,  and 
Governor  Chase.  Mr.  Lincoln,  outside  of  Illinois,  was  regarded 
only  as  a  possible  compromise  candidate. 

On  the  10th  of  May,  1860,  a  Republican  State  Convention 
was  held  at  Decatur,  in  Macon  county,  Illinois,  to  nomin- 
ate State  officers,  and  appoint  delegates  to  the  National 
Presidential  Convention,  which  was  to  meet  in  Chicago,  in 
June. 

As  Mr.  Lincoln  entered  the  hall  where  the  convention  was 
in  session,  he  was  received  with  such  marked  demonstration 
as  left  no  doubt,  about  his  being  the  choice  of  Illinois,  for 
the  Presidency.  Soon  after  he  was  seated,  General  Oglesby, 
announced  that  an  old  democrat  of  Macon  county,  desired 
to  make  a  contribution  to  the  convention. 

Immediately,  some  farmers  brought  into  the  hall  two  old 
fence  rails,  bearing  the  inscription,  "Abraham  Lincoln,  the 
rail  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1860.  Two  rails  from  a  lot 


THE  RAIL  SPLITTER  OF  ILLINOIS.  139 

of  3,000,  made  in  1830,  by  Thomas  Hanks  and  Abe  Lincoln, 
whose  father  was  the  first  pioneer  of  Macon  county." 

The  effect  of  this  cannot  be  described.  For  fifteen  minutes, 
cheers  upon  cheers  went  up  from  the  crowd.  Lincoln  was 
called  to  the  stand,  but  his  rising  was  the  signal  for  renewed 
cheering,  and  this  continued  until  the  audience  had  exhausted 
itself,  and  then  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  a  history  of  these  two  rails, 
and  of  his  life  in  Macon  county.  ,He  told  the  story  of  his 
labor  in  helping  to  build  his  father's  log  cabin,  and  fencing 
in  a  field  of  corn. 

This  dramatic  scene,  was  not  planned  by  politicians,  but 
was  the  spontaneous  action  of  the  old  pioneers.  The  effect 
it  had  upon  the  people,  satisfied  all  present,  that  it  was  a 
waste  of  words  to  talk  in  Illinois,  of  any  other  man  than 
Abraham  Lincoln,  for  President. 

No  public  man  had  less  of  the  demagogue,  than  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. He  never  mentioned  his  humble  life,  or  his  manual 
labor,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  votes.  He  knew  perfectly 
well,  that  it  did  not  follow  because  a  man  could  split  rails, 
that  he  would  make  a  good  statesman  or  President.  So  far 
from  having  any  feeling  of  this  kind,  he  realized  painfully, 
the  defects  of  his  education,  and  did  his  utmost  to  supply  his 
deficiencies. 

When  told  that  the  people  were  talking  of  making  him 
President,  he  said,  "  they  ought  to  select  some  one  who 
knows  more  than  I  do." 

But  while  he  did  not  think  any  more  of  himself,  because 
he  had  in  early  life,  split  rails,  he  had  too  much  real  dignity 
to  lose  any  self  respect  on  that  account. 


OHAPTEE   VI. 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1860  —  ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN,  AND 
CULMINATION  OF  THE  CONSPIRACY  TO  DISSOLVE  THE  UNION. 

THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION — DOUGLAS — SECESSIONISTS  BREAK 
UP  THE  CONVENTION — ADJOURN  TO  BALTIMORE — AND  RICH- 
MOND— DOUGLAS — AND  BRECKINRIDGE  NOMINATED  —  "AMERI- 
CANS" NOMINATE  BELL  AND  EVERETT— THE  CHICAGO  CONVEN- 
TION—  THE  WIG-WAM — SEWARD — LINCOLN — THE  NOMINATION 
— THE  CANVASS — THE  "  WIDE-AWAKES" — POSITION  OF  PARTIES 
ON  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION  —  LINCOLN  ELECTED  —  CONSPIRACY 
TO  DISSOLVE  THE  UNION — PREPARATIONS  OP  THE  CONSPIRATORS 
— THE  NORTH  DISARMED. 

PRIOR  to  the  meeting  of  the  Democratic  National  Con- 
vention, which  met  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in 
April,  1860,  it  was  obvious  that  a  storm  was  gathering  which 
threatened  the  rupture  of  that  old  and  powerful  organization. 
Douglas  was  the  popular  candidate  for  President  in  the  free 
States,  and  had  many  strong  personal  friends  in  the  slave 
States.  But  the  ultra  slaveholders  as  a  class,  were  bitterly 
hostile  to  him  on  account  of  his  course  on  the  Lecompton 
question.  They  determined  to  break  up  the  convention 
rather  than  permit  his  nomination.  Hitherto  in  conventions, 
the  North  had  yielded  to  the  more  positive  and  determined 
leaders  among  the  slaveholders,  and  many  supposed  the 
friends  of  Douglas  would  yield,  and  that  a  nomination  of 
some  negative  man  would  be  forced  upon  the  convention 
upon  whom  the  party  would  harmonize.  But  two  powerful 
elements  prevented  this. 

The  friends  of  Douglas  who  had  been  inspired  by  him  with. 
a  will  as  determined  as  that  of  his  enemies,  having  a  majority, 
resolved  that  their  leader  should  not  be  sacrificed  as  Van 

140 


CHARLESTON  CONVENTION.  141 

Buren,  Benton,  and  other  leaders  had  been,  who  had  offended 
the  slaveholders. 

The  other  element  was  composed  of  the  secessionists  and 
traitors,  who  did  not  desire  Union,  but  were  determined 
to  push  matters  to  extremes,  to  divide  the  democratic  party, 
thereby  secure  the  success  of  the  republican  party,  and  then 
to  make  that  success  the  pretext  for  secession.  A  convention 
composed  of  these  elements  with  such  purposes,  could  not 
harmonize. 

The  committee  upon  resolutions  to  which  the  subject  of  the 
platform  was  referred,  made  three  reports.  The  majority 
reported  resolutions  declaring,  among  other  things,  that 
"  Congress  had  no  power  to  abolish  or  prohibit  slavery  in  the 
territories ;  nor  had  the  territorial  Legislature  any  power  to 
abolish  or  prohibit  slavery  in  the  territories;  *  *  *  nor  to 
impair  or  destroy  the  right  of  property  in  slaves  by  any 
legislation  whatever." 

This  was  intended  as  a  direct  repudiation  of  Mr.  Douglas' 
doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty,  and  his  friends  knew  that 
they  might  as  well  give  up  the  canvass  at  the  start,  as  to  go 
before  the  people  on  this  platform.  A  minority  of  the  com- 
mittee, but  representing  a  decided  majority  of  the  electoral 
votes,  reported  resolutions  re-affirming  the  old  platform 
adopted  at  Cincinnati,  in  1856;  with  some  additional  resolu- 
tions designed  to  conciliate  the  slave  States,  and  declaring 
that  "inasmuch  as  there  were  differences  of  opinion  in 
the  democratic  party  as  to  the  powers  of  a  territorial  Legis- 
lature, and  as  to  the  powers  and  duties  of  Congress  under  the 
Constitution,  over  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  territories, 
the  democratic  party  would  abide  by  the  decrees  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  on  questions  of  Constitutional  law." 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision  had 
been  pronounced,  giving  to  the  slaveholders  all  that  they 
claimed,  one  would  suppose  that  this  resolution  would  have 
been  deemed  satisfactory.  And  it  would  have  been,  if  the  slave- 
holders had  really  desired  harmony,  but  a  majority  of  them 
meant  disunion.  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  of  Massachusetts,  one 
of  the  committee,  reported  the  Cincinnati  platform  without 
addition.  After  voting  down  Mr.  Butler's  proposition,  the 


142  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

convention  adopted  the  minority  report,  which  contained  the 
Cincinnati  platform  with  the  additions. 

Thereupon,  L.  P.  Walker,  subsequently  the  rebel  Secretary 
of  War,  presented  the  protest  of  the  delegates  from  Alabama, 
and  those  delegates  withdrew  from  the  convention. 

Among  these  delegates  was  William  L.  Yancey,  long  be- 
fore a  notorious  secessionist.  The  delegates  from  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Texas,  South  Carolina,  Florida,  and  Arkansas, 
Georgia,  and  Delaware,  thereupon  also  withdrew.  The  con- 
vention thereupon  resolved  that  it  should  require  two-thirds 
of  a  full  convention  to  nominate,  and  then,  after  balloting 
several  times,  on  each  of  which  ballots  Mr.  Douglas  had  a 
large,  but  not,  under  the  rule,  a  two-thirds  majority,  the 
convention  adjourned  to  meet  at  Baltimore,  on  the  18th  of 
June.  The  seceding  delegates  adjourned  to  meet  at 
Richmond,  on  the  second  Monday  in  June. 

The  Baltimore  convention  met  and  nominated  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  for  President,  and  Benjamin  Fitzpatrick,  of  Ala- 
bama, for  Vice  President,  but  on  his  declining,  Herschel  V. 
Johnson,  of  Georgia,  was  substituted. 

The  seceders' convention  at  Richmond,  adopting  the  reso- 
lutions of  the  majority  of  the  committee,  nominated  John  C. 
Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  for  President,  and  Colonel  Joseph 
Lane,  of  Oregon,  for  Vice  President. 

The  disruption  of  the  democratic  party  was  hailed  with 
delight  by  the  infatuated  people  of  Charleston,  and  other 
parts  of  the  rebel  States,  as  the  prelude  to  the  breaking  up 
of  the  Union. 

The  Constitutional  Union  (American)  party  nominated 
John  Bell,  for  President,  and  Edward  Everett,  for  Vice 
President. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  1860,  the  Republican  Convention  met 
at  Chicago,  to  nominate  candidates  for  President  and  Vice 
President.  An  immense  building  called  the  "  Wigwam," 
capable  of  holding  many  thousands  of  people,  had  been 
specially  erected  for  the  meeting.  Full,  and  eager,  and  en- 
thusiastic delegations  were  there  from  all  the  free  States,  and 
representatives  were  present  from  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  Virginia,  and  some  scattering 


CHICAGO  CONVENTION.  143 

representatives  from  some  of  the  other  slave  States ;  but  the 
Gulf  States  were  not  represented.  Indeed,  few  of  the  slave 
States  were  fully  and  perfectly  represented.  On  motion  of 
Governor  Morgan,  Chairman  of  the  National  Executive  Com- 
mittee, David  "Wilmot,  author  of  the  Wirnot  Proviso,  was 
made  temporary  Chairman,  and  George  Ashmun,  of 
Massachusetts,  permanent  President. 

Their  platform  of  principles  was  adopted  without  difficulty. 
They  resolved  to  maintain  the  principles  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  declared  their  fidelity  to  the  Union;  their 
abhorrence  of  all  schemes  of  disunion;  denounced  all  who 
threatened  disunion  as  an  avowal  of  contemplated  treason, 
which  it  was  the  duty  of  fhe  people  sternly  to  rebuke  and 
forever  silence. 

The  convention  also  resolved:  "that  the  new  dogma  that 
the  Constitution  carried  slavery  into  all  the  territories,  was  a 
dangerous  political  heresy,  revolutionary  in  tendency,  and 
subversive  of  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  country ;  that 
the  normal  condition  of  all  the  territories  is  that  of  freedom ; 
that  neither  Congress,  the  territorial  Legislature,  nor  any 
individual  could  give  legal  existence  to  slavery;  that  Kansas 
ought  to  be  immediately  admitted  as  a  free  State;  that  the 
opening  of  the  slave  trade  would  be  a  crime  against  human- 
ity." They  declared  also  in  favor  of  a  homestead  law,  Har- 
bor and  River  improvements,  and  the  Pacific  Railroad. 

The  leading  candidates  for  the  nomination  for  President, 
were  "William  H.  Seward,  of  'New  York,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
of  Illinois,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio,  Simon  Cameron,  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Edward  Bates,  of  Missouri ;  but  it  early 
became  apparent  that  the  contest  was  between  Seward,  and 
Lincoln.  Mr.  Seward  had  been  for  many  years,  a  leading 
statesman;  Governor  of  New  York,  and  long  its  most  dis- 
tinguished Senator;  he  had  brought  to  the  discussions  of  the 
great  issue  between  liberty  and  slavery,  a  philosophic  mind, 
broad  and  catholic  views,  great  sagacity,  and  an  elevated  love 
of  liberty  and  humanity.  Few,  if  any,  had  done  more  to 
enlighten,  create,  and  consolidate  public  opinion  in  the  free 
States.  His  position  had  been  far  more  conspicuous  than 
that  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Hence  he  had  been  supposed  to  be 


141  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 


in  the  way  of  rivals,  and  had  become  the  object  of  more 
witter  personal  and  political  hostility  than  Mr.  Lincoln.  The 
Illinois  candidate  was  principally  known  outside  of  the  North- 
west, as  the  competitor  of  Douglas.  Yet  the  sobriquet  of 
"  honest  old  Abe,"  "  the  rail-splitter  of  Illinois,"  had  ex- 
tended throughout  the  free  States;  he  had  no  enemies,  and 
was  the  second  choice  of  nearly  all  the  delegates  of  which 
he  was  not  the  first  choice.  He  was  supposed  by  the  shrewd 
politicians,  to  have,  and  he  did  possess,  those  qualities  which 
make  an  available  candidate.  Although  a  resident  of  the 
State,  he  did  not  attend  the  convention,  but  was  quietly  at 
his  home  in  Springfield. 

Few  men  of  that  convention  Realized,  or  had  the  faintest 
foreshado  wings  of  the  terrible  ordeal  of  civil  war,  which  was 
before  the  candidate  which  they  should  nominate  and  the 
people  elect.  Yet  there  seems  to  have  been  a  peculiar  pro- 
priety in  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination;  and  there  was  here 
illustrated,  that  instinctive  sagacity,  or  more  truly,  providen- 
vidential  guidance,  which  directs  a  people  in  a  critical  emerg- 
ency, to  act  wisely. 

Looking  back,  we  now  see  how  wise  the  selection.  The 
Union  was  to  be  assailed  ;  Lincoln  was  from  the  National  N  orth- 
west,  which  would  never  surrender  its  great  communications 
with  the  ocean,  by  the  Mississippi,  or  the  East. 

The  great  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
were  to  be  assailed  by  vast  armies;  his  political  platform  had 
ever  been  that  Declaration. 

Aristocratic  power,  with  the  sympathy  of  the  Kings  and 
nobility  of  Europe,  was  to  make  a  gigantic  effort  to  crush 
liberty  and  democracy;  it  was  fit  that  the  great  champion  of 
liberty,  of  a  government  "  of  the  people,  for  the  people,  by 
the  people,"  should  be  a  man  born  on  the  wild  prairie,  nur- 
tured in  the  rude  log  cabin,  and  reared  amidst  the  hardships 
and  struggles  of  humble  life. 

On  the  first  ballot,  Mr.  Seward  received  173J  votes  to  102 
for  Lincoln,  the  others  being  divided  on  Messrs.  Cameron, 
Chase,  Bates,  and  others.  On  the  second,  Mr.  Seward  re- 
ceived 184  votes  to  181  for  Mr.  Lincoln.  On  the  third,  Mr. 


LINCOLN'S  NOMINATION.  145 

Lincoln  received  a  majority,  and  his  nomination  was  then 
made  unanimous.*     While  the  balloting  was  in  progress, 

*  Did  Lincoln  anticipate  this  nomination? 

In  March  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln  spent  several  days  at  Chicago,  engaged  in  the  United 
States  Court  in  the  trial  of  the  case  of  Johnson  v.  Jones.  During  the  trial,  Judge  Drum- 
mond,  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  members  of  the  bar  engaged  in  the  case,  were  dining 
together,  at  the  table  of  one  of  the  counsel,  who  was  a  warm  personal  and  political 
friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Others  of  the  counsel  present  were  equally  warm  friends  ol 
Judge  Douglas,  who  was  then  the  most  prominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
before  the  people. 

When  the  cloth  was  removed  the  host  said  "  gentlemen,  please  fill  your  glasses 
for  a  toast,  which,  differing  as  we  do  politically,  I  am  sure  all  present  will  heartily 
respond  to."  "May  Illinois  furnish  the  next  President!"  The  friends  of  Douglas 
drank  to  him,  and  the  rest  of  us  to  Lincoln. 

So  far  as  the  author  knows,  the  first  nomination  in  any  newspaper  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
for  the  Presidency  was  made  on  the  5th  day  of  October  1859,  by  the  Aurora  Beacon, 
published  at  Aurora,  Kane  county,  Illinois,  and  then  ably  edited  by  John  W.  Ray, 
Esq. 

In  the  Beacon  for  October  6th,  1859,  under  the  caption  of  "  The  calmness  of  the  re- 
publicans," Mr.  Lincoln  was  named,  incidentally,  among  some  half  dozen  others, 
as  the  possible  man  for  their  candidate  for  1859. 

In  the  issue  of  the  same  paper  of  November  10th,  1859,  the  nomination  took  defi- 
nite shape  under  the  caption,  "  They  say  Old  Abe  is  the  man."  Among  other  passages 
occur  the  following,  in  that  article : 

"  Illinois  has  rather  waited  for  others  to  move,  than  to  move  herself,  because  her 
man  is  one  of  her  own  citizens,  and  she  trusted  that  the  people  of  other  States, 
would  do,  with  a  better  grace,  what  she  is  particularly  desirous  of  having  done. 
She  waits  to  second,  what  she  would  be  the  first  to  move  in,  were  the  great  man  a 
citizen  of  any  other  State.  *  *  It  is  a  settled  question  we  believe  that  the  WEST 
must  have  the  next  President,  never  having  had  a  man  in  the  office,  but  one 
month.  It  is  also  settled,  that  there  must  be  a  candidate  who  can  carry  the  most 
doubtful  States.  Now  Illinois,  if  any,  is  one  of  those  states.  No  one  doubts  that 
Douglas  can  poll  the  largest  vote  here,  of  any  man,  unless  it  be  ABE  LINCOLN,  and 
no  one  doubts  that  what  Lincoln  did  under  all  the  disadvantages,  of  1858,  he  could 
do  easily  under  the  better  auspices  of  1860.  And  it  would  be  peculiarly  a  glory,  if 
on  the  very  ground  where  Lincoln  was  cheated  out  of  his  election,  (as  Senator)  there 
he  should  be  run  again,  and  should  have  the  glory  of  defeating  Douglas,  should  he 
be  the  opponent.  He  will  thus  fight  neither  with  great  nor  small,  but  only  with  the 
King  of  the  democratic  host.  Lincoln  has  every  element  of  popularity  and  success, 
and  he  has  one  which  will  give  him  peculiar  prominence  over  Douglas,  and  that 
Is  his  integrity  to  the  great  principles  which  this  State,  and  all  the  free  States  are 
determined  shall  cut  a  figure  in  the  next  election.  Freedom  v.  Slavery.  We  are  in 
no  hurry  to  bring  out  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  will  be  thought  of  in  time  by  all  that  will 
need  him,  if  he  be  the  man.  But  if  he  shall  become  the  nominnee  of  the  republi- 
can hosts,  we  shall  count  it  a  joy  to  hoist  his  name  at  our  mast  head,  and  to  hang  the 
banner  on  the  outer  wall  of  our  city  and  country." 

The  same  paper  in  its  issue  of  December  15th  1859,  under  the  caption,  "  Who  is  the 
strongest  man?",  after  discussing  the  claims  of  Mr.  Lincoln  at  length  as  against 
Mr.  Seward  and  others,  concludes  with  these  truthful  and  prophetic  words: 

"And  we  cannot  help  thinking  how,  like  a  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land,  such  a  President  will  seem,  as  Abraham  Lincoln  will  make.  He  will,  in  his 
principles  and  measures,  o'er  Buchanan,  like  an  eagle  soar.  Disunion  will  find  him 
as  South  Carolina  found  old  Jackson.  The  slave  trade  will  find  him  a  Wilberforce 
The  army  will  be  used  for  defence,  not  offence. 

With  Lincoln  for  President,  and  Cameron,  or  Reed,  or  even  Thad.  Stevens  as 
Vice  President,  the  ticket  would  sweep  the  States,  as  Von  Tromp  the  seas.  This  is 
he  whom  we  consider  the  strongest  man,  and  for  whom  we  would  a<\mire  to  do 

10 


146  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  sitting  in  the  office  of  the  State  Journal,  at 
Springfield.  A  telegraph  wire  had  been  extended  to  the 
Wigwam,  and  the  result  of  every  ballot  was  immediately 
telegraphed  to  Springfield. . 

Soon  after  the  result  of  the  second  ballot  had  been  an- 
nounced, a  gentleman  entered  the  office  of  the  State  Journal, 
and  handed  a  slip  of  paper  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  which  was  his 
nomination,  the  result  of  third  ballot.  He  read  the  paper  in 
silence,  and  then  announcing  the  resultj  he  said,  amidst  the 
shouts  of  those  persons  present,  "  There  is  a  little  woman 
down  at  our  house,  would  like  to  hear  this — I'll  go  down 
and  tell  her." 

No  words  can  adequately  describe  the  enthusiasm  by  which 
this  nomination  was  received  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  and 
throughout  the  Northwest.  A  man  who  had  been  placed  on 
the  top  of  the  Wigwam,  to  announce  to  the  thousands  out- 
side,  the  progress  of  the  balloting,  as  soon  as  the  Secretary 
read  the  result  of  the  third  ballot,  shouted  to  those  be- 
low, "  Fire  the  salute — Lincoln  is  nominated!"  The  cannon 
was  fired,  and  before  its  reverberations  died  away,  a  hundred 
thousand  voters  of  Illinois,  and  the  neighboring  States,  were 
shouting,  screaming,  and  rejoicing  over  the  result.  Hanni- 
bal Hamlin,  of  Maine,  was  nominated  for  Vice  President. 
The  nomination  of  Lincoln  was  hailed  with  intense  enthusi- 
asm, not  only  by  the  crowds  in  attendence,  and  the  North- 
west, but  this  soon  extended  throughout  all  the  free  States. 
Everywhere  the  people  were  full  of  zeal  for  the  champion 
from  the  West.  Never  did  a  party  enter  upon  a  canvass 
with  more  earnest  devotion  to  principle,  than  the  repub- 
lican party  of  1860.  Love  of  country,  devotion  to  liberty, 
hatred  of  slavery,  pervaded  all  hearts.  A  keen  sense  of  the 
wrongs  and  outrages  inflicted  upon  the  free  State-men  of 
Kansas,  the  violence,  and  in  many  instances,  the  savage  cru- 
elty, by  which  freedom  of  speech  and  liberty  of  the  press  had 
been  suppressed  in  portions  of  the  slave  States,  and  indigna- 
tion at  the  long  catalogue  of  crimes  of  the  slaveholders,  fired 

loyal  service,  should  he  be  the  choice  of  the  convention.  We  are  glad  Douglas  is 
recovering  his  health,  and  we  think  he  will  yet  live  to  attend  the  levee  of  President 
LINCOLN. 


CANVASS  OF  1860.  147 

all  hearts  with  enthusiasm  and  zeal.  Confident  of  success, 
and  determined  to  leave  nothing  undone  to  secure  it,  the 
republican  party  entered  upon  the  canvass.  The  great  Metro- 
politan press  of  New  York,  the  Tribune,  the  Times,  and  the 
Post,  circulated  everywhere,  inciting  and  urging  the  people 
to  effort.  The  leading  statesmen  of  all  sections,  the  Senators 
and  members  of  Congress,  Governors  of  States,  the  most 
eloquent  speakers,  took  the  stump  for  "  Lincoln  and  Liberty," 
and  immense  crowds  at  vast  out-door  meetings  hung  with 
wrapt  attention  on  the  stirring  speeches  of  the  orators.  Every- 
where throughout  the  free  States,  speeches,  newspapers, 
pamphlets,  and  documents  were  scattered,  urging  the  people 
to  resist  the  encroachments  of  the  slave  power. 

One  of  the  most  efficient  agencies,  and  one  characteristic 
of  the  people  and  the  times,  by  which  the  canvass  of  1860 
was  carried  on,  was  an  organization  of  the  young  men  known 
as  the  "  Wide  Awakes."  This  embodied  nearly  all  the  young 
men  of  the  party,  with  a  semi-  military  organization,  but 
without  arms,  wearing  glazed  caps  and  capes,  and  at  night 
carrying  torchlights,  and  ready  at  all  times  for  work.  Turn- 
ing out  at  political  meetings,  escorting  speakers  to  and  from 
the  -places  of  speaking,  singing  patriotic  and  campaign  songs, 
circulating  documents  and  canvassing  votes.  In  October, 
1860,  there  was  a  vast  gathering  of  the  people  of  the  North- 
west at  Chicago,  to  hear  Governor  Seward  arid  other  distin- 
guished speakers,  and  in  the  evening,  10,000  Wide  Awakes 
marched  in  procession  with  their  torches.  The  following 
extract  from  a  speech  delivered  to  them,  will  illustrate  the 
spirit  of  the  campaign  and  the  organization : 

Gentlemen,  Wide- Awakes  of  the  Northwest !  Peace  hath  her  victories  no  less 
renowned  than  war.  In  the  great  victory  of  liberty  about  to  be  consummated  by 
the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  your  organization,  of  which  1  see  around  me, 
so  magnificent  and  brilliant  an  array,  is  contributing  a  most  important  part. 
Among  many  features  which  give  to  this  Presidential  contest,  a  peculiar  and  ex- 
traordinary interest,  none  are  more  significant  than  the  organization  of  the  Wide- 
Awakes.  Your  vast  association  numbering  more  than  half  a  million,  extending 
from  Maine  to  Minnesota,  and  penetrating  every  section  of  the  P^public  where 
free  labor  is  honored,  embodies  for  efficient  action,  the  zeal,  enthusiasm,  and  energy 
of  the  young  men  of  our  country.  *  *  * 

The  object  of  your  association  is  to  aid  in  securing  our  success  at  the  polls.  You 
have  adopted  as  your  motto  these  words  of  Jefferson,  "  Vigilance"  eternal  "vigil* 
once  is  the  price  of  liberty.'"  Jeffersor.  meant  that  those  who  would  preserve  their 
liberties,  must  be  "  WideAwakes." 


148  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Our  political  opponents  have  charged  you  with  being  a  military  organization  in 
disguise.  Let  not  their  hearts  be  troubled.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  Wide- Awake 
organization  embodies  much  of  the  strength  of  our  citizen  soldiers,  and  it  is  true 
that  they  would  rally  as  soon  to  crush  domestic  treason,  as  to  repel  foreign  invasion. 
But  your  arms  are  peaceful ;  not  warlike.  Your  torches  are  to  light  the  freeman's 
pathway  to  the  ballot  box,  not  to  the  battle-field.  Our  weapons  are  ballots  not 
bullets. 

It  is  our  adversaries  who  use  the  weapons  of  violence  and  fraud.  They  used  the 
bowie-knife  of  the  border-ruffians  in  Kansas.  Their's  is  the  "  Lynch-law,"  and  the 
mob  violence  which  silences  the  freeman's  tongue  and  shuts  the  patriot's  mouth. 
They  suppress  the  liberty  of  speech  and  the  freedom  of  the  press.  They  threaten  to 
destroy  the  Union  if  we  take  from  them  the  power  of  prostituting  it  to  the  extension 
of  slavery.  They  knock  down  Senators  for  uttering  disagreeable  truths.  They 
threaten  to  hang  Northern  members  of  Congress,  like  Hale,  and  Lovejoy  —  on  the 
nearest  tree.  It  is  the  slave  party  which  has  introduced  a  "  reign  of  terror,"  in  a 
large  portion  of  the  South.  Against  all  this,  we  interpose  the  peaceful  agencies  of 
the  printing  press,  the  common  school,  the  sermon,  the  lecture,  the  railroad,  the 
telegraph,  and  above  all  the  free,  honest  ballot. 

This  peaceful  moral  conflict,  where  reason  is  free  to  combat  wrong  and  error,  is 
the  "irrepressible  conflict"  of  the  great  Senator  of  New  York,  (Mr.  Seward,)  who  "is 
our  guest  to-day." 

The  Democratic  Convention,  as  we  have  stated,  had  met 
at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  April,  1860  and  had  split 
into  two  parts  upon  the  slavery  question.  After  vainly 
wrangling  over  a  platform,  the  delegates  from  the  slave  States 
seceded  and  organized  a  separate  convention.  The  Conven- 
tion itself  adjourned  to  Baltimore,  and  nominated  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  for  President,  and  the  seceding  delegates  met  at 
Richmond,  Virginia,  on  the  llth  of  June,  and  nominated 
John  C.  Breckinridge. 

It  is  now  clear  that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  seceding 
delegates  had  already  entered  into  the  conspiracy  to  destroy 
the  Union.  Hence,  they  desired  and  promoted  the  rupture 
of  the  Democratic  party,  and  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  as 
an  excuse  or  pretext  for  promoting  their  objects. 

W.  L.  Yancey,  of  Alabama,  a  leading  secessionist,  and 
others,  subsequently  prominent  in  the  military  and  civil  ser- 
vice of  the  rebellion,  were  active  leaders  in  the  measures 
which  broke  up  the  convention.  The  Chicago  Convention, 
while  it  resolved  that  Congress  ought  to  prohibit  slavery  in 
the  territories,  distinctly  disclaimed  any  intention  to  interfere 
with  it  in  the  States.  The  existence  of  the  conspiracy  to 
destroy  the  Union,  and  the  participation  in  that  conspiracy 
by  those  who  procured  the  nomination  of  Breckinridge,  is 
established  by  the  fact,  that  although  it  was  obvious  that  by 
their  secession  from  the  Charleston  Convention  and  the 


PLATFORM  OF  THE  PARTIES.  149 

nomination  of  two  candidates,  Mr.  Lincoln's  election  was 
rendered  morally  certain,  yet,  to  place  this  beyond  a  doubt, 
the  same  organization  ran  two  tickets  in  the  free  States, 
where  the  great  mass  of  the  Democratic  party  supported 
Douglas,  and  the  opposition  to  him  was  scattering.  Thus  the 
Breckiuridge  leaders  deliberately  and  intentionally  secured 
Lincoln's  election. 

The  great  subject  in  controversy,  among  the  three  leading 
parties,  was  slavery. 

1st.  The  Republican  party  held  that  slavery  was  morally 
wrong  and  a  great  political  evil ;  that  it  could  exist  only  by 
virtue  of  positive  local  law;  and  that  Congress  rightfully 
could,  and  ought  to  prohibit  it  in  all  the  territories. 

2d.  The  party  supporting  Breckinridge  held  that  slavery 
was  morally  right;  and  that  it  legally  existed  in  all  the  ter- 
ritories, and  that  neither  Congress  nor  the  people  of  a  terri- 
tory could  prohibit  it,  or  interfere  with  it  outside  of  State 
lines;  and  that  so  long  as  a  territory  remained  such,  slavery 
had  legal  existence,  and  was  entitled  to  protection  under  the 
Constitution. 

3d.  The  Douglas  party  were  indifferent  whether  slavery 
was  "voted  up  or  down,"  but  insisted  that  the  people  of  each 
territory  should  decide  for  themselves  whether  they  would 
tolerate  and  protect,  or  exclude  slavery. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  features  of  this  contest  was  the 
personal  canvass  made  by  Douglas.  He  entered  upon  it  with 
all  the  vigor  and  spirit  for  which  he  was  so  distinguished. 
He  spoke  in  most  of  the  free  and  many  of  the  slave  States. 

Mr.  Lincoln  received  large  majorities  in  nearly  all  the  free 
States.  He  received  180  electoral  votes,  and  a  popular  vote 
of  1,866,452.  Douglas  received  12  electoral  votes,  and 
1,375,157  of  the  popular  vote.  Breckinridge  received  72 
electoral,  and  a  popular  vote  of  847,953 ;  and  Bell  39  electo- 
ral votes,  and  570,631  of  the  popular  vote.  By  the  success 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  executive  power  of  the  country  passed 
from  the  hands  of  slave-holders.  They  had  controlled  the 
government  for  much  the  larger  portion  of  the  time  during 
which  it  had  existed. 


150       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Each  decennial  census,  each  new  apportionment  of  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  in  spite  of  the  advantage  of  the  represen- 
tation of  their  negroes,  had  witnessed  the  gradual  passage  of 
political  power  into  the  free  States.  Against  this  result  the 
slave  aristocracy,  conscious  of  their  weakness  and  the  wrong 
of  the  institution,  struggled  in  vain.  The  laws  of  Nature 
and  of  God  are  not  more  inexorable  in  their  operation  than 
the  law  that  in  the  race  for  power,  freedom  and  free  labor 
should  outstrip  slavery  and  slave  labor.  Convinced  of  this 
by  the  logic  of  the  census  figures,  yet  resolved  not  to  yield 
power,  determined  not  to  give  up  slavery,  either  to  man  or 
God,  the  slave-holders  had  deliberately  determined,  by  force 
and  violence,  by  any  means  necessary,  to  extend  slavery  over 
all  the  territories;  to  seize  and  appropriate  Cuba;  to  conquer 
and  annex  Mexico ;  and  thus  secure  the  means  of  extending 
the  area  of  slavery,  of  controlling  the  government,  and  ulti- 
mately, to  make  the  States  all  slave  States;  or,  failing  in  these 
plans,  to  dissolve  the  Union,  and  to  establish  a  government 
based  upon  slavery.  There  had  long  existed  at  the  South  an 
organized  conspiracy  to  accomplish  these  purposes.  They 
wanted  more  negroes ;  and  they  sought  to  repeal,  and  practi- 
cally disregarded  and  evaded  the  law  prohibiting  the  African 
slave  trade.  Cargoes  pf  Africans  were  imported  into  the 
cotton  States,  and,  although  by  law  it  was  piracy,  there  were 
no  prosecutions  therefor. 

To  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  events  preceding 
the  rebellion,  and  during  its  progress,  the  existence  of  this 
wide  spread,  thoroughly  organized,  secret  conspiracy  must  be 
understood.  A  secret  organization,  known  as  the  "  Order 
of  the  Lone  Star,"  was  well  known  previous  to,  and  at  the 
time  of  the  annexation  of  Texas.  Its  ostensible,  and  one  of 
its  real  objects  was  the  acquisition  of  Cuba.  It  finally 
merged  into  a  secret  band  of  confederates,  extending  through 
several  States,  with  the  destinct  and  definite  purpose  of 
overthrowing  the  Federal  Government  in  the  slave  States, 
and  establishing  a  confederacy  based  upon  slavery.  The 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  triumph,  in  a  direct  contest, 
between  the  slave  aristocracy  and  democracy;  between  the 
friends  of  slavery  and  those  who  regarded  it  as  a  great  moral, 


LINCOLN'S  PLATFORM.  151 

social  and  political  evil,  and  who  meant  to  exclude  it  by 
prohibition,  from  all  the  territories,  and  to  use  all  legal  and 
constitutional  means  to  restrain  and  weaken  its  power.  It 
was  essentially  a  contest  between  democracy  and  aristocracy ; 
between  the  civilization  of  free  labor  and  the  barbarism  of 
slavery.  In  the  light  of  to-day,  it  is  clear  that  the  leaders  of 
the  slave  party  plunged  the  country  into  war,  believing  they 
could,  thereby,  save  the  institution  from  the  destruction 
threatened  by  the  rapid  and  irresistible  growth  of  the  free 
States. 

Nineteen  centuries  ago,  upon  the  mountains  of  Judea,  the 
great  principle  upon  which  our  Republic  was  formed,  the 
common  Father  and  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man,  was 
taught  by  the  Son  of  God.  This  great,  Christian  principle", 
the  germ  of  liberty  regulated  by  law,  after  contending 
against  all  forms  of  civil  and  religious  despotism  through  so 
many  centuries,  was  distinctly  and  authoritatively  announced 
by  the  Fathers  of  the  Republic,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776, 
when  they  proclaimed,  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
"that  all  men  are  created  equal,  and  that  they  are  endowed 
by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights,"  and  that 
"among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

Thomas  Jefferson,  the  Virginia  democrat,  in  the  conception 
of  that  instrument,  struck  the  key-note  of  Christian  liberty. 
He  announced  a  principle  antagonistic  to  human  slavery; 
and  in  making  it  the  basis,  the  corner-stone  of  our  politi- 
cal structure,  hastened  the  "irrepressible  conflict,"  which 
triumphed  at  the  ballot-box  in  1860. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  ever,  in  all  his  public  addresses,  in  his 
debates  with  Douglas,  made  that  declaration  his  platform ; 
and  he,  in  his  personal  and  political  character,  illustrated  its 
grand  ideas.  He  honestly  and  heartily  believed  in  it.  The 
slave  power  instinctively  felt  that  the  end  of  slavery  was  a 
mere  question  of  time  Rather  than  yield,  the  slave  aristoc- 
racy determined  to  "take  up"  the  sword,  and  hence  the  ter- 
rible civil  war.  Slavery  was  the  rebel,  and  the  government, 
in  the  end,  could  do  no  less  than  make  it  an  outlaw. 

It  was  apparent  that  there  was  a  party  in  nearly  all  the 
slave-holding  States  who  hated  the  Union,  and  sighed  for  a 


152  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

purely  slave-holding  confederacy.  These  men  had  for  years 
denounced  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  They  were 
proud  and  aristocratic,  accustomed  to  rule  negroes  at  home, 
and  to  govern  Congress.  Jefferson  Davis  declared,  in  1858, 
that  in  the  event  of  the  election  of  an  abolition  president, 
Mississippi  must  seek  her  safety  outside  of  the  Union. 

The  proud,  overbearing  aristocracy  of  the  slave  States, 
grown  wealthy  by  the  labor  of  slaves,  accustomed  to  power, 
ridiculed  labor,  and  affected  great  contempt  for  Lincoln  as  a 
laborer.  They  were  the  men  who  regarded  the  free,  moral, 
intelligent  laborers  of  the  free  States  as  the  "mudsills"  of 
society.  They  affected  to  believe  the  condition  of  four  mill- 
ions of  slaves,  without  education,  without  marriage,  without 
family,  without  a  home,  and  holding  chastity,  life,  children, 
everything,at  the  will  of  a  licentious  overseer  and  master,  was 
a  better  system  than  the  educated,  happy,  moral,  free-labor 
democracies  of  the  North,  with  their  free  schools,  and 
churches,  and  families  of  industry,  thrift,  intelligence  and 
domestic  virtue.  Such  men  scorned  the  idea  of  submitting 
to  be  governed  by  this  "mudsill,"  this  "plebian/'  as  they 
called  Abraham  Lincoln.  They  rejoiced  in  his  election,  as 
furnishing  an  opportunity  for  disunion,  and  as  a  means  of 
creating  a  public  sentiment  which  would  enable  them  to  pre- 
cipitate secession.  Hence  his  election  was  hailed  in  many 
slaves  States  with  acclamations.  Immediately,  when  the  re- 
sult was  known,  the  leading  traitors  sent  dispatches  from 
one  slave  State  to  another,  encouraging  and  threatening  re- 
bellion. The  Charleston  Mercury  said  the  news  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's election  was  hailed  with  long  continued  cheers  for 
the  Southern  Confederacy.  Military  organizations  were 
rapidly  formed  in  nearly  all  the  slave  States.  There  was 
scarcely  a  hamlet  in  the  cotton  States  that  had  not  its  squad 
of  mounted  men  or  infantry.  In  cities,  towns  and  villages, 
they  were  drilling  every  night,  and  preparing  for  war.  De- 
spatches were  sent  from  Virginia  and  other  States  to  South 
Carolina,  tendering  volunteer  soldiers  and  arms.  It  was 
expected  that  South  Carolina  would  take  the  lead,  and  many 
towns  and  cities  sent  messages,  breathing  the  same  spirit  as 


PLANS  OF  THE  CONSPIRATOrS.  153 

that  of  Governor  Perry,  of  Florida,  to  Governor  Gist,  of 
South  Carolina:  "Florida  is  with  the  gallant  Palmetto 
Flag." 

On  the  25th  cf  October,  a  meeting  had  been  held  at  the 
house  of  Senator  Hammond,  of  South  Carolina,  at  which  the 
Congressional  delegation  of  that  State,  Governor  Gist  and 
ex-Speaker  Orr  were  present:  it  was  resolved  that  South 
Carolina  should  secede,  in  the  event  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  elec- 
tion. Meetings,  in  furtherance  of  the  object,  were  held  in 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  other  slave  States.  In 
November,  South  Carolina  authorized  the  immediate  enroll- 
ment of  10,000  volunteers.  In  the  same  month  Georgia 
appropriated  one  million  of  dollars  to  arm  and  equip  that 
State.  Conventions,  preparatory  to  the  adoption  of  ordi- 
nances of  secession,  were  called  in  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Mississippi  and  Virginia. 

For  years  the  fatal  heresy  had  been  taught  by  southern 
men,  that  the  citizen  owed  his  primary  allegiance  to  his 
State,  and  not  to  the  nation;  disregarding  that  clause  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  which  declares  tha,t  the 
Constitution  and  laws,  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  are  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land,  anything  in  the  laws  and  constitu- 
tion of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.*  John  C. 
Calhoun  had  prostituted  his  great  talents  to  the  inculcation 
of  this  heresy.  Hence,  many  honest  people  were  deceived, 
and,  forgetting  they  were  citizens  of  the  Republic,  only  re- 
membered they  were  South  Carolinians  and  Virginians. 
This  carried  into  the  rebellion  many  honest  and  well-meaning 
persons. 

Calhoun,  who  had  so  industriously  sown  the  seed  and  nur- 
tured the  plant  of  secession,  said,  in  1812,  to  Commodore 
Charles  Stewart : 

It  is  through  our  affiliation  with  this  (the  Democratic)  party  in  the  middle  and 
and  western  States,  that  we  hold  power.    But  when  we  cease  thus  to  control  the 


*  In  1865,  a  prominent  citizen  of  South  Carolina,  coming  to  Washington  to  beg 
pardon  for  his  treason,  said  to  a  member  of  the  Cabinet: 

"We  went  to  war  for  two  objects:  first,  To  establish  the  perpetuity  of  Slavery; 
Second,  To  establish  the  position  that  a  State  is  superior  to  the  United  States." 

In  other  words,  the  slave-holders  went  to  war  to  perpetuate  a  great  wrong,  and 
to  establish  that  apart  is  greater  than  the  uhole. 


154  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

nation,  through  a  disjointed  Democracy,  or  any  material  obstacle  in  that  party, 
which  shall  tend  to  throw  us  out  of  the  rule  and  control,  we  shall  then  resort  to  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union. 

On  the  7th  of  November,  1860,  it  was  known  throughout 
the  Republic  that  Lincoln  was  elected.  He  could  not  be 
inaugurated  until  the  4th  of  March  following.  For  these 
four  eventful  months  the  conspirators  had  control  of  the 
Federal  government.  Buchanan,  a  weak,  imbecile,  if  not  a 
treacherous,  old  man,  was  President,  and  he  was  completely 
controlled  by  the  traitors  in  his  Cabinet  and  the  conspirators 
in  the  Senate.  Mr.  Memminger,  of  South  Carolina,  afterwards 
the  rebel  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  stated  that  "  Buchanan 
being  President,  the  Federal  government  would  be  taken  at 
great  disadvantage,  and  that  they  had  prepared  things  so 
that  Lincoln  would,  for  a  while,  be  powerless."  Buchanan's 
cabinet  was  (a  majority  of  them)  a  cabinet  of  conspirators, 
industriously  laboring  to  disarm  and  dismantle  the  ship  of 
state,  that  they  might  surrender  it  an  easy  conquest  to  the 
traitors  preparing  to  seize  it.  Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia, 
afterwards  a  rebel  general,  was'  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  managed  to  shake  the  credit  of  the  nation,  and  leave 
the  treasury  empty. 

Jacob  Thompson,  of  Mississippi,  afterwards  a  rebel,  was 
Secretary  of  the  Interior;  as  a  member  of  Buchanan's  cab- 
inet, hearing  that  the  Union  garrison,  starving  at  Fort  Sump- 
ter  was  to  be  supplied  with  provisions,  he  traitorously  sent  a 
dispatch  to  Charleston,  advising  his  co-conspirators  of  the  fact, 
so  that  the  flag  of  his  country  might  be  fired  upon,  and  the 
garrison  of  the  government  of  which  he  was  a  cabinet 
officer,  might  be  starved  into  surrender.  This  chivalric  son 
of  the  South  says: 

I  sent  a  despatch  to  Judge  Longstreet,  that  the  Star  of  the  West  was  coining  with 
re-enforcements.  The  State  troops  were  then  put  on  their  guard,  and  when  the 
Star  of  the  West  arrived,  she  received  a  warm  reception  from  booming  cannon,  and 
soon  beat  a  retreat. 

John  B.  Floyd  (the  same  who,  at  Fort  Donelson,  vvas  so 
conscious  of  his  guilt,  that  he  dared  not,  as  a  rebel  general, 
surrender  to  General  Grant),  was  Secretary  of  "War.  It  was 
important  to  the  Confederates  that  the  slave  States  should  be 


THE  NORTH  DISARMED.  155 

armed,  and  the  free  States  disarmed;  and  that  the  little  reg- 
ular army  of  the  United  States  should  be  sent  so  far  away  as 
not  to  be  in  reach  of  the  government  until  the  conspiracy 
had  accomplished  the  revolution  they  had  designed.  Hence, 
Floyd,  as  Secretary  of  War,  ordered  115,000  muskets,  from 
the  Springfield  and  Watervliet  manufactories  and  arsenals, 
to  be  sent  to  the  arsenals  in  the  slave  States.  He  also  sent  a 
vast  number  of  cannon,  mortars,  ammunition  and  munitions 
of  war  tc  the  South.  He  took  care,  not  only  that  Southern 
arsenals  should  be  stocked  with  vast  supplies  of  arms  and 
other  munitions  of  war,  but  that  the  garrisons  of  Southern 
forts  and  arsenals  should  be  so  weakened  that  no  effectual 
resistance  could  be  made  to  the  local  militia's  seizing  them. 

The  valuable  Arsenal  of  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina,  was 
garrisoned  by  one  company  of  troops;  Fort  Moultrie,  in 
Charleston  harbor,  by  eighty  men;  Key-West,  the  key  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  by  one  company;  while  the  United 
States  Mint  at  New  Orleans,  the  Custom  Houses  at  New  Or- 
leans, Charleston,  Mobile,  and  Savannah,  were  entirely 
unguarded. 

Such  we're  the  bold  and  unscrupulous  acts  of  the  conspira- 
tors. It  was  the  intention  of  some  of  them  to  prevent  the 
inauguration  of  Lincoln ;  to  prepare  the  way  to  surrender 
the  capitol  and  archives  to  the  rebels;  and  this  purpose  would 
have  been  accomplished,  but  for  the  vigilant  eye  of  the 
venerable  hero,  General  Scott. 


CHAPTEE   VII. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CONSPIRACY— FROM  THE  ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN 
TO  HIS  ARRIVAL  AT  WASHINGTON,  FEBRUARY  1861. 

THE  CONSPIRACY  EXTENDING — ADMINISTRATION  OP  BUCHANAN — 
GENERAL  SCOTT — GENERAL  CASS  —  ACTION  OP  CONGRESS  IN 
WINTER  OP  1860-61 — COMMITTEE  OP  THIRTY-THREE  —  PEACE 
CONVENTION — REPORT  OP  ADAMS — SECRET  MEETINGS  OF  CON- 
SPIRATORS AT  THE  CAPITOL — SEVEN  STATES  SECEDE,  AND  OR- 
GANIZE A  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT  —  JEFFERSON  DAVIS — RE- 
BELLION WITHOUT  EXCUSE — SLAVERY, THE  CORNER-STONE  OF  THE 
CONFEDERACY — COUNTING  ELECTORAL  VOTES  BY  CONGRESS  — 
LINCOLN  LEAVES  SPRINGFIELD  FOR  WASHINGTON — His  JOURNEY 
— ASSASSINATION  PLOT — His  ARRIVAL. 

WHILE  the  organization  and  proportions  of  this  widely 
extended  conspiracy  .were  boldly  and  defiantly  exhib- 
ited, and  daily  becoming  more  and  more  formidable,  the  at- 
tention of  the  whole  country  was  fixed  upon  President 
Buchanan.  Would  he,  like  Jackson  in  1832,  declare  "  by 
the  Eternal,  the  Union  shall  be  preserved  ! "  Would  he  pre- 
pare to  meet  force  by  force  ?  Would  he  send  the  veteran 
Scott  to  South  Carolina,  and  elsewhere,  to  protect  National 
property,  execute  the  laws,  and  maintain  national  suprema- 
cy? Scott  had  pointed  out  the  danger,  and  urged  and  im- 
plored that  vigorous  means  might  be  taken  to  maintain  the 
national  authority. 

Buchanan,  either  traitorously,  or  through  weakness,  which, 
in  its  results,  was  equivalent  to  treason,  took  no  steps  to  main- 
tain the  Union,  but  was  wax,  or  clay,  in  the  hands  of  Messrs. 
Davis,  Howell  Cobb,  Thompson,  Floyd,  and  their  associates. 
He  even  went  so  far  as  to  promise  the  Confederates  that  no 
reinforcements  should  be  sent  to  the  garrisons  in  Southern 

156 


TREASON  IN  THE  CABINET  OF  BUCHANAN.        157 

forts.  With  this  assurance,  the  leaders  of  the  conspiracy 
went  forward  in  their  guilty  preparations  with  impunity.  It 
is  probable  that,  with  a  loyal,  energetic  President  like  Jack- 
son, with  the  aid  of  Scott,  the  conspiracy  might  have  been 
crushed  in  its  inception. 

There  was,  in  the  border  States,  a  clear  majority  for  the 
Union,  and,  in  the  gulf  States,  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
people  were  opposed  to  secession ;  but,  receiving  no  aid,  no 
encouragement,  and  no  protection  from  the  executive  or  his 
subordinates;  seeing  the  cabinet,  and  nearly  all  Federal 
office-holders  in  the  slave  States  actively  promoting  disunion, 
unchecked  and  unrebuked,  and  the  secessionists  everywhere 
open,  bold  and  defiant,  the  Union  men  yielded  to  the  threats 
and  terror  of  the  active,  energetic,  unscrupulous  conspirators, 
and  made  little  resistance  to  the  current  of  popular  excitement 
which  was  sweeping  on  towards  civil  war. 

The  candid  world  will  ever  hold  the  administration  of 
Buchanan  responsible  for  this  neglect  to  crush  the  rebellion 
in  its  beginning. 

Floyd,  having  finished  the  work  of  treason  as  Secretary  of 
War,  fled  South,  to  meet  the  applause  of  the  conspirators  for 
his  perfidy,  and  to  exchange  the  portfolio  of  War  Secretary 
of  the  Republic,  for  a  commission  in  the  rebel  army. 

Isaac  Toucey,  of  Connecticut,  more  infamous,  if  possible, 
than  even  Floyd,  did  the  same  for  the  navy  that  Floyd  did 
for  the  army.  He  scattered  the  vessels  of  war  beyond  seas, 
and  placed  the  naval  force  out  of  the  reach  of  the  government. 

It  appears,  from  an  official  report  made  to  Congress,  that 
it  was  in  the  power  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  have 
stationed  a  naval  force,  adequate  to  the  protection  of  all  the 
rights  and  property  of  the  government,  at  exposed  points; 
but  instead  of  doing  so,  the  Secretary  sent  the  vessels  of  war 
abroad,  without  justification  or  excuse.  A  committee  of 
Congress  also  found  him  guilty  of  accepting  resignations  of 
officers  of  the  navy  who  were  in  arms  against  their  flag, 
and  of  others  who  sought  thus  to  dispose  of  their  com- 
missions under  the  United  States,  to  accept  service  from  its 
enemy.* 

*  See  report  of  Secretary  of  Navy,  Jaly,  1861  and  report  of  Naval  Committee. 


158       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Thus  the  right  arm  of  the  government  was  despoiled  of 
its  weapons — the  army  and  navy.  The  treasury  was  plun- 
dered, and  the  national  credit  shaken,  for  the  benefit,  and  in 
aid  of  the  purposes  of  treason.  But  for  the  resolute  energy 
of  General  Scott,  the  purpose  of  the  conspirators  to  prevent 
the  inauguration  of  Lincoln,  and  to  obtain  possession  of  the 
capitol  and  its  archives,  would  have  succeeded. 

As  early  as  October,  1860,  General  Scott  warned  President 
Buchanan  of  the  danger  that  the  conspirators  would  seize 
Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Phillip,  guarding  the  entrance  to  the 
Mississippi,  (which  Admiral  Farragut,  subsequently,  so  gal- 
lantly retook),  and  which  were  then  without  garrison ;  Forts 
McRea  and  Pickens,  in  Pensacola  Harbor,  with  an  inefficient 
garrison ;  Fort  Pulaski,  Georgia,  without  a  garrison ;  Forts 
Moultrie  and  Sumpter,  Charleston,  the  latter  without  a  garri- 
son, and  the  former  with  only  eighty  men ;  Fortress  Monroe 
without  a  sufficient  garrison.  He  also  recommended  that  all 
should  be  so  garrisoned,  as  to  render  an  attempt  to  take 
them  by  surprise,  hopeless.  He  closed  his  timely  and  patri- 
otic letter  with  the  declaration  that,  "  with  the  army  faith- 
ful to  its  allegiance,  and  the  navy  probably  equally  so ;  and 
with  a  Federal  Executive,  for  the  next  twelve  months,  of  firm- 
ness and  moderation,  there  is  good  reason  to  hope  that  the 
danger  from  secession  may  be  made  to  pass  away,  without 
one  conflict  of  arms,  one  execution,  or  one  arrest  for  treason." 
The  honest  old  hero  could  not  conceive  that  treason  had  en- 
tered the  very  highest  departments  of  government,  and  that 
the  heads  of  the  army  and  navy  were,  at  that  moment,  from 
their  official  desks,  conspiring  for  the  overthrow  of  the  gov- 
ernment. The  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  had  been,  many 
of  them,  seduced  from  their  allegiance,  and  were  ready  to 
desert  their  flag. 

On  the  14th  of  December,  General  Cass,  a  patriot,  resigned 
the  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  because  the  President  refused 
to  reeuforce  the  forts  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston.  Scott 
urged  the  Secretary  of  War  to  warn  the  garrisons  against 
surprise.  His  warnings  and  importunities  to  garrison  the 
forts  were  again  repeated;  but  traitors  in  the  Cabinet,  and 
dotage  and  weakness,  approaching  imbecility,  or  treason,  in 


THE  REBELLION  DELIBERATELY  PLANNED.  159 

the  Executive,  prevented  any  attention  being  paid  to  his 
earnest  and  repeated  applications.  Time  verified,  and  more 
than  realized,  his  predictions.  That  which  he  so  confidently 
exacted  to  find,  and  the  absence  of  which  he  could  scarcely 
conceive,  jidelity  to  the  flag  in  the  army  and  navy,  was,  to .  a 
lamentable  extent,  wanting.  The  treachery  in  the  Cabinet 
extended  largely  among  officers  born  at  the  South,  both  in 
the  army  and  navy.  All  the  fortresses  and  forts  named, 
were  seized  by  the  rebels,  except  Fortress  Monroe. 

The  rebellion  was  not  the  result  of  impulse,  but,  as  has 
been  previously  stated,  a  deliberately  planned  movement.  In 
October,  1856,  a  meeting  of  the  governors  of  slave  States 
was  held  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  convened  at  the  instance 
of  Governor  Wise,  who  afterwards  proclaimed,  that  if 
Fremont  had  been  elected,  he  would  have  marched  to 
Washington,  at  the  head  of  20,000  men,  and  prevented  his 
inauguration. 

Mr.  Keitt,  member  of  Congress  from  South  Carolina,  said, 
in  the  convention  of  his  State,  which  adopted  the  ordinance 
of  secession  :  "  I  have  been  engaged  in  this  movement  ever 
since  I  entered  political  life." 

Mr.  Rhett  said  :  "  The  secession  of  South  Carolina  is  not 
the  event  of  a  day.  It  is  not  anything  produced  by  Mr. 
Lincoln's  election,  or  the  non-enforcement  of  the  fugitive 
slave  law.  It  is  a  matter  tha.t  has  been  gathering  head  for 
thirty  years." 

The  Provisional  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  Mr.  Perry, 
appointed  by  President  Johnson,  said,  in  a  public  speech,  in 
July,  1865: 

We  were,  at  the  time  of  secession,  the  most  prosperous,  free  and  happy  people  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  The  sun  had  never  shone  on  a  nation  or  empire  whose  fu- 
ture was  more  bright  and  glorious.  But  the  public  mind  had,  unfortunately,  been 
prepared,  in  the  southern  States  for  thirty  years  past  for  an  effort  at  disunion. 
The  people  had  been  induced  to  believe  that  disunion  would  be  a  great  blessing, 
and  that  it  m  tght  come  without  war  and  bloodshed  !  The  leading  politicians  at  the 
South  were  anxiously  waiting  for  some  plausible  pretext  for  seceding  from  the 
Union.  **************** 

The  so-called  "rights  of  the  South"  were  in  no  possible  danger  from  Mr.  Lincoln, 
even  had  he  been  disposed  to  interfere  with  them.  There  was,  at  that  time,  a  ma- 
jority of  twenty-seven  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  politically  opposed  to  him. 
There  was  a  majority,  in  the  Senate,  of  six  against  him.  A  majority  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  were  opposed  to  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party.  Lincoln  wast 
therefore,  in  a  minority  in  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  on  the  bench  of  the  Su- 
preme Court;  and  a  large  majority  of  the  people  had  supported  others  for  the 
presidency.  He  was  powerless  to  injure  the  slave  States. 


160  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Notwithstanding  the  overwhelming  evidence  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  wide-spread,  long  planned  conspiracy  to  dissolve 
the  Union,  evidence  which  could  be  accumulated  to  almost 
any  extent,  the  people  of  the  North  were  slow  to  believe  that 
those  who  threatened,  were  really  in  earnest;  equally  slow  to 
believe  the  leaders  were  unappeasable,  and,  being  them- 
selves unwilling  to  resort  to  force,  they  were  ready  to  yield 
almost  everything  to  secure  harmony.  The  conspirators,  and 
those  who  were  made  to  sympathize  with  alleged  Southern 
wrongs,  were  misled  and  encouraged  by  the  idea,  too  gen- 
erally expressed  by  Northern  democratic  politicians,  and  the 
democratic  press,  that  the  South  was  right,  and  really  suf- 
fered real  wrongs;  and  that  the  South  had  a  right  to  se- 
cede, and  should  be  met  by  conciliation,  concession  and 
compromise. 

Mr.  Johnson,  a  prominent  politician  of  central  New  York, 
said,  at  a  State  convention  held  at  Albany,  on  the  31st  of 
January,  1861 :  "  The  will  of  a  large  portion  of  the  citizens 
of  this  State  is  against  any  armed  coercion  to  restore  the 
Union  by  civil  war.  If  Congress  and  our  States  cannot  win 
back  our  southern  brethren,  let  us,  at  least,  part  as  friends." 

Leading  democrats  proclaimed :  *Union  by  compromise, 
or  peaceable  separation. 

Some  of  the  conspirators  were  led  to  believe,  from  the  ex- 
pressions of  the  press  and  politicians,  that  either  there  would 
be  no  attempt  at  coercion,  or,  if  there  should  be,  the 
Democrats  would  be  found  on  the  side  of  the  seceding  States. 

At  the  opening  of  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-sixth 
Congress,  President  Buchanan  said,  in  substance,  that  while 
no  State  had  a  right  to  secede,  the  Federal  Government  could 
not  coerce  a  sovereign  State.  He  told  the  conspirators  they 
had  no  right  to  secede,  but  if  they  did,  he  could  not  prevent 
it.  This  was  all  they  wanted.  They  were  bold,  unscrupu- 
lous, determined  men,  with  well  defined  purposes.  Bucha- 
nan urged  that  the  Union  was  not  to  be  preserved  by  force, 
but  by  compromise.  In  other  words  we  had  no  government. 
The  Union  was  an  association,  to  exist  as  long  as  the  States 
found  it  agreeable.  The  Government,  according  to  Bucha- 
nan, was  mere  moral  suasion  —  without  authority.  Had  he 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THIRTY-THKEE.  161 

announced  with  dignity,  decision,  and  power,  that  the  Gov- 
ernment was  the  majesty  of  authority,  armed  with  power, 
and  in  its  right  hand  the  sword  to  compel  obedience,  he  could 
have  enforced  submission,  and  maintained  National  author- 
ity. His  message  greatly  encouraged  and  emboldened  the 
conspirators.  It  was  referred  by  the  House,  to  a  Select 
Committee  of  one  from  each  State,  of  which  Mr.  Corwin,  of 
Ohio,  was  Chairman,  to  report  measures  of  pacification.  But 
Mr.  Iverson,  Senator  from  Georgia,  expressed  the  animus  of 
the  conspirators,  when  he  exclaimed :  "  Gentlemen  talk  of 
concession,  the  repeal  of  personal  liberty  bills  !  Repeal  them 
all  to-morrow,  and  you  cannot  stop  the  revolution.  There 
will  be  no  war!"  said  he. 

Ben.  Wade,  Senator  from  Ohio,  staunch,  fearless,  blunt, 
and  honest,  in  the  face  of  the  conspirators  and  compromisers, 
said  :  "  We  will  prohibit  slavery  from  invading  another  inch 
of  the  free  soil  of  the  United  States.  I  will  stand  by  this 
principle.  We  pretend  to  no  right  to  interfere  with  your 
*  institution '  in  your  States,  but  we  beat  you  on  the  plainest 
and  most  palpable  principle  ever  presented  to  the  American 
people,  and  now  we  tell  you  plainly,  our  candidate  shall  be 
inaugurated,  and  shall  administer  the  Government." 

A  committee  of  thirteen  in  the  Senate  had  been  raised  to 
report  measures  of  pacification.  This  committee,  and  Mr. 
Corwin's  committee  of  thirty-three  in  the  House,  reported 
and  discussed  various  propositions  of  compromise.  Many  of 
these  propositions  offered  by  way  of  concession  by  Northern 
members,  were  voted  down  by  the  conspirators.  It  was  clear 
they  did  not  wish  compromise  measures  to  succeed.  They 
so  conducted  matters  as  to  throw  odium  on  the  North,  and 
consolidate  and  unite  public  sentiment  at  the  South  in  favor 
of  secession. 

To  avert  the  threatening  dangers,  the  "  Peace  Convention," 
was  called  at  Washington.  This  was  a  convention  of  dele- 
gates from  nearly  all  the  free  States,  and  several  of  the  slave 
States,  to  consult  and  see  on  what  terms  the  disaffected,  and 
traitorous,  could  be  induced  to  abandon  their  purposes. 
There  were,  as  we  have  seen,  many  at  the  North  who  believed 
the  secession  movement  was  only  a  "  strike  "  for  additional 
11 


162  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

guarantees  for  slavery.  It  had  become  a  settled  custom  of 
the  slaveholders,  whenever  they  wished  to  carry  a  point,  to 
threaten  to  dissolve  the  Union.  They  had  demanded  Loui- 
siana, and  it  had  been  purchased  for  them;  Florida,  and  it 
was^  obtained ;  Texas,  and  it  was  annexed ;  a  more  stringent 
and  humiliating  fugitive  slave  law,  and  it  was  passed ;  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  it  was  repealed; 
the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  it  was  decided  that  a  negro  had 
"no  rights."  Thus,  they  had  become  arrogant,  because  their 
demands,  backed  by  threats,  had  been  so  long  yielded  to. 
Many  believed  that  by  adding  new  concessions,  the  slave 
power  might  be  pacified.  But,  when  liberal  concessions  were 
voted  down  by  the  conspirators  themselves,  it  became  evident 
that  they  had  deliberately  resolved  to  force  an  issue,  and  go 
out  of  the  Union.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  from  the  House 
Committee  of  thirty-three,  reported,  "  that  no  form  of  adjust- 
ment will  be  satisfactory  to  the  recusant  States,  which  does 
not  incorporate  into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
an  obligation  to  protect  and  extend  slavery.  On  this  condi- 
tion, and  on  this  alone,  will  they  consent  to  withdraw  their 
opposition  to  the  recognition  of  the  Constitutional  election 
of  the  Chief  Magistrate.  Viewing  the  matter  in  this  light, 
it  seems  unadvisable  to  attempt  to  proceed  a  step  further  in 
the  way  of  offering  unacceptable  propositions."  It  was  clear 
the  conspirators  had  resolved  on  revolution. 

While  these  movements  of  the  traitors  were  going  on  in 
the  cotton  States,  and  State  after  State  was  passing  ordin- 
ances of  secession,  the  conspirations  at  Washington,  held 
their  secret  meetings,  and  leading  Senators  and  members, 
acting  in  concert  with  traitors  in  the  Cabinet,  so  managed  as 
to  thwart  all  the  movements  of  General  Scott,  and  to  paralize 
the  action  of  such  few  faithful  officers  as  sought  to  preserve 
the  Union. 

There  was  a  meeting  held  at  the  Capital  on  the  night  of 
January  5th,  at  which  Jefferson  Davis,  Senators  Toombs, 
Iverson,  Slidell,  Benjamin,  Wigfall,  and  other  leading  con- 
spirators were  present.  They  resolved  in  secret  conclave  to 
precipitate  secession  and  disunion  as  soon  as  possible,  and  at 
the  same  time,  that  Senators  and  members  of  the  House 


HAMILTON  OF  TEXAS.  163 

should  remain  in  their  seats  at  the  Capitol,  as  long  as  possi- 
ble, to  watch  and  control  the  action  of  the  Executive,  and 
thwart,  and  defeat  any  hostile  measure  proposed. 

In  accordance  with  concerted  plans,  some  of  the  Senators 
and  members,  as  the  States  they  represented  passed  ordin- 
ances of  secession,  retired  from  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives.  Some  went  forth  breathing  war  and  ven- 
geance, others  expressing  deep  feeling  and  regret.  Nearly  all 
were  careful  to  draw  their  pay,  stationery,  and  documents, 
and  their  mileage  home, from  the  treasury  of  the  Government, 
they  went  home  avowedly  to  overthrow. 

There  were  two  honorable  exceptions  among  the  represen- 
tatives from  the  Gulf  States,  Mr.  Bouligny,  representative 
from  New  Orleans,  and  Andrew  J.  Hamilton,  from  Texas. 
They  remained  true  to  the  Union. 

On  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  March,  1861,  when  the  Thirty- 
sixth  Congress  was  about  to  expire,  Hamilton,  when  bidding 
farewell  to  his  associates  said,  "  1  am  going  home  to  Texas,  and 
I  shall  stand  by  the  oldjlag,  as  long  as  there  is  a  shred  of  it  left  as 
big  as  my  hand." 

Nobly,  bravely,  has  he  redeemed  that  pledge.  He  stood 
by  the  flag  through  all  the  perils  of  the  war,  and  as  Provincial 
Governor  of  Texas,  he  has  aided  in  the  restoration  of  that 
Union  to  which  he  was  ever  steadfast  and  true. 

The  absence  of  declaratory  laws  by  Congress,  had  been 
much  relied  upon  by  Mr.  Buchanan's  Attorney  General,  Mr. 
Black,  in  his  labored  argument  to  show  that  the  Executive 
had  no  power  to  coerce  States. 

In  accordance  with  the  programme  of  the  conspirators, 
South  Carolina,  had  adopted  the  ordinance  of  secession,  on 
the  17th  of  November,  1860;  Mississippi,  January  9th,  1861; 
Georgia,  January  19th;  Florida,  January  10th;  Alabama, 
January  llth;  Louisiana,  January  25th,  and  Texas, 
February  1st.* 

These  seven  seceding  States,  appointed  delegates  to  meet 
in  convention,  at  Montgomery,  Alabama.  They  met  on  the 
4th  of  February,  and  organized  a  Provisional  Government, 

*  McPherson's  History,  p.  2  and  8. 


164       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

similar  in  many  respects,  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States;  under  which  Jefferson  Davis  was  made  President, 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Vice  President. 

The  President  of  the  Confederate  States,  was  a  man  of 
culture  and  large  experience  in  public  affairs.  Born  in  Ken- 
tucky, educated  at  West  Point,  at  the  expense  of  the  Govern- 
ment he  sought  to  overthrow,  he  entered  public  life  as  the 
follower  of  Calhoun.  He  was  of  an  imperious  temper,  and 
of  a  most  intense  personal  ambition.  He  favored  the  repu- 
diation by  the  State  of  Mississippi,  of  the  bonds  issued  by 
that  State,  and  thus  brought  deep  disgrace  upon  the  American 
character.  He  was  called  to  the  position  of  Secretary  of 
"War  by  President  Pierce,  and  in  that  position  he  deliberately 
conducted  the  affairs  of  the  War  Department  with  a  view  to 
strengthen  the  slave  States,  preparatory  to  a  separation,  and 
for  war,  if  necessary,  to  secure  separation.  As  the  head  of 
the  insurgents  at  Montgomery,  he  was  guilty  of  opening  the 
bloody  tragedy  of  civil  war,  by  ordering  the  fire  upon  Fort 
Sumpter.  The  character  of  the  man  may  be  inferred  from 
the  language  he  used  in  a  speech  on  his  way  from  Mississippi 
to  Montgomery,  to  assume  the  Presidency.  "  We  will  carry 
the  war,"  said  he,  "  where  it  is  easy  to  advance,  where  food 
for  the  sword  and  torch  await  our  armies  in  the  densely 
populated  cities."  Such  was  the  war  this  man  inaugurated 
and  carried  on  until  his  ignominious  capture.  How  different 
this  from  the  forbearing,  dignified,  Christian  spirit  of  magna- 
nimity which  ever  characterized  the  language  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  Union  during  the  war. 

Davis  used  the  language  of  the  incendiary  and  conspirator, 
while  Lincoln  was  ever  the  dignified  and  scrupulous  Chief 
Magistrate.  With  him,  it  was  always,  "  with  malice  towards 
none,  with  charity  for  all,'  with  firmness  in  the  right  as  God 
gives  us  to  see  the  right,"  that  he  discharged  his  duty. 

The  atrocities  of  the  war,  the  treatment  of  prisoners,  the 
the  massacre  of  Negro  soldiers,  and  the  catalogue  of  barbari- 
lies  down  to  the  fiend-like  assassination  of  Lincoln,  were  but 
the  exhibition  of  the  same  spirit,  which,  on  the  very  thresh- 
hold  indicated  the  torch,  and  the  densely  populated  Northern 
cities  as  its  food. 


BUCHANAN'S  CABINET.  165 

The  spirit  of  Davis  thus  announced,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  was  the  spirit  of  the  slaveholder,  and  characterized 
the  leaders  of  the  slaveholders  rebellion. 

The  well-meaning  and  ignorant  masses  of  the  people  in 
the  seceding  States,  were  deceived.  Upon  the  heads  of  their 
leaders  and  teachers  is  the  guilt,  and  upon  the  institution 
which  produced  such  men,  be  the  infamy. 

The  Vice  President,  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  was  a  very 
different  character.  Intellectually  an  abler,  and  morally,  a 
far  better  man,  he  had  vigorously  opposed  secession,  and 
never  heartily  approved  it. 

Meanwhile,  the  conspirators  having  tied  up  the  hands  of 
the  Executive  by  obtaining  a  promise  from  him  not  to  rein- 
force the  feeble  garrisons  in  the  Southern  forts,  and  having 
adroitly  secured  the  written  opinion  of  his  Attorney  General 
endorsed  by  the  official  declaration  of  the  President,  that  he  had 
no  power  to  coerce  a  State,  adopted  the  most  efficient  means 
to  carry  out  their  purposes.  The  President  was  constantly 
watched  by  the  conspirators  and  their  agents,  that  he  might 
not  be  induced  to  change  his  mind.  A  portion  of  his  cabinet 
and  some  of  his  political  friends  chafed  under  the  course  he 
had  adopted.  General  Cass,  as  has  been  stated,  resigned  the 
position  of  Secretary  of  State,  because  he  refused  to  reinforce 
Fort  Moultrie,  held  by  the  gallant  and  faithful  Major  Ander- 
son, who  had  been  assigned  by  Scott,  to  command  that 
important  position. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  Howell  Cobb  resigned  his  posi- 
sition  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  because,  as  he  alleged, 
"  his  duty  to  Georgia  required  it."  He  was  succeeded  first 
by  Philip  F.  Thomas,  a  devoted  Unionist,  from  Maryland, 
and  afterwards  by  General  Dix,  of  New  York. 

On  the  26th  of  January,  John  B.  Floyd  resigned  the  posi- 
tion of  Secretary  of  War,  because  Buchanan  would  not 
withdraw  the  few  troops,  there  were  left  in  the  National  forts 
of  South  Carolina.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  true  and  loyal 
Joseph  Holt,  of  Kentucky. 

On  the  17th  of  December,  Attorney  General  Black  resigned 
the  position  of  Attorney  General,  and  was  succeeded  by  Edwin 
M.  Stanton.  Stanton,  Dix,  and  Holt,  were  unflinching  Union 


166  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

men,  and  did  what  they  could  to  prevent  the  surrender  of  the 
Government  to  the  conspirators.  They  most  efficiently  aided 
General  Scott  in  securing  the  peaceful  inauguration  of 
President  Lincoln. 

The  strange  spectacle  was  presented,  that  while  the  conspi- 
rators were  boldly,  and  with  little  disguise,  hatching  their 
schemes  of  breaking  up  the  Government,  in  the  Sen-ate  and 
in  the  House,  at  the  War  and  Navy  Departments,  and  in  the 
very  cabinet  of  the  Executive,  no  attempt  was  made  to  inter- 
fere with,  much  less  arrest  the  known,  open  and  avowed 
traitors.  All  that  the  feeble  man  in  the  Executive  Chair  did, 
was  to  appoint  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer;  and 
declare,  that  though  secession  was  wrong,  he  had  no  power 
to  prevent  it.  The  conspirators  labored  industriously  to 
make  the  revolution  an  accomplished  fact  before  the  inaugu- 
ration of  Mr.  Lincoln.  They  were  active  in  plundering  the 
Government,  securing  the  forts,  ordinance,  arms  and  all  ma- 
terial of  war,  and  arming  themselves,  so  that  if  Lincoln 
should  be  inaugurated,  he  would  have  no  immediate  means 
of  coercion. 

The  absence  of  any  grievance  or  excuse  for  the  rebellion, 
will  be  apparent  from  two  or  three  facts. 

The  slaveholders  and  their  friends,  had  at  that  time,  a 
working  majority  in  both  Houses  of  Congress;  and  they  had 
controlled  both  Congress  and  the  Executive,  and  dictated  the 
policy  of  the  Government  for  more  than  forty  years.  This 
truth  is  very  strikingly  presented  by  Alexander  H.  Stephens, 
the  ablest  among  the  conspirators,  in  a  speech  made  on  the 
14th  of  November,  1860,  when  opposing  secession  before  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia.  He  said  : 

Mr.  Lincoln  can  do  nothing  unless  he  is  backed  by  the  power  of  Congress.  The 
House  of  Representatives  is  largely  in  majority  against  him.  In  the  Senate  he  is 
powerless.  There  will  be  a  majority  of  foui  against  him.  *  *  * 

"  Many  of  us,"  said  he,  "  ha* e  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution.  Can  we,  for  the 
mere  election  of  a  man  to  the  Presidency,  and  that  too,  in  accordance  with  the 
forms  of  the  Constitution,  make  a  point  of  resistance  without  becoming  the 
breakers  of  that  same  instrument?-' 

The  same  man  afterwards,  frankly  and  distinctly  announced 
that  slavery,  the  security  of  slavery,  was  the  object  of  the 
revolution,  and  that  that  institution  should  be  the  "  corner 
stone  "  of  the  Confederate  Government. 


THE  GLOOMY  WINTER  OF  1861.  167 

"While  these  various  movements  were  going  on,  Lincoln 
remained  at  his  home  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  a  deeply  anx- 
ious, yet  hopeful  spectator.  The  greatest  solicitude  was  man- 
ifested North  and  South,  to  learn  his  views,  and  ascertain  his 
policy.  In  November,  he  visited  Chicago,  and  expressed  to 
his  friends,  the  deepest  concern  in  regard  to  the  movements 
of  South  Carolina,  and  other  States,  threatening  revolution. 
The  impression  he  made  upon  all  who  approached  him  was, 
that  he  was  direct,  truthful,  and  sincere,  with  a  heart  full  of 
good  nature  and  kindness,  yielding  to  his  friends  in  all  mat- 
ters, except  those  which  involved  principle,  but  upon  such 
questions,  inflexibly  firm.  He  expressed  strong  hopes,  that 
notwithstanding  the  intense  excitement,  he  might  be  able  to 
quiet  the  storm,  and  restore  tranquility  without  war.  To  an 
inquiry  made  to  one  of  his  intimate  friends,  as  to  what  kind 
of  a  man  is  Lincoln  ?  the  reply  was,  "  He  has  the  firmness, 
without, the  temper  of  Jackson." 

No  one  will  ever  forget  the  dark  and  threatening  aspect 
of  affairs  which  lowered  upon  the  country  during  the  winter 
of  1860-61.  What  a  horrid  nightmare  were  the  long  days  of 
that  winter,  in  which  patriots  could  see  conspirators  plotting, 
traitors  plundering  the  treasury,  dispersing  the  soldiers  of  the 
Republic,  and  sending  its  armed  ships  abroad,  and  already 
stripping  the  arsenals ;  the  dark  and  awful  tornado  coming, 
and  the  rebels  preparing  to  scuttle  the  ship  of  State,  after  hav- 
ing plundered  her  of  money  and  arms,  and  these  very  conspira- 
tors her  chief  officers,  and  the  people  passengers,  with  no 
power  to  interfere !  How  anxiously  the  people  watched  and 
waited,  how  earnestly  they  prayed  for  the  4th  of  March,  none 
will  ever  forget.  All  eyes  were  turned  to  Lincoln  as  to  the 
only  man  who  could  save  his  country  from  the  clutches  of  the 
conspirators. 

That  was  a  strange  spectacle  —  an  hour  of  awful  suspense, 
the  15th  of  February,  1861,  when  the  electoral  votes  were 
counted  in  joint  session  of  both  houses  of  Congress.  Breck- 
inridge,  the  Vice  President,  presided.  Fears  were  enter- 
tained that  by  some  fraud  or  violence,  the  ceremony  would 
be  interrupted  or  not  performed.  But  the  schemes  of  the 
conspirators  were  not  yet  ripe  for  violence.  In  pursuance  of 


168  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  Constitution  and  the  forms  of  established  law,  both  houses 
of  Congress  met  at  12  M.,  in  the  gorgeous  hall  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  In  such  joint  session,  the  Vice  President 
and  Speaker,  sit  side  by  side,  the  Vice  President  presiding. 
The  Chaplain  of  the  House,  as  well  as  the  crowds  of  people 
who  had  thronged  to  the  Capitol,  seemed  impressed  with  the 
peculiarly  solemn  character  of  the  proceedings.  He  invoked 
God's  blessing  and  protection  upon  the  President  elect, 
prayed  for  his  safe  arrival  at  the  Capital,  and  that  he  might 
be  peaceably  inaugurated ;  (thus  exhibiting  the  anxiety  of  the 
public  mind  upon  the  subject.) 

The  two  most  conspicuous  personages  present,  were  the 
Vice  President,  Breckinridge,  and  Douglas;  both  unsuccess- 
ful candidates  for  the  Presidency.  Breckinridge  received 
seventy-two  electoral  votes,  and  Douglas  only  twelve,  although 
he  was  second  to  Lincoln  only,  in  the  popular  vote. 

On  the  llth  of  February,  Mr.  Lincoln  left  his  home  at 
Springfield  for  Washington. 

His  journey  to  the  Capital  was  all  the  way  through  crowds 
of  anxious,  religious,  and  patriotic  men,  everywhere  in- 
voking upon  him,  the  blessing,  the  guidance,  and  protection 
of  Almighty  God. 

How  deeply  he  himself  felt,  and  how  oppressively  he  real- 
ized the  weighty  responsibilities  resting  upon  him,  appears 
from  the  beautiful  and  touching  speech  he  made  to  his  im- 
mediate friends  and  neighbors  from  the  platform  of  the  rail- 
car,  when  about  to  start,  and  bidding  good-by  to  that  home 
to  which  he  was  destined  never  again  to  return  alive.  There 
is  not  a  more  touching  and  sublime  speech  in  our  language 
than  this.  Said  he : 


MY  FRIENDS:  No  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  realize  the  sadness  I  feel  at  this 
parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that  I  am.  Here  I  have  lived  more  than  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century.  Here  my  children  were  born,  and  here  one  of  them  lies  buried. 
I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  I  go  to  assume  a  task  more  difficult 
than  that  which  has  devolved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington. 
He  never  would  have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  upon 
which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same  Divine 
blessing  which  sustained  him ;  and  on  the  same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my  reli- 
ance for  support.  And  1  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  all  pray  that  I  may  receive  that 
Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  cannot  succeed,  but  with  which  success  is 
certain.  Again,  I  bid  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell. 


LINCOLN  ON  HIS  WAY  TO  WASHINGTON.  169 

The  deep,  religious  feeling  which  pervades  this  speech, 
marked  him  to  the  close  of  his  life.  All  through  his  troubles 
he  earnestly  solicited  the  prayers  of  the  people,  and  they 
were  his.  From  the  time  of  his  departure  from  Springfield, 
until  he  was  borne  back  from  the  Capital  which  he  had  saved, 
—  hallowed  forever  in  the  hearts  of  a  people  whom  he  had 
delivered,  and  Deified  by  a  race  which  he  had  emancipated, — 
he  was  the  object  of  earnest  prayer  at  the  family  altar,  and 
in  the  house  of  public  worship,  from  Maine  and  Minnesota 
to  the  Ohio  and  the  mountains  of  Tennessee;  from  the  great 
lakes  to  the  ocean  bounds  of  the  Republic.  Every  loyal 
heart  asked  God's  blessing  upon  "Honest  Old  Abe." 

As  he  went  forth  upon  his  mission  to  fill  his  grand  destiny, 
and  to  his  final  martyrdom,  every  where  the  hearts  of  the 
people  went  out  to  meet  him.  Their  feelings  found  expres- 
sion in  the  mottoes  inscribed  upon  the  banners  under  which 
he  was  to  pass :  "We  will  pray  for  you."  "  God  bless  you  !" 
"God  aid  you!"  "God  help  you  to  save  the  Republic." 
On  one  of  the  draped  banners,  which  followed  him  to 
his  grave  in  Springfield,  was  a  motto  which  truthfully 
expressed  the  sentiment  of  the  whole  American  People  : 

He  left  us,  borne  up  by  our  prayers ; 
He  returns,  embalmed  in  our  tears. 

He  passed  through  the  great  States  of  Indiana,  Ohio, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  on  his  way  to 
the  Capital. 

From  the  date  of  the  election,  to  the  time  when  Mr.  Lin- 
coln left  Springfield  for  Washington,  there  had  appeared, 
through  the  press,  and  by  other  channels,  vulgar  threats  and 
menaces  that  he  should  never  reach  the  Capital  alive.  Little 
attention  was  paid  to  them ;  yet  some  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  per- 
sonal friends  in  Illinois,  without  his  knowledge,  employed  a 
detective,  and  sent  him  to  Washington  and  Baltimore  to 
investigate.  This  detective  ascertained  the  existence  of  a 
plot  to  assassinate  the  President  elect,  as  he  passed  through 
Baltimore.  The  first  intelligence  Mr.  Lincoln  had  of  this  was 
at  Philadelphia.  After  the  ceremonies  of  the  day,  he  was 
called  to  the  room  of  Mr.  Judd,  a  devoted  friend,  who  had 


170       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

accompanied  him  from  Illmois,  and  the  facts  laid  before  him. 
He  was  urged  to  start  at  once  for  "Washington,  taking  the 
train  that  night,  by  which  he  would  reach  the  Capital  earlj 
the  following  morning;  and  thus  he  would  pass  through 
Baltimore  in  the  night,  and  two  days  earlier  than  the  con- 
spirators anticipated,  and  so  avoid  the  danger.  He  had  ap- 
pointments to  meet  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  at  Inde- 
pendence Hall,  and  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  at  Har- 
risburg.  He  therefore  declined  starting  for  Washington  that 
night,  but  was  finally  persuaded  to  allow  his  friends  to  ar- 
range for  him  to  return  to  Philadelphia,  and  go  to  Washing- 
ton the  evening  after  the  ceremonies  at  Harrisburg.  On  the 
next  day,  the  22d  of  February,  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  the  old 
Independence  Hall,  where  the  Congress  of  the  Revolution 
adopted,  amidst  the  most  solemn  deliberation  and  grave  de- 
bate, the  Declaration  of  Independence.  This  had  ever  been 
the  Bible  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  political  faith.  However  others 
might  differ,  he  believed,  with  his  whole  heart,  in  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence.  It  was  to  him  no  tissue  of  "glitter- 
ing generalities,"  but  he  gave  to  it  an  honest,  hearty  homage 
and  reverence.  He  made  the  following  speech  on  the 
occasion.  He  said : 


All  the  political  sentiments  I  entertain  have  been  drawn,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  draw  them,  from  the  sentiments  which  originated  in,  and  were  given  to  the 
world  from  this  hall.  I  never  had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not  spring  from  the 
sentiments  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

It  was  not  the  mere  matter  of  the  separation  of  the  colonies  from  the  mother- 
land, but  that  sentiment  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  which  gave  liberty,  not 
alone  to  the  people  of  this  country,  but,  I  hope,  to  the  world  for  all  future  time.  It 
was  that  which  gave  promise  that,  in  due  time,  the  weight  would  be  lifted  from 
the  shoulders  of  men.  This  is  the  sentiment  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. Now,  my  friends,  can  this  country  be  saved  upon  that  basis?  If  it  can, 
I  will  consider  myself  one  of  the  happiest  men  in  the  world,  if  I  can  help  to  save 
it.  If  it  cannot  be  saved  upon  that  principle,  it  will  be  truly  awful !  But  if  this 
country  cannot  be  saved  without  giving  up  the  principle,  I  was  about  to  say,  "  I 
would  rather  be  assassinated  on  the  spot,  than  surrender  it."  *  *  *  *  * 

I  have  said  nothing  but  what  I  am  willing  to  live  by,  and  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of 
Almighty  God,  to  die  by. 

The  allusion  to  the  assassination  was  not  accidental.  The 
subject  had  been  brought  to  his  attention  in  such  a  way  that, 
although  he  did  not  feel  there  was  serious  danger,  yet  he  had 
just  been  assured  positively,  by  a  detective,  whose  veracity 


PLOT  TO  ASSASSINATE  LINCOLN  AT  BALTIMORE.  171 

his  friends  vouched  for,  that  a  secret  conspiracy  was  organ- 
ized, at  a  neighboring  city,  to  take  his  life  on  his  way  to  the 
Capital. 

He  went  to  Harrisburg,  according  to  arrangement ;  met 
the  Legislature,  and  retired  to  his  room.  Meanwhile,  Gen- 
eral Scott  and  Mr.  Seward  had  learned,  through  other  sources, 
the  existence  of  the  plot  to  assassinate  him,  and  had  de- 
spatched Mr.  F.  ~W.  Seward,  a  son  of  Senator  Seward,  to 
apprise  him  of  the  danger. 

Information  coming  to  him  from  both  these  sources,  each 
independent  of  the  other,  induced  him  to  yield  to  the  wishes 
of  his  friends,  and  anticipate  his  journey  to  Washington. 
Besides,  from  Baltimore  there  had  reached  him  no  commit- 
tee, either  of  the  municipal  authorities  or  of  citizens,  to  tender 
him  the  hospitalities,  and  to  extend  to  him  the  courtesies  of 
that  city,  as  had  been  done  by  every  city  through  which  he 
had  passed.  He  was  persuaded  to  permit  the  detective  to 
arrange  for  his  going  to  "Washington  that  night.  The  tele- 
graph wires  to  Baltimore  were  cut;  and,  with  one  friend, 
wearing,  not  a  Scotch  cap,  (as  alleged  by  the  daily  press),  but 
a  felt  hat,  which  some  friend  had  presented  to  him,  he  ar- 
rived at  Philadelphia,  drove  to  the  Baltimore  depot,  and  the 
next  morning  the  Capital  was  startled  by  the  announcement 
of  his  arrival. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  long  afterwards,  declared  :  "  I  did  not  then, 
nor  do  I  now,  believe  I  should  have  been  assassinated,  had  I 
gone  through  Baltimore,  as  first  contemplated ;  but  I  thought 
it  wise  to  run  no  risk,  where  no  risk  was  necessary."* 

Those  who  review  the  facts,  in  regard  to  the  conspiracy,  in 
the  light  of  his  subsequent  assassination,  can  entertain  no 
doubt,  either  of  the  existence  of  the  plot,  the  fiendish  de- 
termination of  the  conspirators,  nor  .that  many  prominent 
rebels  were  knowing  and  consenting  to  it.  A  letter  is  in  ex- 
istence, from  the  Governor  of  a  border  slave  State,  written 
before  that  date,  and  in  reply  to  an  application  for  arms,  ask- 
ing whether  they  would  be  used  "to  kill  Lincoln  and  his 
men?"f 

*  Stated  to  the  author  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  from  whom  the  foregoing  facts,  In  regard 
to  the  assassination  plot,  were  obtained. 

t  It  is  due  to  this  Governor,  to  say,  that  he  was  subsequently  a  devoted  Unionist, 
and  explained  this  letter,  by  stating  it  to  hare  been  a  joke. 


172       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

General  Scott,  Joseph  Holt,  Secretary  of  War,  Edwin  M 
Stanton  Attorney  General,  and  others,  had  made  such  ar- 
rangements as  secured  hi*  immediate  safety.  General  Sum- 
ner,  then  colonel;  General  Hunter,  then  major  in  the  regular 
army,  and  other  devoted  and  watchful  friends,  were  around 
him. 

So  many  of  his  supporters,  from  the  free  States,  followed  him, 
that  a  large  body  of  citizens  could  have  been  immediately 
organized  as  soldiers,  if  necessary. 


OHAPTEE   VIII. 


LINCOLN  IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

LINCOLN'S  INAUGURATION  AND  INAUGURAL  —  DOUGLAS  AND  HIS 
PROPHECY — LINCOLN'S  CABINET — CONDITION  OP  AFFAIRS  ON 
THE  4TH  OF  MARCH,  1861 — BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER'S  POSITION — 
THE  "PRODIGAL  SON." 

MR.  Lincoln  availed  himself  of  the  earliest  opportunity, 
after  his  arrival  at  the  Capital,  to  express  his  kindly 
feelings  to  the  people  of  *  Washington  and  the  Southern 
States.  On  the  27th  of  February,  when  waited  upon  hy  the 
Mayor  and  Common  Council  of  Washington,  he  assured 
them,  and  through  them  the  South,  that-he  had  no  disposi- 
tion to  treat  them  in  any  other  way  than  as  neighbors,  and 
that  he  had  no  disposition  to  withhold  from  them  any  consti- 
tutional right.  He  assured  the  people  that  they  should  have 
all  their  rights  under  the  Constitution.  "  Not  grudgingly, 
but  fully  and  fairly." 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  inaugu- 
rated President  of  the  United  States.  An  inauguration,  so 
impressive  and  solemn  as  this,  had  not  occurred  since  that  of 
Washington.  The  ceremonies  took  place,  as  usual,  at  and  on 
the  eastern  colonnade  of  the  Capitol.  General  Scott  had 
gathered  a  few  soldiers  of  the  regular  army,  and  had  caused 
to  be  organized  some  militia,  to  preserve  peace,  order  and 
security. 

Thousands  of  Northern  voters  thronged  the  streets  of  Wash- 

O 

ington,  only  a  very  few  of  them  conscious  of  the  volcano  of 
treason  and  murder,  thinly  concealed,  around  them.  The 
public  offices  and  the  departments  were  full  of  plotting  trai- 
tors. Many  of  the  rebel  generals,  including  Lee,  the  John- 
stons, Ewell,  Hill,  Stewart,  Magruder,  Pemberton,  and  others, 

173 


174       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY.   . 

held  commissions  under  the  government  they  were  about  to 
abandon  and  betray.  Spies  were  everywhere.  The  people 
of  "Washington  were,  a  large  portion  of  them,  in  sympathy 
with  the  conspirators. 

None  who  witnessed  it  will  ever  forget  the  scene  of  that 
inauguration.  On  the  magnificent  eastern  front  of  the  Cap- 
itol, surrounded  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  the 
high  oificers  of  the  Army  and  the  Navy,  a  vast  crowd  outside 
of  the  guards  ;  a  crowd  of  mingled  patriots  and  traitors ;  men 
looking  searchingly  into  the  eyes  of  every  stranger,  to  dis- 
cover whether  he  gazed  on  a  traitor  or  a  friend.  Standing 
in  the  most  conspicuous  position,  amidst  scowling  traitors, 
with  murder  and  treason  in  their  hearts,  Lincoln  was  per- 
fectly cool  and  determined.  Near  him  was  President  Bu- 
chanan, with  his  white  neck-tie,  seemingly  bowed  down  with 
the  consciousness  of  duties  unperformed  ;  there  were  Chief 
Justice  Taney  and  his  associates,  who  had  disgraced  Ameri- 
can jurisprudence  by  the  Dred  Scott  decision ;  there  was 
Chase  with  his  fine,  and  imposing  presence ;  and  the  vener- 
able Scott,  his  towering  form  still  unbroken  by  years ;  the 
ever  hopeful  and  philosophical  statesman  Seward;  the 
scholarly,  uncompromising  Sumner;  blunt  Ben.  Wade. 
There  were  distinguished  governors  of  states,  and  throngs  of 
eminent  men  from  every  section  of  the  Union.  But  there 
was  no  man  more  observed  than  the  great  rival  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln,— Douglas.  He  had  been  most  marked  and  thoughtful 
in  his  attentions  to  the  President  elect,  and  now  his  small 
but  sturdy  figure  in  striking  contrast  to  the  towering  form  of 
Lincoln,  was  conspicuous  ;  gracefully  extending  every  cour- 
tesy to  his  successful  competitor.*  His  bold  eye,  from  which 
flashed  energy  and  determination,  was  eagerly  scanning  the 
crowd,  not  unconscious  it  is  believed,  of  the  personal  danger 
which  encircled  the  President,  and  perfectly  ready  to  share 
it  with  him.  Lincoln's  calmness  arose  from  an  entire  absence 
of  self-consciousness ;  he  was  too  fully  absorbed  with  the  grav- 

*  The  author  is  here  reminded  of  the  following  incident :  As  Mr.  Lincoln 
removed  his  hat,  before  commencing  the  reading  of  his  "Inaugural" — from  the 
proximity  of  the  crowd,  he  saw  nowhere  to  place  it;  and  Mr.  Douglas,  by  his  side, 
•eeing  this,  instantly  extended  his  hand  and  held  the  President's  hat  while  he  was 
occupied  in  reading  the  address. 


LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL  175 

ity  of  the  occasion,  and  the  importance  of  the  events  around 
and  before  him,  to  think  of  himself. 

With  a  voice  so  clear  and  distinct  that  he  could  be  heard 
by  thrice  ten  thousand  men,  he  read  his  inaugural  address. 

This  address  is  so  important,  and  shows  so  clearly  the 
causelessness  of  the  rebellion,  that  no  apology  is  offered  for 
the  following  quotations  from  it : 

"  FELLOW  CITIZENS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  :  In  compliance  with  a 
custom  as  old  as  the  government  itself,  I  appear  before  you  to  address 
you  briefly,  and  to  take  in  your  presence  the  oath  prescribed  by  the 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  be  taken  by  the  President 
"  before  he  enters  upon  the  execution  of  his  office."  *  *  *  * 

"  Apprehension  seems  to  exist,  among  the  people  of  the  Southern 
States,  that  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican  administration,  their 
property  and  their  peace  and  personal  security,  are  to  be  endangered. 
There  has  never  been  any  real  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed, 
the  most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed  and 
been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  published 
speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of 
those  speeches  when  I  declare  that  <(I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  in 
directly,  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery,  in  the  states  where 
it  now  exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no 
inclination  to  do  so."  Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me,  did  so 
with  a  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made  this  and  many  similar  declara- 
tions, and  have  never  recanted  them.  ***** 

"  I  now  reiterate  those  sentiments,  and,  in  doing  so,  I  only  press  upon 
the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  which  the  case  is 
susceptible,  that  the  property,  peace,  and  security,  of  no  section,  are  to 
be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the  now  incoming  administration.  *  *  * 

"  I  hold,  that  in  contemplation  of  universal  law,  and  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  Union  of  the  States  is  perpetual.  Perpetuity  is  implied,  if  not 
expressed  in  the  fundamental  law  of  all  National  Governments.  *  * 

"  I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws, 
the  Union  is  unbroken,  and  to  the  extent  of  my  ability  1  shaft  take 
care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws 
of  the  Union  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States.  *  *  *  * 

As  Mr.  Lincoln  pronounced  the  foregoing  sentence,  with 
clear,  firm  and  impressive  emphasis,  a  visible  sensation  ran 
through  the  vast  audience,  and  earnest,  sober,  but  hearty 
cheers  from  men,  who  hear  boldly  expressed  a  clear  duty — but 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

one  involving  grave  and  perhaps  perilous  consequences  were 
given.     He  went  on  : 

"  In  doing  this  there  need  be  no  bloodshed  nor  violence ;  and  there 
shall  be  none,  unless  it  be  forced  upon  the  national  authority.  The 
power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  and  occupy,  and  possess  the 
property  and  places  belonging  to  the  government,  and  to  collect  the 
duties  and  imposts  ;  but  beyond  what  may  be  necessary  for  these  ob- 
jects, there  will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the 
people  anywhere.  Where  hostility  to  the  United  States,  in  any  inte- 
rior locality  shall  be  so  great  and  universal  as  to  prevent  competent 
resident  citizens  from  holding  the  Federal  offices,  there  will  be  no  at- 
tempt to  force  obnoxious  strangers  among  the  people  for  that  object. 
While  the  strict  legal  right  may  exist  in  the  government,  to  enforce 
the  exercise  of  these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so  would  be  so  irritating, 
and  so  nearly  impracticable,  withal,  I  deem  it  better  to  forego — for  the 
time — the  use  of  such  offices. 

"  Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate.  We  cannot  remove  our 
respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable  wall  be- 
tween them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced,  and  go  out  of  the 
presence,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  e'ach  other,  but  the  different  parts 
of  our  country  cannot  do  this.  * 

"This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people  who  inhabit 
it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the  existing  government,  they 
can  exercise  the  constitutional  right  of  amending  it;  or  their  revolution- 
ary right  to  dismember  or  overthrow  it.  I  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  many  worthy  and  patriotic  citizens  are  desirous  of  having  the 
national  Constitution  amended. 

"  My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well  upon  this  whole 
subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking  time.  If  there  be 
an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you  in  hot  haste  to  a  step  which  you  would 
never  take  deliberately,  that  object  will  not  be  frustrated  by  taking 
time;  but  no  good  object  can  be  frustrated  by  it.  Such  of  you  as 
are  now  dissatisfied,  still  have  the  old  Constitution  unimpaired,  and  on 
the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of  your  own  framing  under  it.  The  new 
administration  will  have  no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to  change 
either.  If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the 
right  side  in  the  dispute,  there  still  is  no  single  good  reason  for  precip- 
itate action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity,  and  a  firm  reliance 
on  Him,  who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this  favored  land,  are  still  compe- 
tent to  adjust,  in  the  best  way,  all  our  present  difficulties.  *  *  * 


LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL.  177 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,  and  not  in  mine, 
are  the  momentous  issues  of  civil  war.  The  government  will  not 
assail  vou. 

"  You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors. 
You  have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government, 
while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  "preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  it. 

"I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies, but  friends.  We  must  not 
be  enemies — though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break  our 
bonds  of  affection. 

"  The  mystic  chords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle-field  and 
patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone,  all  over  this  broad 
land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as 
surely  it  will  be  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 

In  his  own  peculiarly  clear  and  simple  manner,  he  vindi- 
cates himself  and  his  party  from  all  cause  of  apprehension  on 
the  part  of  the  slaveholding  States.  He  assures  the  people 
"  that  the  property,  peace,  and  security  of  no  section,  are  to 
be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the  incoming  administration." 
In  clear,  but  most  moderate  and  inoffensive  language,  he 
firmly  announced  his  intention  to-  fulfil  the  sworn  duties  of 
his  office,  by  taking  care  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  shall  be 
executed  in  all  the  states.  There  will  be  no  bloodshed  or 
violence  unless  it  be  forced  upon  the  National  authority. 

His  closing  appeal  against  civil  war,  was  most  pathetic ; 
and,  as  he  uttered  the  solemn  words,  for  the  first  time  during 
the  delivery,  his  voice  faltered  with  emotion.  He  said : 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,  and  not  in  mine, 
are  the  momentous  issues  of  civil  war.  The  Government  will  not  assail 
you  You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors. 
You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy  the  Government, 
while  /  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  preserve, protect,  and  defend,  it. 
1 1  am  loth  to  close/  said  he  pathetically.  We  are  not  enemies,  lout  friends. 
We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not 
break  our  bonds  of  affection. 

"  The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle-field  and 
patriot  grave,  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone,  all  over  this  broad 
land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union  when  again  touched,  as 
surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 
12 


178       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

Alas  !  such  appeals  were  received  by  the  parties  to  wham 
they  were  addressed,  with  jeers,  and  ribaldry,  and  all  the 
maddening  passions  which  riot  in  blood  and  war.  It  was  to 
force,  only,  stern,  unflinching  power  and  severity,  that  the 
powers  and  passions  of  treason  alone  would  yield. 

With  reverent  look  and  impressive  emphasis,  he  then  re- 
peated the  oath  to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitu- 
tion of  his  country.  Douglas,  who  knew  from  his  personal 
familiarity  with  the  conspirators,  better  than  Lincoln,  the 
dangers  that  surrounded  and  were  before  him,  who  knew  the 
conspirators  and  their  plots,  with  patriotic  magnamity,  which 
in  love  of  country,  fo..*got  self — then  grasped  the  hand  of 
the  President,  gracefully  expressed  his  congratulations,  and 
the  author  has  reason  to  believe,  expressed  the  assurance 
that  in  the  dark  future  he  would  stand  by  him,  and  give  to 
him  his  utmost  aid  in  upholding  the  Constitution,  and  enforc- 
ing the  laws  of  his  country.  Nobly  did  Douglas  redeem  that 
pledge. 

Here  the  author  pauses  a  moment,  to  relate  a  most  singu- 
lar prophecy,  in  regard  to  the  war,  uttered  by  Douglas,  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1861.  On  that  day,  in  reply  to  a  gentleman,*  mak- 
ing a  New  Year's  call,  and  who  inquired,  "  what  will  be  the 
result  of  the  efforts  of  Jefferson  Davis,  and  his  associates,  to 
divide  the  Union?"  "  Rising,  and  looking,"  says  my  inform- 
ant, "  like  one  inspired,  Douglas  replied :"  "  The  cotton 
States  are  making  an  effort  to  draw  in  the  border  States  to 
their  schemes  of  secession,  and  I  am  but  too  fearful  they  will 
succeed.  If  they  do  succeed,  there  will  be  the  most  terrible 
civil  war  the  world  has  ever  seen,  lasting  for  years."  Paus- 
ing a  moment,  he  exclaimed,  "  Virginia  will  become  a  char- 
nel  house,  but  the  end  will  be  the  triumph  of  the  Union 
cause.  One  of  their  first  efforts  will  be  to  take  possession 
of  this  Capital  to  give  them  prestige  abroad,  but  they  will 
never  succeed  in  taking  it — the  North  will  rise  en  masse 
to  defend  it — but  Washington  will  become  a  city  of  hospi- 
tals— the  churches  will  be  used  for  the  sick  and  wounded — 
even  this  house,  (Minnesota  block,  afterwards,  and  during 
the  war,  the  Douglas  Hospital,}  may  be  devoted  to  that 

*  General  Charles  Stewart,  of  New  York. 


DOUGLAS'  PROPHESY.  179 

purpose  before  the  end  of  the  war."  The  friend  to  whom  this 
was  said,  inquired,  "What  justification  for  all  this?"  Doug- 
las replied,  "  There  is  no  justification,  nor  any  pretense  of 
any  —  if  they  will  remain  in  the  Union,  I  will  go  as  far  as 
the  Constitution  will  permit,  to  maintain  their  just  rights, 
and  I  do  not  doubt  a  majority  of  Congress  would  do  the 
same.  But,"  said  he,  again  rising  on  his  feet,  and  extending 
his  arm,  "  if  the  Southern  States  attempt  to  secede  from 
this  Union,  without  further  cause,  I  am  in  favor  of  their  hav- 
ing just  so  many  slaves,  and  just  so  much  slave  territory,  as 
they  can  hold  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  no  more.". 

The  President,  having  been  inaugurated,  announced  his 
Cabinet  as  follows:  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State; 
Simon  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury;  Gideon  Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy; 
Caleb  B.  Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  Montgomery 
Blair,  Postmaster  General,  and  Edward  Bates,  Attorney 
General. 

Four  of  this  Cabinet,  viz :,  Messrs.  Seward,  Chase,  Came- 
ron, and  Bates,  were  candidates  for  the  nomination  for  the 
Presidency  at  the  Chicago  Convention.  Mr.  Seward,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  formidable  com- 
petitor; on  the  first  ballot,  receiving  the  highest  number  of 
votes  given  to  any  one.  He  had  been  among  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  the  great  men  of  New  York.  He  had  been  the 
recognized  leader  of  the  republican  party,  and  had  advocated 
with  great  ability,  very  radical  anti-slavery  measures.  He 
had  by  his  speeches  and  influence,  done  as  much,  perhaps 
more  than  any  other  man, to  create  and  consolidate  the  pop- 
ular judgment  and  feeling  which  triumphed  in  1860.  He  was 
an  accomplished  scholar  and  a  polished  gentleman,  familiar 
with  the  history  of  his  country  and  its  foreign  policy,  and 
admirably  adapted  to  conduct  its  foreign  correspondence. 
His  mind  was  philosophic  and  didactic.  He  always  took  a 
cheerful  and  hopeful  view  of  affairs,  never  anticipated  evil  — 
believed  the  rebellion  would  last  "  sixty  days."  He  was  a 
shrewd  politician,  and  did  not,  in  the  distribution  of  patron- 
age, forget  the  "  Seward  men."  On  going  into  the  Cabinet 
he  became  conservative,  and  his  influence  since  has  been 
always  against  extreme  views. 


180       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 


P.  Chase,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  been  also 
a  prominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  He  was  a  man  of 
commanding  person,  and  fine  manly  presence,  dignified,  se- 
date, and  earnest.  His  mind  was  comprehensive,  logical,  and 
judicial.  He  was  an  earnest,  determined,  consistent,  radical 
abolitionist.  His  had  been  the  master  mind  at  the  Buffalo 
Convention  of  1848,  and  his  pen  had  framed  the  Buffalo  plat- 
form. By  his  writings,  speeches,  and  forensic  arguments, 
and  as  Governor  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  acting  with  the  accomplished  free-soil  Senator 
from  Massachusetts,  Charles  Sumner,  he  had  contributed 
largely  to  the  formation  of  the  republican  party.  Up  to  the 
time  he  became  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  he  had  developed 
no  special  adaptation  to,  or  knowledge  of  finance  ;  but  he 
brought  to  the  duties  of  that  most  difficult  position,  a  clear 
judgment,  and  sound  sense. 

Simon  Cameron,  had  been  a  very  successful  Pennsylvania 
politician  ;  he  was  of  Scotch  descent,  as  his  name  indicates, 
with  inherent  Scotch  fire,  pluck,  energy,  and  perseverance. 
He  had  a  marked  Scotch  face,  a  keen  gray  eye,  was  tall  and 
commanding  in  form,  and  had  the  faculty  of  never  forgetting 
a  friend,  nor  an  enemy.  He  was  accused  of  being  unscrupu- 
lous, of  giving  good  offices  and  fat  contracts  to  his  friends. 
He  retired  after  a  short  time,  to  make  room  for  the  com- 
bative, rude,  fearless,  vigorous,  and  unflinching  Stanton.  A 
man  who  was  justly  said  to  have  "organized  victory." 

Montgomery  Blair,  the  Postmaster  General,  represented  the 
Blair  family.  A  family  of  large  political  influence,  and  long 
connected  with  National  affairs.  F.  P.  Blair,  Sen.,  as  the 
editor  of  the  Globe,  during  General  Jackson's  administration, 
was  one  of  the  ablest  and  strongest  of  the  able  men  who  sur- 
rounded that  great  man.  He  had  associated  with,  and  was 
the  friend  of  Benton,  Van  Buren,  -and  Silas  Wright,  he  had 
seen  those  friends  stricken  down  by  the  slave  power,  and  he 
had  learned  to  hate  and  distrust  the  oligarchy  of  slaveholders, 
and  his  counsels  and  advice,  and  his  able  pen,  had 
efficiently  aided  in  building  up  the  party  opposed  to  slavery. 

Montgomery  Blair  had  argued  against  the  Dred  Scott  de- 
cision. F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  and  B.  Gratz  Brown,  had  led  the 


LINCOLN'S  CABINET.  181 

anti-slavery  men  of  Missouri,  and  had,  after  a  most  gallant 
contest  carried  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  former  was  now 
its  honored  representative  in  Congress. 

Edward  Bates,  the  Attorney  General,  was  a  fine,  dignified, 
scholarly,  gentlemanly  lawyer  of  the  old  school. 

Gideon  Wells  had  been  a  leading  editor  in  New  England, 
and  has  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  Navy  with  great  ability; 
Caleb  B.  Smith  was  a  prominent  politician  from  Indiana,  and 
had  been  a  colleague  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Congress. 

On  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  March,  Mr.  Lincoln  entered 
the  White  House,  as  the  National  Executive.  He  found  a 
Government  in  ruins. 

The  conspiracy  which  had  been  preparing  for  thirty  years, 
had  culminated.  Seven  States  had  passed  ordinances  of  seces- 
sion, and  had  already  organized  a  rebel  Government  at  Mont- 
gomery. The  leaders  in  Congress,  and  out  of  it,  had  fired 
the  excitable  Southern  heart,  and  had  infused  into  the  young 
men,  a  fiery  headlong  zeal,  and  they  hurried  on  with  the 
greatest  rapidity,  the  work  of  revolution.  They  ordained 
rebellion,  and  christened  treason,  secession.  South  Carolina, 
as  already  stated,  having  long  waited  for  an  occasion,  took 
the  lead,  and  had  eagerly  seized  the  pretext  of  the  election 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  on  the  17th  of  November,  1860,  passed 
unanimously,  an  ordinance  of  secession. 

Georgia,  against  the  remonstrances  of  Alexander  H.  Ste- 
phens, and  others  of  her  statesmen,  followed,  on  the  19th  of 
December,  by  a  vote  of  208  against  89.  Ordinances  of  seces- 
sion had  been  adopted  by  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama, 
Louisiana,  and  Texas. 

North  Carolina  still  hesitated.  The  people  of  that  staunch 
old  Union  State,  first  voted  down  a  call  for  a  convention,  by 
a  vote  of  46,671  for,  to  47,333,  against,  but  a  subsequent  con- 
vention, on  the  21st  of  May,  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession. 
Nearly  all  the  Federal  forts,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  custom 
houses  and  post  ofiices  within  the  territories  of  the  seceded 
States,  had  been  seized,  and  were  held  by  the  rebels.  Large 
numbers  of  the  officers  of  the  army  and  the  navy,  deserted, 
entering  the  rebel  service.  Among  the  most  conspicuous  in 
this  infamy,  was  General  David  E.  Twiggs,  the  second 


182  LINCOLN  AND  THB  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

officer  in  rank,  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and  in  Janu- 
ary, 1861,  commanding  the  Department  of  Texas.  He  had 
been  placed  there  by  Secretary  Floyd,  because  he  was  known 
to  be  in  the  conspiracy.  Secretary  Holt,  on  the  18th  of  Jan- 
uary, ordered  that  he  should  turn  over  his  command  to  Col- 
onel Waite;  but  before  this  order  reached  Colonel  Waite, 
Twiggs  had  consummated  his  treason  by  surrendering  to  the 
rebel  Ben.  McCullough,  all  the  National  forces  in  Texas, 
numbering  twenty-five  hundred  men,  and  a  large  amount  of 
stores  and  munitions  of  war. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  resignations  of  many  officers 
were  received  and  accepted,  and  the  traitors  instead  of  being 
arrested,  were  suffered  to  pass  over  to  the  insurgents.  The  civil 
officers  of  the  United  States  were  not  permitted  to  exercise 
their  functions  in  the  seceded  States  under  penalty  of  imprison- 
ment and  death.  All  property  of  the  National  Government 
was  seized  and  appropriated  to  the  rebellion.  Debts  due  to 
the  Government  and  to  individuals  in  the  loyal  States,  and 
the  property  of  Union  men,  were  confiscated. 

There  was  little  or  no  struggle  in  the  Gulf  States,  except- 
ing in  Northern  Alabama,  against  the  wild  tornado  of 
excitement  in  favor  of  rebellion,  which  carried  everything 
before  it. 

In  the  border  States,  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Caro- 
lina, Tennessee,  and  Missouri,  there  was  a  contest,  and  the 
friends  of  the  Union  made  a  struggle  to  maintain  their 
position.  Ultimately  the  Union  triumphed  in  Maryland,  Ken- 
tucky, and  Missouri ;  and  the  rebels  carried  the  State  of 
Tennessee  against  a  most  gallant  contest  on  the  part  of  the 
Union  men  of  East  Tennessee,  under  the  lead  of  Andrew 
Johnson,  Governor  Brown  low,  Horace  Maynard,  and  others. 
They  also  carried  Virginia,  which  seceded  April  17th,  and 
North  Carolina,  which  adopted  secession  on  the  20th  of  May. 

Some  of  the  rebel  leaders  labored  under  the  delusion,  and 
they  most  industriously  inculcated  it  among  their  followers, 
that  there  would  be  no  war ;  that  the  North  was  divided ; 
that  the  Northern  people  would  not  fight,  and  if  there  was 
war,  a  large  part  of  them  would  oppose  coercion,  and 


B.  F.  BUTLER'S  POSITION.  183 

perhaps  fight  on  the  side  of  the  rebellion.*  There  was  in  the 
tone  of  a  portion  of  the  Northern  press,  and  in  the  speeches 
of  some  of  the  Northern  democrats,  much  to  encourage  this 
idea,  and  some  leading  republican  papers  were  at  least  am- 
biguous on  the  subject.  There  was,  however,  one  prominent 
man  from  Massachusetts,  who  had  united  with  the  rebel 
leaders  in  support  of  Breckinridge,  who  sought  to  dispel  this 
idea.  This  was  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  who  came  to  Washington, 
to  know  of  his  old  political  associates  what  it  meant  ?  "  It 
means,"  said  his  Southern  friends,  "  separation,  and  a 
Southern  Confederacy.  We  will  have  our  independence, 
and  establish  a  Southern  Government,  with  no  discordant 
elements." 

"Are  you  prepared  for  war,"  said  Butler. 

"  Oh !  there  will  be  no  war ;  the  North  will  not  fight." 

"  The  North  will  fight.  The  North  will  send  the  last  man, 
and  expend  the  last  dollar  to  maintain  the  government,''* 
said  Butler. 

"  But,"  said  his  Southern  friends,  "  the  north  can't  fight, 
we  have  too  many  allies  there." 

"You  have  friends,"  said  Butler,  "in  the  North,  who  will 
stand  by  you  so  long  as  you  tight  your  battles  in  the  Union  ; 
but  the  moment  you  fire  on  the  flag,  the  Northern  people  will 
be  a  unit  against  you."  "And,"  added  Butler,  "you  may  be 
assured  if  war  comes,  slavery  ends."  Butler,  sagacious  and 
true,  became  satisfied  that  war  was  inevitable.  With  the 
boldness  and  directness  which  has  ever  marked  his  charac- 
ter, he  went  to  Buchanan,  and  advised  the  arrest  of  the  com- 
missioners sent  by  the  seceding  states,  and  their  trial  for 
treason.  This  advice  was  as  characteristic  of  Butler  to  give, 
as  of  Buchanan  to  disregard. 

During  the  last  months  of  Buchanan's  administration,  there 
was  a  struggle  between  the  conspirators  in  his  cabinet,  and 
the  honest  men — Dix,  who  had  replaced  Cobb  as  Secretary  of 

•Ex  President  Pierce  in  a  letter  to  Jefferson  Davis,  dated  January  6th,  1860, 
among  other  things  said:  "  If  through  the  madness  of  Northern  abolitionists,  that 
dire  calamity,  (disruption  of  the  Union,)  must  come,  the  flghting  will  not  be  along 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line  merely.  It  will  be  ivithin  our  own  borders,  in  our  own  streets 
between  the  two  classes  of  citizens  to  whom  I  have  referred.  Those  who  defy  law, 
and  scout  Constitutional  obligation,  will,  if  we  ever  reach  the  arbitrament  of  arms, 
find  occupation  enough  at  home  I"  Such  a  letter  is  sufficiently  significant. 


184  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

the  Treasury ;  Holt,  who  had  replaced  Floyd,  as  Secretary  of 
War;  and  Stanton,  who  had  replaced  Black  as  Attorney  Gen- 
eral ;  Black  having  been  called  to  the  department  of  State, 
on  the  indignant  retirement  of  Gen.  Cassfrom  that  position, 
when  Buchanan  refused  to  reinforce  Anderson  at  Moultrie. 

When  Lincoln  entered  upon  his  duties  as  President,  such 
had  been  the  misrepresentation  of  the  speakers  and  press  in 
the  Southern  States,  that  the  people  regarded  him  as  a  savage 
monster,  in  form  and  in  character.  The  following  incidents 
will  illustrate  this  feeling. 

A  distinguished  South  Carolina  lady,  the  widow  of  a 
Northern  scholar,  proud,  aristocratic,  and  conscious  of  "  the 
blood  of  all  the  Howards"  and  to  whom  Lincoln  had  been  rep- 
resented as  a  demon,  half  ape  and  half  tiger,  the  very  devil 
himself — called  upon  him  at  Willard's  Hotel,  just  before  his 
inauguration.  The  President  elect  came  into  the  parlor  ac- 
companied by  senators  Hale,  Seward,  and  others,  prominent 
members  of  Congress.  As  she  approached,  (she  was 
nearly  as  tall  as  the  President,)  she  hissed  in  his  ear,  "  South 
Carolinian !"  He  turned  and  addressed  her  with  the  greatest 
courtesy  and  gentlemanly  politeness.  After  listening  to  him 
a  few  moments,  astonished,  she  said  to  him  : 

"  Mr.  Lincoln,  you  look,  act,  and  speak  like  a  humane,  kind 
and  benevolent  man !"  He  replied,  "Did  you  take  me  for  a 
savage,  madam  ?" 

"  Certainly,  I  did,"  said  she.  Such  was  the  impression 
his  genial,  benevolent  'nature  made  upon  her,  that  she  said 
to  him,  "  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  best  way  for  you  to  preserve  peace 
is  to  go  to  Charleston,  and  show  the  people  what  you  are,  and 
tell  them  you  have  no  intention  of  injuring  them."  She  went 
home,  and  entering  a  room,  where  were  assembled  a  party  of  se- 
cessionists from  South  Carolina,Georgia  and  Alabama,  exclaim- 
ed as  she  entered,  "  I  have  seen  him !  I  have  seen  him !" 
"  Who  ?"  enquired  they.  "  That  terrible  monster,  Lincoln, 
and  what  is  more,  I  am  going  to  his  first  levee."  The  evening 
of  the  reception  arrived,  and  dressing  herself  in  a  black  velvet 
dress,  with  two  long  white  plumes  in  her  hair,  this  tall  daughter 
of  South  Carolina  repaired  to  the .  White  House.  Being 
nearly  six  feet  high,  with  black  hair,  black  eyes,  a  Calhoun 


THE   PRODIGAL   SON.  185 

or  Cataline  face,  (as  her  friends  called  it,)  in  her  velvet  robes, 
with  her  long,  white  plumes,  she  was  a  very  striking  and 
majestic  figure.  As  she  approached  the  President,  he 
recognized  her  instantly.  "Here  I  am  again/'  said  she, 
"  that  South  Carolinian."  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you,"  said  he, 
"  and  I  assure  you  that  the  first  object  of  my  heart  is  to  pre- 
serve peace,  and  I  wish  every  son  and  daughter  of  South 
Carolina  were  here,  that  I  might  tell  them  so."  Meeting 
Mr.  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War,  "  South  Carolina  is  the 
'•'•Prodigal  Son,"  said  he.  She  replied  instantly,  "Ah,  Mr. 
Secretary,  but  "  The  father  divided  the  inheritance  and  let 
him  go,  but  they  say  you  are  going  to  make  war  on  Carolina." 

In  the  light  of  to-day  how  aptly  Mr.  Cameron  might  have 
replied,  that  the  "  Prodigal  son,  after  having  spent  his  portion 
in  riotous  living,  would  arise,  and  go  to  his  father;"  and  he 
•might  have  prophecied,  that  when  the  seceding  States  "had 
spent  all,  and  there  should  arise  a  mighty  famine  in  the 
land,  "they  would  be  compelled  to  say,  "We  will  arise  and  go 
unto  our  father  and  say,  Father,  we  have  sinned  against  Heaven 
and  before  thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy 
son,  make  us  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants."  The 
parable  has  been  literally  fulfilled.  The  people  of  the  South 
after  spending  their  all  in  the  war,  came  to  Washington  and 
said  to  the  President,  "  We  are  no  more  worthy  to  be  called 
thy  sons,  make  us  as  hired  servants."  But  the  President, 
with  a  wisdom  as  yet  very  questionable,  when  the  rebel  states 
were  yet  "a  great  way  off",  had  compassion  on  them,  and 
ran  out  to  meet  them,  and  fell  on  their  neck  and  kissed  them, 
and  he  brought  forth  the  best  robe  and  put  it  on  them,  and 
rings  on  their  hands  and  shoes  on  their  feet,  and  killed  the 
fatted  calf." 

"  But  Massachusetts,  the  elder  son  and  the  elder  brothers 
were  not  pleased  with  this,  and  doubting  the  sincerity  of 
their  repentance,  and  like  the  elder  brother  of  the  "  Prod- 
igal son,"  complained  and  were  angry.  Ts  it  yet  time  for 
Liberty  to  reply  to  Massachusetts, "  son,  thou  art  ever  with 
me,  and  all  that  I  have,  is  thine — it  was  meet  that  we  should 
make  merry  and  be  glad,  for  these,  thy  erring  brothers  were 
dead,  and  are  alive  again — they  were  lost  and  are  found." 


OHAPTEK   IX. 


FROM  THE  4TH  OF  MARCH  TO  THE  4TH  OF  JULY,  1861— FROM  THE 
INAUGURATION  OF  LINCOLN  TO  THE  MEETING  OF  CONGRESS. 

THE  REBELS  SEND  COMMISSIONERS  TO  WASHINGTON — POSITION  or 
THE  BORDER  STATES — THE  REBELS  BEGIN  THE  WAR  7—  ATTACK 
ON  SUMTER — DANGER  OF  WASHINGTON — PRESIDENT'S  CALL  FOR 
75,000  MEN — DOUGLAS  SUPPORTS  LINCOLN — UPRISING  OF  THE 
PEOPLE — MURDER  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  SOLDIERS — RESPONSE  OS- 
BORDER  STATES  TO  CALL  FOR  TROOPS — THE  NORTH-WEST — VIR- 
GINIA, TENNESSEE,  MARYLAND — HENRY  WINTER  DAVIS — THE 
CLAY  GUARDS  —  MISSOURI,  BLOCKADE  OF  SECEDING  STATES  — 
CALLS  FOR  ADDITIONAL  TROOPS — REBELS  SEIZE  HARPER'S  FER- 
RY AND  GOSPORT  NAVY-YARD — DEATH  OF  ELLSWORTH — GREAT 
BRITAIN  AND  FRANCE  RECOGNIZE  THE  REBELS  AS  BELLIGERENTS 
—  LEE  AND  BENEDICT  ARNOLD — DEATH  OF  DOUGLAS. 

ON  the  12th  of  March  the  Confederate  authorities  commis- 
sioned John  Forsyth,  M.  J.  Crawford  and  A.  B.  Roman, 
Commissioners  to  the  United  States,  with  a  view,  as  they 
said,  to  a  speedy  adjustment  of  all  questions  growing  out  of 
the  political  separation. 

Mr.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  declined  to  receive  them ; 
denied  that  the  Confederate  States  had,  in  law,  or  in  fact, 
withdrawn  from  the  Union  ;  denied  that  they  could  do  so,  ex- 
cept through  a  National  Convention,  assembled  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution.  On  the  9th  of  April  the 
Commissioners  withdrew  from  "Washington,  after  addressing 
a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  saying  that  they,  on  behalf 
of  the  rebel  Government,  accepted  the  gage  of  battle,  etc. 
And  yet,  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  such  was  the  unparal- 
leled forbearance  of  the  Govemment,that  these  Commissioners 

186 


POSITION  OF   AFFAIRS,  MARCH,  1861.  187 

were  not  arrested,  but  permitted  quietly  to  withdraw, 
with  the  open  avowal  of  going  home  to  wage  war ! 

On  the  18th  of  March,  General  Braxton  Bragg,  command- 
ing insurgent  forces  in  Florida,  issued  an  order,  forbidding 
the  citizens  of  the  Confederate  States  from  furnishing  sup- 
plies to  the  Navy  of  the  United  States. 

At  this  period,  in  March,  even  Mr.  Douglas  had  not  fully 
made  up  his  mind,  in  favor  of  coercing  the  seceding  States, 
into  submission.  Prominent  Democrats  in  the  free  States, 
openly  advocated  the  joining  of  Northern  States  to  the  Con- 
federacy." Such  was  the  undecided  condition  of  public  sen- 
timent, in  the  free  States  in  March ;  and  as  yet  the  Govern- 
ment of  Mr.  Lincoln  had  taken  no  bold,  decided  action,  clear- 
ly indicating  its  policy.  Meanwhile  the  Confederate  author- 
ities had  siezed,  as  has  been  stated,  with  few  exceptions,  all 
the  arsenals,  forts,  custom-houses,  post-offices,  ships,  ordi- 
nance and  material  of  war,  belonging  to  the  United  States, 
and  within  the  seceding  States ;  and  this,  notwithstanding 
that  General  Dix,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  issued  an 
order,directing  that  "If  any  man  attempts  to  haul  down 
the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot." 

No  position  of  greater  difficulty  can  be  conceived,  than 
that  of  President  Lincoln,  in  the  spring  of  1861.  Congress 
had  adjourned,  without  making  any  provision  for  the  ap- 
proaching crisis.  The  office  of  Secretary  of  War,  for  eight 
years  previous  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  had  been 
conducted  by  Jefferson  Davis  and  John  B.  Floyd,  by  whom 
a  collision  with  the  Federal  Government  had  been  anticipat- 
ed. As  we  have  already  seen,  they  had  strengthened  the 
South  at  the  expense  of  the  North.  They  had  armed  the 
South  by  robbing  the  Northern  national  armories,  and  scat- 
tered beyond  immediate  recall,  our  little  army  and  navy. 
Besides  this,  they,  and  especially  Davis,  had  driven  out  of  the 
service  of  the  Army  as  far  as  possible,  every  man  who  was 
not  a  States'-rights,  pro-slavery  man. 

The  North  was  politically  divided ;  a  powerful  political 
party,  from  long  association,  was  in  sympathy  with  the  se- 
ceding States.  This  party  had  just  come  out  of  a  violent 
contest  against  the  party  which  had  elected  Lincoln.  The 


188  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

border  slave  states  were  nearly  equally  divided  in  numbers, 
and  while  the  quiet,  better  educated  and  more  conservative 
were  for  the  Union,  the  young,  reckless,  and  hot-headed  were 
for  secession. 

While  South  Carolina  and  some  of  the  other  cotton  States 
were  substantially  a  unit  for  secession,  in  other  slave  States 
there  was  a  strong  majority  opposed  to  it.  To  arouse  sec- 
tional feeling  and  prejudice,  and  secure  co-operation  and 
unanimity,  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  precipitate  measures 
and  bring  on  a  conflict  of  arms.  It  was  generally  said,  that 
the  first  blood  shed  would  bring  all  the  slave  States  to  the  aid 
of  the  belligerent  State.  As  before  stated,  there  was  a  strong 
party  in  the  North  opposed  to  coercion.  Had  the  President 
assumed  the  initiative,  and  commenced  the  war,  while  it 
would  have  united  the  slave  States  against  him,  it  is  not  at 
all  clear  but  it  would  have  alienated  a  large  portion  of  the 
Democrats  of  the  North.  Mr.  Lincoln  fully  appreciated  these 
difficulties,  and  these  facts  explain  much  that  he  did,  and 
omitted  to  do,  for  which  many  of  his  friends  censured  him 
in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  rebellion.  He  sought  to  hold 
Virginia,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  Missouri  and  Tennessee. 
The  rebel  leaders  made  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to  in- 
duce the  above  named  States  to  join  the  Slave  Confederacy, 
but  the  discreet  and  judicious  forbearance  of  the  President, 
to  some  extent  foiled  their  efforts,  and  he  succeeded  in  hold- 
ing Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Missouri  from  joining  the 
rebels. 

As .  has  been  stated,  the  people  of  the  border  States  were 
divided  in  sentiment,  and  it  was  very  doubtful,  for  a  time, 
which  way  they  would  go.  The  House  of  Representatives 
of  Kentucky,  on  the  22d  of  January,  resolved  by  a  vote  of 
87  to  6,  to  resist  the  invasion  of  the  South  at  all  hazards. 
The  Legislature  adopted  a  resolution  directing  Governor 
Magoffin,  of  that  State,  by  proclamation,  to  order  Confed- 
erate troops  off  Kentucky  soil.  Magoffin  vetoed  this,  but  it 
was  passed  over  his  veto. 

In  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration  he  acted 
on  the  defensive,  while  the  rebels,  from  the  first,  assumed  a 
bold,  defiant  tone.  The  Confederate  Government  immedi- 


ATTACK   ON   SUMTER.  189 

ately  after  it  was  established,  raised  troops,  borrowed  eight 
millions  of  money,  and  offered  letters  of  marque  to  all  who 
might  choose  to  prey  upon  the  rich  commerce  of  the  United 
States.  The  rebel  Secretary  of  War,  Walker,  in  a  grandil- 
oquent speech,  prophecied  that,  before  the  1st  of  May,  the 
Confederate  flag  should  float  over  the  dome  of  the  old  Cap- 
itol, and  it  might,  eventually,  float  oyerFaneuil  Hall,  itself! 

It  was  determined  to  bring  on  a  collision,  by  an  attack  on 
Fort  Sumter.  This  was  designed  more  especially  and  directly 
to  carry  the  ordinance  of  secession  through  the  convention  of 
Virginia.  To  fire  the  Southern  inflammable  heart  and  raise  a 
whirlwind  of  fury,  which  would  sweep  every  thing  before 
it,  was  the  reason  Davis  and  his  co-conspirators  opened  the 
war. 

On  the  llth  of  April,  General  Beauregard  demanded  of 
Major  Anderson  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter.  The  Major 
refused.  On  the  night  of  the  same  day,  Beauregard  wrote 
to  Anderson,  under  instructions  from  the  authorities  at 
Montgomery,  that  if  he  "  would  state  the  time  at  which  he 
would  evacuate  Fort  Sumter,  and  agree,  that  in  the  mean- 
time he  would  not  use  his  guns  against  the  Confederates, 
unless  theirs  should  be  employed  against  Sumter,  the 
Confederates  would  abstain  from  opening  fire  upon  him." 

At  half  past  two,  on  the  morning  of  the  12th,  Anderson 
replied,  he  would  evacuate  the  fort  by  noon  of  the  15th.  At 
half  past  three  he  was  notified,  in  reply,  that  the  rebels  would 
open  their  batteries,  in  an  hour  from  that  time.  Their  bat- 
teries were  opened,  accordingly,  and  after  a  bombardment 
of  thirty-three  hours,  which  the  little  garrison  endured  and 
replied  to  with  heroic  courage,  (their  provisions  and  ammu- 
nition having  been  exhausted)  Anderson  agreed  to  evacuate 
the  Fort.  He  retired  from  it  on  Sunday  morning. 

It  is  clear  the  rebels  sought  a  collision,  in  pursuance  of 
their  avowed  policy  of  rousing  and  inciting  the  South.  The 
attack  on  Sumter  immediately  precipitated  the  political  ele- 
ments, and  the  people  ranged  themselves  for,  or  against  the 
Union. 

The  Capital  was  in  a  most  critical  condition.  Full  of  Se- 
cessionists, the  roads  leading  to  the  Worth  obstructed,  and 


190       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  city  in  a  condition  of  siege.  The  mails,  in  every  direc- 
tion, were  stopped,  and  the  telegraph  wires  cut  by  the  insur- 
gents. The  National  forces,  which  were  approaching  "Wash- 
ington were  obstructed;  the  war  and  navy  departments  were 
filled  with  spies,  and  probably,  the  White  House  itself.  In 
this  condition  of  things,  it  was  not  deemed  safe  to  issue  or- 
ders through  the  ordinary  channels,  because  every  thing  sent 
in  that  way,  reached  the  enemy.  Special  and  private  mes- 
sengers were  sent  North,  who  pursued  a  circuitous  route  to 
the  northern  cities  and  governors  of  loyal  States,  calling  on 
them  to  hasten  troops  to  the  rescue  of  the  Capital.  A  com- 
pany of  personal  friends  was  organized,  who  guarded  the 
White  House,  the  Long  Bridge  crossing  the  Potomac,  and 
the  Arsenals,  and  probably  saved  the  life  of  the  President, 
and  the  Government  from  overthrow. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  President  Lincoln  issued  his 
proclamation,  calling  for  75,000  men. 

This  proclamation  was  prepared  on  Sunday.  Before  its 
issue,  and  while  the  President  was  considering  the  subject, 
he  was  visited  by  Senator  Douglas,  who  expressed  his  full 
approval  of  this  call,  only  regretting  that  it  was  not  for  200,- 
000  men  instead  of  the  number  called  for. 

The  following  dispatch  was  written  by  Senator  Douglas, 
and  given  to  the  agent  of  the  Associated  Press,  and  sent  to 
every  portion  of  the  North : 

"April  18,  1861,  Senator  Douglas,  called  on  the  Presi- 
dent, and  had  an  interesting  conversation,  on  the  present 
condition  of  the  country.  The  substance  of  it  was,  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Douglas,  that  while  he  was  unalterably  opposed 
to  the  administration  in  all  its  political  issues,  he  was  pre- 
pared to  fully  sustain  the  President,  in  the  exercise  of  all  his 
Constitutional  functions,  to  preserve  the  Union,  maintain  the 
Government,  and  defend  the  Federal  Capital.  A  firm  policy 
and  prompt  action  was  necessary.  The  Capital  was  in  dan- 
ger, and  must  be  defended  at  all  hazards,  and  at  any  expense 
of  men  and  money.  He  spoke  of  the  present  and  future, 
without  any  reference  to  the  past."  * 

*  The  original  of  this  dispatch  in  Douglas'  hand  writing  is  now  in  possession  of 
Hon.  Oeorge  Ashman,  of  Massachusetts,  who  kindly  furnished  a  copy. 


DOUGLAS  SUSTAINS  THE  PRESIDENT.  191 

Thus  Douglas  lent  the  influence  of  his  name,  with  his  party 
and  the  country,  in  aid  of  this  decisive  step,  towards  suppres- 
ing  the  rebellion  by  force.  He  soon  after  returned  to 
Illinois,  and  at  Springfield  and  Chicago,  made  speeches  sus- 
taining the  policy  of  the  President,  and  declaring,  that  now, 
there  could  be  but  two  parties,  "  patriots  and  traitors." 

The  speech  of  Douglas,  at  Chicago,  was  made  in  the  im- 
mense building  called  the  "  Wigwam,"  built  for,  and  used  by 
the  National  Convention  which  nominated  Lincoln  for  the 
Presidency.  Since  the  day  of  that  nomination,  no  such  crowd 
had  gathered  there,  as  assembled  to  hear  Douglas.  He 
said  we  had  gone  to  the  very  extreme  of  magnanimity. 
The  return  for  all  which  had  been  done,  was  war,  armies 
marching  on  the  Capital  —  a  movement  to  blot  the  United 
States  from  the  map  of  the  globe.  "  The  election  of  Lin- 
coln," said  he,  "  is  a  mere  pretext,"  the  secession  movement 
is  the  result  of  an  enormous  conspiracy,  formed  by  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  before  the  election  of  Lin- 
coln. "  There  can  be  no  neutrals  in  this  war —  only  patriots 
or  traitors." 

There  were  those  in  the  border  States  who  deprecated  this 
call,  and  who  expressed  the  belief  that  this  act  precipitated 
war,  and  that  continued  forbearance  would  have  brought  on 
a  reaction  at  the  South,  which  would  have  resulted  in  a 
restoration  of  the  Union.  They  who  indulged  in  such  dreams 
little  knew  the  spirit  of  the  conspirators.  Had  this  call  been 
delayed,  even  a  few  hours,  or  had  there  been  less  promptness 
in  responding  to  it,  the  President  would  have  been  assassin- 
ated, or  he  would  have  been  a  fugitive  or  a  prisoner,  and  the 
rebel  flag  would  have  waved  over  the  Capitol,  and  Jefferson 
Davis  would  have  issued  his  Proclamations  from  the  White 
House.  Mr.  Lincoln  pursued  the  policy  of  conciliation, 
in  the  vain  hope  of  peace,  to  the  very  verge  of  National 
destruction. 

The  fall  of  Sumter  and  the  President's  call  for  troops, 
were  the  signals  for  the  rally  to  arms  throughout  the  loyal 
States.  Twenty  millions  of  people,  forgetting  party  divisions, 
and  all  past  differences,  rose  with  one  voice  of  patriotic  en- 
thusiasm, and  laid  their  hearts  and  hands,  their  fortunes  and 


192  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVE11THROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

their  lives  upon  the  altar  of  their  country.  The  Proclama- 
tion of  the  President  calling  for  75,000  men  and  convening 
an  extra  session  of  Congress  to  meet  on  the  4th  of  July,  was 
followed,  in  every  free  State,  by  the  prompt  action  of  the 
Governors,  calling  for  volunteers.  In  every  city,  town,  vil- 
lage, and  neighborhood,  the  people  rushed  to  arms,  and  the 
strife  was,  who  should  have  the  privilege  of  marching  to  the 
defense  of  the  National  Capital.  Forty-eight  hours  had  not 
passed  after  the  issue  of  the  Proclamation  at  Washington, 
before  four  regiments  had  reported  to  Governer  Andrews, 
at  Boston,  ready  for  service.  On  the  17th,  he  commissioned 
B.  F.  Butler,  of  Lowell,  as  their  commander. 

Governor  Sprague,  of  Rhode  Island,  calling  the  Legisla- 
ture of  that  State  together,  on  the  17th,  tendered  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, a  thousand  infantry,  and  a  battallion  of  artillery, 
and  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  started  for 
Washington. 

The  great  State  of  New  York,  whose  population  was  nearly 
four  millions,  through  her  Legislature,  and  the  action  of  Gov- 
ernor Morgan,  placed  her  immense  resources  in  the  hands  of 
the  National  Executive.  So  did  Pennsylvania,  with  its  three 
millions  of  people,  under  the  lead  of  Governor  Curtin.  And 
Pennsylvania  has  the  honor  of  having  furnished  the  troops, 
that  first  arrived  for  the  defense  of  the  Capital,  reaching 
there  on  the  18th,  just  in  time  to  prevent  the  seizure  of  the 
nearly  defenceless  city. 

By  the  20th  of  April,  although  the  quota  of  Ohio,  under 
the  President's  call,  was  only  thirteen  regiments,  71,000  men 
had  offered  their  services  through  Governor  Dennison,  the 
Executive  of  that  State.  It  was  the  same  everywhere.  Half 
a  million  of  men,  citizen  volunteers,  at  this  call,  sprang  to 
arms,  and  begged  permission  to  fight  for  their  country.  The 
enthusiasm  pervaded  all  ranks  and  classes.  Prayers  for  the 
Union  and  the  integrity  of  the  Nation,  were  heard  in  every 
Church  throughout  the  free  States.  State  Legislatures,  Mu 
nicipalities,  Banks,  Corporations,  and  Capitalists  everywhere 
offered  their  money  to  the  Government,  and  subscribed  im- 
mense sums  for  the  support  of  the  volunteers  and  their  fami- 
lies. Independent  military  organizations  poured  in  their 


THE  UPRISING  OF  THE  PEOPLE.  193 

offers  of  service.  Written  pledges  were  widely  circulated 
and  signed,  offering  to  the  Government  the  lives  and  pro- 
perty of  the  signers,  to  maintain  the  Union.  Great  crowds 
marched  through  the  principal  cities,  cheering  the  patriotic, 
singing  National  airs,  and  requiring  all  to  show,  from  their 
residences  and  places  of  business,  the  stars  and  stripes,  or 
"  the  red,  white  and  blue."  The  people,  through  the  press, 
by  public  meetings,  and  by  resolutions,  placed  their  property 
and  lives  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government. 

At  this  gloomy  period,  through  the  dark  clouds  of  gather- 
ing war,  uprose  the  mighty  voice  of  the  people  to  cheer  the 
heart  of  the  President.  Onward  it  came,  like  the  rush  of 
many  waters,  shouting  the  words  that  became  so  familiar 
during  the  war  — 

We  are  coming,  Father  Abraham, 
Six  hundred  thousand  strong. 

The  Government  was  embarrassed  by  the  number  of  men 
volunteering,  for  its  service.  Hundreds  of  thousands  more, 
were  offered,  than  could  be  armed  or  received.  Senators, 
members  of  Congress,  and  other  prominent  men,  went  to 
Washington  to  influence  the  Government  to  accept  the  ser- 
vices of  the  eager  regiments,  everywhere  imploring  permission 
to  serve. 

The  volunteer  soldier  was  the  popular  idol.  He  was  every- 
where welcome.  Fair  hands  wove  the  banners  which  he  car- 
ried, and  knit  the  socks  and  shirts  which  protected  him  from 
the  cold;  and  everywhere  they  lavished  upon  him  every 
luxury,  and  comfort,  which  could  cheer  and  encourage  him. 
Every  one  scorned  to  take  pay  from  the  soldier.  Colonel 
Stetson,  proprietor  of  the  "  Astor  House  Hotel,  in  New 
York,  replied  to  General  Butler's  offer  to  pay  —  "  The  Astor 
House  makes  no  charge  for  Massachusetts  soldiers."  And 
while  the  best  Hotels  were  proud  to  entertain  the  soldier, 
whether  private  or  officer,  the  latch-string  of  the  cabin  and 
farm-house  was  never  drawn  in  upon  him  who  wore  the 
National  blue.  Such  was  the  universal  enthusiasm  of  the 
people  for  their  country's  defenders. 
13 


194  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  feeling  of  fierce  indignation  towards  those  seeking  to 
destroy  the  Government,  was  greatly  increased  by  the  attack 
of  a  mob  in  the  streets  of  Baltimore,  upon  the  Sixth  regi- 
ment of  Massachusetts  volunteers,  while  passing  from  one 
depot  to  the  other,  on  their  way  to  the  Capital.  This  attack 
on  the  19th  of  April,  in  which  several  soldiers  were  shot 
down,  roused  the  people  to  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement. 
The  secessionists  were  so  strong  in  that  State  as  to  induce 
the  Mayor  of  Baltimore,  and  Governor  Hicks,  a  Union  man, 
to  protest  against  troops  marching  over  the  soil  of  Maryland, 
to  the  defense  of  the  National  Capital .  They  hurned  the 
bridges  on  the  railroads  leading  to  Washington,  and  for  a 
time,  interrupted  the  passage  of  troops  through  Baltimore. 
The  Governor  so  far  humiliated  himself,  and  forgot  the  dig- 
nity of  his  State  and  Nation,  as  to  suggest  that  the  differ- 
ences between  the  Government  and  its  rebellious  citizens, 
should  be  referred  to  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  Minister.  The 
Secretary  of  State  fittingly  rebuked  this  unworthy  sugges- 
tion; alluding  to  an  incident,  in  the  late  war  with  Great 
Britain,  he  reminded  the  Governor  of  Maryland,  "  that  there 
had  been  a  time  when  a  General  of  the  American  Union, 
with  forces  designed  for  the  defense  of  its  Capital,  was  not 
unwelcome  anywhere  in  Maryland;"  and  he  added,  "that 
if  all  the  other  noble  sentiments  of  Maryland  had  been  ob- 
literated, one,  at  least,  it  was  hoped  would  remain,  and  that 
was,  that  no  domestic  contention  should  be  referred  to 
any  foreign  arbitrament,  least  of  all,  to  that  of  a  European 
Monarchy." 

While  such  was  the  universal  feeling  of  loyal  enthusiasm 
throughout  the  free  States,  in  the  border  slave  States,  there 
was  division  and  fierce  conflict.  Governor  Magofiin,  of  Ken- 
tucky, in  reply  to  the  President's  call,  answered,  "  I  say,  em- 
phatically, Kentucky  will  furnish  no  troops  for  the  wicked 
purpose  of  subduing  her  sister  Southern  States."  Governor 
Harris,  of  Tennessee,  said :  "Tennessee  will  not  furnish  a 
man  for  coercion,  but  50,000  for  the  defense  of  our  Southern 
brothers."  Governor  Jackson,  of  Missouri,  refused,  saying, 
"  not  one  man  will  Missouri  furnish  to  carry  on  such  an  un- 
holy crusade;"  and  Virginia,' not  only  refused  through  her 


ACTION  OP  THE  NORTHWEST.  195 

Governor,  to  respond,  but  her  Convention  then  in  session, 
immediately  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession,  by  a  vote  of 
88  to  55. 

The  Northwest,  the  home  of  the  President,  and  the  home 
of  Douglas,  was,  if  possible,  more  emphatic,  it  could  scarcely 
be  more  unanimous,  than  other  sections  of  the  free  States, 
in  the  expression  of  its  determination  to  maintain  the  Union 
at  all  hazards,  and  at  any  cost.  The  people  of  the  vast 
country  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  North  of  the  Ohio,  regarded  the  Mississippi  as  peculiarly 
their  river,  their  great  outlet  to  the  sea.  Proud  and  confident 
in  their  hardy  strength,  familiar  with  the  use  of  arms,  they 
never  at  any  time,  for  a  moment,  hesitated  in  their  determin- 
ation, in  no  event,  to  permit  the  erection  of  a  foreign  terri- 
tory between  themselves  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Here 
were  ten  millions  of  the  most  energetic,  determined,  self- 
reliant  people  on  earth,  who  had  overcome  difficulties,  and 
surmounted  obstacles;  and  the  idea  that  anybody  should 
dare  to  set  up  any  flag,  other  than  their's  between  them  arid 
the  ocean,  was  a  degree  of  audacity  they  would  never  toler- 
ate. "  Our  great  river,"  exclaimed  Douglas,  indignantly, 
"  has  been  closed  to  the  commerce  of  the  Northwest."  The 
seceding  States,  conscious  of  the  strength  of  this  feeling, 
early  passed  a  law,  providing  for  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi.  But  the  hardy  Western  pioneers  were  not  dis- 
posed to  accept  paper  guarantees  for  permission  to  "  possess, 
occupy  and  enjoy  "  their  own.  They  would  hold  the  Missis- 
sippi, with  their  rifles.  When  closed  upon  them,  they  re- 
solved to  open  it,  and  they  did  open  it.  They  immediately 
seized  upon  the  important  strategetic  point  of  Cairo,  and 
from  Belmont  to  Vicksburg  and  Fort  Hudson,  round  to 
Lookout  Mountain,  Chattanooga,  and  Atlanta,  they  never 
ceased  to  press  the  enemy,  until  the  great  central  artery  of 
the  Republic,  and  all  its  vast  tributaries,  from  its  source  to 
its  mouth,  were  free;  anc1  then,  marching  to  the  sea,  joined 
their  gallant  brethren  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  to  aid  in  the 
complete  overthrow  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  final  triumph 
of  liberty  and  law. 


196  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  people  of  the  border  States  had 
been  divided  in  sentiment,  and  it  was  very  doubtful  for  a 
time,  which  way  they  would  go;  but  the  attack  upon  Fort 
Sumpter,  and  the  call  by  the  President,  for  troops,  forced  the 
issue,  and  the  unscrupulous  leaders  were  able  to  carry  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas,  into  the 
Confederate  organization,  against  the  will  of  a  majority  of 
the  people  of  those  States.  Virginia,  the  leading  State  of  the 
Revolution,  the  one,  which  under  the  leadership  of  Washing- 
ton ard  Madison  had  been  the  most  influential  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  National  Government,  the  "  Old  Dominion,"  as 
she  was  usually  called,  the  "  Mother  of  States  and  of  states- 
men," had  been  for  years,  descending  from  her  high  position. 
Her  early  and  Revolutionary  history  had  been  of  unequalled 
brilliancy;  she  had  largely  shaped  the  policy  of  the  Nation, 
and  furnished  its  leaders.  Her  early  statesmen  were  anti- 
slavery  men,  and  if  she  had  relieved  herself  of  the  burden 
of  slavery,  she  would  have  held  her  position  as  the  leading 
State  of  the  Union;  but,  with  this  heavy  drag,  the  proud 
Old  Commonwealth  had  seen  her  younger  sisters  of  the  Re- 
public rapidly  overtaking  and  passing  her  in  the  race  of  pro 
gress,  and  the  elements  of  National  greatness.  Indeed  she 
had  fallen  so  low,  that  her  principal  source  of  wealth  was 
from  the  men,  women,  and  children,  she  raised  and  sent 
South  to  supply  the  slave  markets  of  the  Gulf  States.  Her 
leading  men  had  been  advocating  extreme  State  rights'  doc- 
trines, fatal  to  National  Unity,  and  thus  sowing  the  seeds  of 
secession.  Her  politicians  had  threatened  disunion,  again, 
and  again.  Still,  when  the  crisis  came,  a  majority  of  her 
people  were  true;  a  large  majority  of  their  Convention  was 
opposed  to  secession,  and  when  afterwards,  by  violence  and 
fraud,  the  ordinance  was  passed,  the  people  of  the  Northwest, 
the  mountain  region  of  Virginia,  resisted,  and  determined  to 
stand  by  the  Union.  This  portion  of  the  State  maintained 
its  position  with  fidelity  and  heroism,  and  ultimately  estab- 
lished the  State  of  West  Virginia. 

Although  Virginia,  in  January,  1861,  voted  a  million  of 
dollars  for  defensive  purposes,  yet  as  late  as  April  4th,  the 
Convention,  by  a  vote  of  eighty-nine  to  forty-five,  voted  down 


ACTION  OF  VIRGINIA.  197 

an  ordinance  of  secession.  But  the  Union  men  in  the  Con- 
vention, under  various  appliances,  the  promises,  threats,  and 
violence  used,  yielded  one  after  another,  until,  under  the  ex- 
citement growing  out  of  the  attack  upon  Fort  Sumter  and 
the  President's  call  to  arms,  the  ordinance  of  secession  was 
forced  through.  Before  this  could  be  done,  however,  a  mob 
was  raised  at  Richmond  by  the  conspirators  and  a  Com- 
mittee appointed  to  wait  upon  certain  Union  men  in  the 
Convention,  and  advise  them  that  they  must  either  vote  for 
secession,  absent  themselves,  or  be  hung.  The  secession  of 
Virginia,  added  greatly  to  the  danger  of  Washington,  and  a 
bold  movement  upon  it,  then,  in  its  defenceless  condition, 
would  have  been  successful. 

Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Vice  President  of  the  Confederacy, 
came  to  Richmond,  and  everywhere  raised  the  cry  of  "  on  to 
Washington!" 

The  State  authorities  of  Virginia  did  not  wait  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  secession  ordinance  by  the  people,  to  whom  it 
was  submitted  for  adoption  or  rejection,  but  immediately 
joined  the  Confederacy,  commenced  hostilities,  and  organ- 
ized expeditions  for  the  capture  of  Harper's  Ferry  and  the 
Gosport  Navy-yard.  Senator  Mason  immediately  issued  an 
address  to  the  people,  declaring  that  those  who  could  not 
vote  for  a  separation  of  Virginia  from  the  United  States, 
"  must  have  the  State!"  Submission,  banishment,  or  death  was 
proclaimed  to  all  Union  men  of  the  Old  Commonwealth. 
No  where,  except  in  West  Virginia,  and  some  small  localities, 
was  there  resistance  to  this  decree.  In  the  Northwest,  the 
mountain  men  rallied,  organized,  resolved  to  stand  by  the 
old  flag  and  protect  themselves  under  its  folds. 

The  secession  of  Virginia,  gave  to  the  Confederates  a 
moral  and  physical  power,  which  imparted  to  the  conflict  the 
proportions  of  a  tremendous  civil  war.  She  placed  herself 
as  a  barrier  between  her  weaker  sisters  and  the  Union,  and 
she  held  her  position,  with  a  heroic  endurance  and  courage, 
worthy  of  a  better  cause  and  of  her  earlier  days.  Indeed, 
she  kept  the  Union  forces  at  bay  for  more  than  four  long 
years,  preserving  her  Capital,  and  yielding  only,  when 
the  hardy  soldiers  of  the  North  had  marched  from  the 


198  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Cumberland  to  the  sea,  cutting  her  offand  making  the  struggle 
hopeless. 

North  Carolina,  naturally  followed  Virginia,  and  on  the 
21st  of  May,  adopted  by  a  unanimous  vote  an  ordinance  of 
secession,  and  her  Governor,  Ellis,  called  for  an  enrollment 
of  30,000  men. 

Tennessee,  was  the  daughter  of  North  Carolina,  yet  her 
people  were  widely  divided  in  sentiment  and  sympathy;  East 
Tennessee,  embracing  the  mountains  of  the  Cumberland 
range,  and  the  Western  slopes  of  the  Alleghanies,  where 
there  were  few  slaves,  and  peopled  by  a  brave,  hardy,  and 
loyal  race,  were  devoted  to  the  Union.  In  the  West,  a  ma- 
jority of  the  people  were  in  sympathy  with  those  seeking  to 
overthrow  the  Government.  The  Governor,  Isham  G.  Har- 
ris, was  an  active  conspirator,  and  in  full  accord  with  the 
enemies  of  the  Union.  General  Pillow,  on  the  organization 
of  the  rebel  Government,  hastened  to  Montgomery,  and  ten- 
dered it  50,000  volunteers  from  Tennessee.  On  the  9th  of 
February,  the  people  voted  down  secession  by  65,000  ma- 
jority! The  Union  men  of  that  State,  under  the  lead  of 
Andrew  Johnson,  Horace  Maynard,  Governor  Brownlow, 
and  their  associates,  determined  to  maintain  the  Union.  But 
the  loyal  people  of  Tennesseee  were  isolated  from  the  free 
States,  unapproachable  from  the  East,  except  across  Virginia, 
and  over  the  Alleghanies;  and  from  the  North  separated  by 
the  semi-rebellious  State  of  Kentucky.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, it  was  difficult  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  furnish  them  aid 
and  succor.  The  State  was  nearly  surrounded  by  secession 
influences;  the  State  Government  was  in  the  hands  of  trai- 
tors to  the  Union,  and  in  June  following,  by  means  of  fraud, 
violence,  intimidation,  and  falsehood,  an  apparent  majority 
was  obtained  in  favor  of  secession.  East  Tennessee,  however, 
still  indignantly  rejected  secession,  and  her  sons  made  a 
gallant  fight  for  the  Union. 

Maryland,  from  her  location  between  the  free  States  and 
the  National  Capital,  occupied  a  position  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance. Could  she  be  induced  to  join  the  Confederates, 
their  desifirn  of  siezing  the  National  Capital  and  its  archives, 
would  be  made  comparatively  easy.  Emissaries  from  the 


ACTION    OF    MARYLAND.  199 

conspirators  were  busy  in  her  borders  during  the  winter  of 
1861.  But  while  there  were  many  rebel  sympathizers  and 
traitors  among  her  slave-holders,  and  many  leading  families 
gave  in  their  adhesion  to  the  conspiracy,  the  mass  of  the 
people  were  loyal.  The  Governor  of  the  State,  Thomas  H. 
Hicks,  though  he  yielded  for  a  time  to  the  apparent  popular 
feeling  in  favor  of  the  Confederates,  and  greatly  embarrassed 
the  Government  by  his  protests  against  troops  marching  over 
Maryland  soil  to  the  defence  of  the  Capital,  was,  at  heart,  a 
loyal  man,  and  in  the  end  became  a  decided  and  efficient 
Union  leader.  He  refused,  against  inducements  and  threats 
of  personal  violence,  to  call  the  Legislature  of  the  State  to- 
gether, a  majority  of  whom  were  known  to  be  Secessionists, 
and  who  would  have  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession.  But 
the  man  to  whom  the  people  of  Maryland  are  most  indebted, 
and  who  was  most  influential  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
Union  cause,  at  this  crisis,  and  who  proved  the  benefactor  of 
the  State  in  relieving  her  from  the  curse  of  slavery,  was  the 
bold,  eloquent  and  talented  Henry  Winter  Davis.  He  took 
his  position  from  the  start,  for  the  unconditional  maintenance 
of  the  Union. 

The  officials  of  the  city  of  Baltimore,  were  most  of  them 
Secessionists,  and  its  Chief  of  Police  was  a  traitor,  and  was 
implicated  in  the  plot  to  assassinate  Mr.  Lincoln  on  his  way 
to  the  Capital. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  a  mob  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  had 
attacked  the  Massachusetts  Sixth  regiment,  while  quietly 
passing  through  to  the  defense  of  the  Capital,  and  several 
soldiers  and  citizens  were  killed  in  the  affray.  The  bridges 
connecting  the  railways  from  Pennsylvania  and  New  York, 
with  Baltimore,  were  burned,  and  for  a  time,  communication 
by  railroad  was  interrupted. 

Gen.  B.  F.  Butler,  leading  the  Massachusetts  troops,  to- 
gether with  the  New  York  Seventh  Regiment,  were  compel- 
led to  go  around  by  Annapolis,  and  to  rebuild  the  railway  to 
"Washington.  But  one  dark,  stormy  night,  General  Butler 
marched  into  Baltimore,  encamped  on  Federal  Hill,  and  re 
opened  communication  with  the  North.  The  Union  men  of 
Maryland  rallied;  the  leading  Secessionists  fled,  or  were 


200       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

arrested  ;  and,  from  that  time,  Maryland  was  a  loyal  State, 
lending  to  the  Union  the  aid  of  her  moral  influence,  and  fur- 
nishing many  gallant  soldiers  to  fight  its  battles. 

On  the  18th  of  April,  the  day  before  the  massacre  of  the 
Massachusetts  soldiers  by  the  Baltimore  mob,  intelligence 
reached  Washington  of  a  plot,  on  the  part  of  the  secession- 
ists in  that  city,  aided  by  Virginia,  to  rise,  fire  the  city,  seize 
as  prisoners  the  President  and  his  Cabinet,  and  all  officials 
present,  take  possession  of  the  Government  archives,  and 
thus  realize  the  prophecy  of  the  rebel  Secretary  of  War,  Walk- 
er, that  the  flag  of  the  Confederates  should  float  over  the 
dome  of  the  Capitol  before  the  first  of  May. 

There  were,  at  that  time,  but  few  troops  in  Washington,  and 
the  means  of  defense  were  very  inadequate.  Soldiers  were 
hurrying  to  its  defense  from  Pennsylvania,  'New  York  and 
New  England,  but  a  part  of  the  plan  was  the  burning  of  the 
bridges  of  the  railways,  and  the  interruption  of  communi- 
cation between  Baltimore  and  the  North,  and  this  part  was 
successfully  executed. 

When  intelligence  of  this  plot  was  received  at  Washing- 
ton, there  were  several  hundred  gentlemen  of  high  personal 
character  and  social  position  in  the  city.  They  immediately 
met,  organized,  took  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Union,  elected 
Cassius  M.  Clay  of  Kentucky,  and  General  James  H.  Lane  of 
Kansas  their  leaders,  were  armed  by  the  War  'Department, 
and,  for  several  days,  acted  as  guards.  The  party  under 
Lane  took  up  their  quarters  in  the  East  room  of  the  White 
House,  and  the  others  guarded  the  city.  Arms  were  placed 
in  the  Capitol,  it  was  provisioned  for  a  short  seige,  and  it  was 
prepared  to  be  used  in  case  of  necessity  as  a  citadel.  Be- 
hind its  massive  marble  walls  it  was  believed  that  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  officials,  and  Government  archives,  might  find 
safety,  until  the  loyal  people  of  the  North,  rallying  to  the 
rescue,  should  reach  the  Capital. 

But  Butler  soon  opened  communications ;  the  New  York 
7th  reached  the  Capital,  and  then  there  were  troops  enough 
to  make  the  execution  of  the  plot  madness ;  and  it  was  con- 
sequently abandoned.  Meanwhile  Fortress  Monroe,  Annap- 
olis and  Baltimore,  were  occupied  by  Federal  troops,  and  all 


ACTION   OF   MISSOURI.  201 

danger  of  an  immediate  attack  of  the  insurgents,  disappeared. 

What  course  would  Missouri,  the  leading  State  west  of  the 
Mississippi  take  ?  "With  a  population  exceeding  a  million, 
she  had  only  115,000  slaves.  Her  interests  were  with  the 
free  States,  yet  she  had  a  Governor  in  direct  sympathy  with 
the  traitors,  and  so  were  the  majority  of  her  State  officers.  A 
State  Convention  was  called,  but  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  Union  men  had  been  elected.  The  truth  is,  that  although 
the  slave  power  had  succeeded  in  destroying  the  political 
power  of  her  great  Senator,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  yet  the  seeds 
of  opposition  to  slavery  he  had  scattered,  were  everywhere 
springing  up  in  favor  of  Union  and  Liberty.  The  city  of 
St.  Louis,  the  Commercial  Metropolis  of  the  State,  had  be- 
come a  free-soil  city;  it  had  elected  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jun.,  a 
disciple  of  Benton  to  Congress.  The  large  German  popu- 
lation, under  the  lead  of  Franz  Siegel  and  others,  were  for 
the  Union,  to  a  man. 

To  the  President's  call  for  troops,  the  rebel  Governor  Clai- 
burn  F.  Jackson,  returned  an  insulting  refusal,  but  the  peo- 
ple under  the  lead  of  Blair,  responded. 

The  United  States  Arsenal  at  St.  Louis,  was,  at  this  time, 
under  a  guard  commanded  by  Captain  Nathaniel  Lyon,  one 
of  the  boldest  and  most  energetic  officers  of  the  army.  He, 
in  connection  with  Colonels  Blair,  Siegel,  and  others,  organ- 
ized volunteer  regiments  in  St.  Louis,  preparing  for  a  con- 
flict, which  they  early  saw  to  be  inevitable.  The  arms  of 
the  St.  Louis  Arsenal,  were,  during  the  night  of  the  25th  of 
April,  under  the  direction  of  Captains  Stokes  and  Lyon, 
transferred  to  a  steamer  and  taken  to  Alton,  Illinois,  for 
safety,  and  were  soon  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Volunteers 
from  that  State. 

Governor  Jackson  had  gathered  several  hundred  men 
whom  he  called  a  "  State  Guard"  but  whom  he  intended 
should  be  drilled  and  prepared  as  rebel  soldiers,  and  with 
whom  he  intended  to  seize  the  United  States  arms  and  the 
Arsenal.  But  his  design  was  thwarted  by  Captains  Stokes 
and  Lyon.  Lyon  then,  on  the  6th  of  May,  followed  up  his 
success  in  saving  the  arms,  by  marching  with  about  six  thou- 
sand men  to  camp  Jackson,  where  the  "  State  Guards"  were 


202  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

encamped,  and  surrounded  and  took  them  prisoners.  He 
captured  twenty  cannon,  1,200  new  rifles,  several  chests  of 
muskets,  and  a  large  quantity  of  amunition,  most  of  which 
the  "State  Guard"  under  direction  of  Q-overuor  Jackson,  had 
stolen  from  the  United  States  arsenals. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  the  President  issued  a  proclamation, 
blockading  the  ports  of  the  Gulf  States,  and  on  the  27th  of 
April,  this  was  extended  to  North  Carolina  and  Virginia, 
both  of  which  states  had  been  carried  into  the  vortex  of  rev- 
olution. On  the  3d  of  May,  the  President  called  into  the 
service  42,034  volunteers,  for  three  years,  and  provided  for 
an  addition  of  over  20,000  men  to  the  regular  army. 

Meanwhile  the  insurgents  had  been  active  and  enterpris- 
ing. They  had  boldly  seized  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  Gos- 
port  Navy  Yard,  near  Norfolk,  Virginia.  Within  twenty- 
four  hours  after  the  Secession  ordinance  passed  the  Virginia 
Convention,  they  sent  forces  to  capture  those  places  where 
were  very  important  arsenals  of  arms  and  ordinance.  Har- 
per's Ferry  had  long  been  a  National  Armory,  and  command- 
ed the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant connections  of  the  Capital  with  the  Great  West.  It 
was  the  gate  to  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  and 
of  great  importance  as  a  military  post.  On  the  18th  of  April 
it  was  abandoned  by  its  small  garrison,  and  taken  possession 
of  by  the  insurgents.  At  about  the  same  time,  the  Gosport 
Navy  Yard,  with  2,000  pieces  of  heavy  cannon  and  various 
material  of  war,  and  large  ships,  including  the  Pennsylvania 
of  120  guns,  and  the  Merrimac,  afterwards  famous  for  its 
combat  with  the  Monitor,  fell  into  their  hands.  Owing  to 
imbecility,  or  treachery,  or  both,  this  Navy  Yard,  with  its 
vast  stores  and  property,  estimated  to  be  worth  from  eight  to 
ten  millions,  was  left  exposed  to  seizure  and  destruction. 

When  it  was  too  late,  Commodore  Paulding  was  sent  to  re- 
lieve the  imbecile,  if  not  treacherous,  McCauley,  and  be- 
lieving that  he  could  not  defend  the  Yard  and  property,  he 
set  fire  to  the  ships,  attempted  to  destroy  the  ordinance,  and 
commit  to  the  flames  the  Yard  and  every  thing  of  value  con- 
nected with  it.  The  tire  was  only  partially  successful,  and  a 


DEATH    OP    ELL&WORTH.  203 

very  large  amount  of  the  property  fell  into  the  nands  of  the 
rebels. 

Meanwhile  troops  gathered  to  the  defense  of  the  National, 
Capital.  Among  others,  came  Colonel  Elmer  E.  Ellsworth, 
with  a  splendid  regiment  which  he  had  raised,  picked  men 
from  the  New  York  firemen. 

On  the  evening  of  the  23rd  of  May,  the  Union  forces 
crossed  the  Potomac,  took  possession  of  Arlington  Heights 
and  the  hills  overlooking  "Washington  and  Alexandria. 

As  Colonel  Ellsworth  was  returning  from  taking  down  a 
rebel  flag  from  the  Marshall  House  in  Alexandria,  he  was  in- 
stantly killed,  by  a  shot  fired  by  the  keeper  of  the  hotel  over 
which  the  obnoxious  symbol  had  floated. 

This  young  man  had  accompanied  Mr.  Lincoln  from  Illi- 
nois to  "Washington,  and  was  a  protege  of  the  President.  He 
had  introduced  the  Zouave  drill  into  the  United  States.  He 
was  among  the  first  martyrs  of  the  war,  and  his  death  was 
deeply  mourned  by  the  President.  His  body  was  taken  to 
the  Executive  Mansion,  and  his  funeral,  being  the  first  of 
those  who  died  in  defense  of  the  flag,  was  very  impressive, 
touching  and  solemn.  He  was,  almost,  the  first  soldier  ever 
slain  in  the  United  States,  in  civil  war.  A  gold  medal  was 
taken  from  his  body  after  his  death,  stained  with  his  hearts' 
blood,  with  the  inscription  "non  solem  nobis,  sed  pro  patria" 
"Not  for  myself,  but  for  my  country." 

The  secession  of  Virginia  had  been  followed  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  rebel  Government  to  Richmond.  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  had  joined  the 
Confederacy.  Thus  eleven  States,  through  State  organiza- 
tions, had  withdrawn,  and  sought  to  divide  the  Republic. 

At  last  Freedom  and  Slavery  confronted  each  other,  face 
to  face,  with  arms  in  their  hands.  The  loyal  States  at  this 
time,  had  a  population  of  22,046,472,  and  the  eleven  seced- 
ing States  had  a  population  of  9,103,333,  of  which  3,521,110 
were  slaves. 

The  Vice  President  of  the  Confederate  States,  in  his  speech 
at  Milledgeville,  Georgia,  frankly  said  :  "  This  (African  Slav- 
ery,) was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  late  rupture,  and  pres- 
ent revolution.  Jefferson  in  his  forecast  had  anticipated  this, 


204  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

as  the  rock  upon  which  the  old  Union  would  split !  He  was 
right;  what  was  conjecture  with  him  is  now  a  realized  fact, 
&c.  ******  Our  new  Government 
is  founded  upon  exactly  the  opposite  idea ;  its  foundations  are 
laid,  its  corner  stone  rests  upon  the  great  truth,  that  the  Negro  is  not 
equal  to  the  white  man  ;  that  Slavery,  subordination  to  the  su- 
perior race  is  his  natural  and  normal  condition.  This,  our  new 
Government,  is  the  first  in  the  history  of  the  world,  based 
upon  this  great  physical,  philosophical  and  moral  truth." 

The  Confederate  Government  being  based  on  slavery — this 
being  openly  avowed  as  its  corner-stone,  how  would  it  be  re- 
ceived in  Europe,  especially  by  those  great  nations,  Great 
Britain  and  France,  which  had  so  often  reproached  the  Unit- 
ed States  for  the  existence  of  slavery  ?  These  great  nations 
and  all  the  world,  were  now  to  be  spectators  of  a  conflict  be- 
tween an  established  Government,  perfectly  free,  and  a  con- 
spiracy and  rebellion,  by  a  portion  of  its  citizens,  avowedly 
to  erect  upon  its  ruins,  a  government  based  on  human  slav- 
ery. Surely  there  was  every  reason  to  expect  these  powers 
would  indignantly  rebuke  any  suggestion  that  they  should 
recognize  a  Government  with  such  a  basis,  and  that  they 
would,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  express  their  disapprov- 
al of  a  rebellion  against  an  existing  government,  for  such 
a  cause. 

Yet  the  Governments  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  acting 
in  concert,  even  before  the  representatives  of  the  new  Ad- 
ministration arrived  at  London  and  Paris,  recognized  the 
rebels  as  a  belligerent  power.  This  strange  readiness  to  en- 
courage rebellion,  this  eagerness  to  accord  belligerent  rights 
to  a  disorganizing  power  based  on  human  slavery,  was  gen- 
erally and  justly  attributed  to  a  secret  hostility,  on  the  part 
of  the  governing  classes  of  Europe,  toward  the  American 
Republic.  The  United  States  stood  before  the  world,  as  the 
Representative  of  freedom,  democracy,  civilization,.order  and 
regular  government.  The  rebels,  as  a  disorganizing  rebel- 
lion based  on  slavery  and  barbarism ;  and  yet,  the  crowned 
heads  and  the  aristocracy  made  haste  to  hail  it  as  a  belligerent. 

The  London  Times,  the  great  organ  of  the  British  Aristoc- 
racy, joyously  announced  that,  "  The  great  Republic  is  no 


GREAT   BRITAIN  AND   EUROPE.  205 

more!  Democracy  is  a  rope  of  sand!"  The  United  States, 
it  said,  lacked  the  cohesive  power  to  maintain  an  Empire  of 
such  magnitude. 

Disintegration  was,  already,  exultingly  proclaimed  to  be 
an  accomplished  fact,  and  no  power,  it  was  alleged,  existed 
in  the  Federal  Government  to  unite  the  fragments  of  the  dis- 
solved Republic. 

At  the  moment  of  extremest  National  peril,  when  the  son  of 
the  western  pioneer  whom  the  people  had  chosen  for  their  Chief 
Magistrate,  appalled  by  the  dangers  which  gathered  around  his 
country,  when  his,greatand  honest  soul,  bowed  itself  to  God, 
and  as  a  simple  child,  and  in  deepest  supplication  asked  His 
blessing,  and  guidance ;  at  this  hour,  from  no  crowned  head, 
from  no  aristocratic  ruler  abroad,  came  any  word  of  symya- 
thy ;  but  those  proud  rulers  could  jest  at  his  uncouth  figure, 
his  uneourtly  bearing.  "The  bubble  is  burst,"  said  they. 
The  Almighty  answered  that  prayer;  He  joined  the  hearts 
and  linked  the  hands  of  the  American  people  and  their  Pres- 
ident together ;  and  from  that  hour,  to  his  death,  the  needle 
does  not  more  quickly  respond  to  the  polar  influence,  than 
did  Lincoln  to  the  highest  and  God-inspired  impulses  of  a 
great  people — a  people  capable  of  the  highest  heroism  and 
the  grandest  destiny. 

Very  soon  the  work-shops  of  England  and  Scotland  were 
set  in  motion  to  prepare  the  means  of  sweeping  American 
commerce  from  the  ocean. 

The  active  sympathy  of  the  masses  of  European  popula- 
tions, and  the  cold  and  scarcely  concealed  hostility  of  the  ar- 
istocratic and  privileged  classes,  were  early  and  constantly 
manifested  during  the  entire  struggle.  This  was,  perhaps, 
not  unnatural.  In  addition  to  the  uneasiness  which  the  rap 
id  growth  and  commanding  position  of  our  country  had  ere 
ated,  the  whole  world  instinctively  felt  that  the  contest  was 
between  Freedom  and  Slavery,  Democracy  and  Aristocracy. 
Could  a  Government,  for  the  people  and  by  the  people,  main- 
tain itself  through  this  fearful  crisis  ?  It  was  quite  evident, 
from  the  beginning,  that  the  privileged  classes  abroad  were 
more  than  willing  to  see  the  great  Republic  broken  up,  to 
see  it  pronounced  a  failure.  Mr.  Buchanan  had  left  our 


206       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

foreign  relations  in  a  very  deplorable  condition ;  the  Union 
had  few,  if  any,  able  and  determined  representatives  abroad. 
The  conspirators  had  prepared  the  way,  as  far  as  possible, 
by  their  intrigues,  scarcely  veiled,  for  the  recognition  of  the 
Confederacy.  The  rebels  had  a  positive,  vigorous  organiza- 
tion with  agents  all  over  Europe,  many  of  them  in  the  dip- 
lomatic service  of  the  United  States.  They  had  created  a 
wide-spread  prejudice  against  Mr.  Lincoln,  representing  him 
as  merely  an  ignorant,  vulgar  "  rail-splitter"  of  the  prairies. 
Mr.  Faulkner,  of  Virginia,  represented  our  Government  in 
France,  and  Mr.  Preston,  a  slaveholder  from  Kentucky,  in 
Spain,  both  secessionists.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before 
Mr.  Lincoln  impressed  the  leading  traits  of  his  character 
upon  our  foreign  policy.  Frankness,  open,  straightforward 
integrity,  patient  forbearance,  and  unbroken  faith  in  the  tri- 
umph of  the  Union  and  liberty,  based  on  his  trust  and  confi- 
dence in  the  Almighty,  and  the  American  people,  character- 
ized his  foreign  policy.  This  policy  was  simple  and  thor- 
oughly American;  our  Representatives  were  instructed  to 
ask  nothing  but  what  was  clearly  right,  to  avoid  difficulty, 
and  to  maintain  peace,  if  it  could  be  done  consistently  with 
National  honor.  The  record  of  the  diplomatic  correspond- 
ence of  the  United  States  during  the  critical  years  of  this 
administration,  is  one  of  which  Americans  may  justly  be 
proud.  Time  and  events  have  vindicated  the  statesmanship 
by  which  it  was  conducted.  Mr.  Seward,  in  his  instructions 
to  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  the  Court  of 
St.  James,  very  clearly  laid  down  the  principles  which  should 
govern  our  relations  with  foreign  Nations.  Mr.  Adams  was 
instructed  not  to  listen  to  any  suggestion  of  compromise  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  any  of  its  citizens,  under  foreign 
auspices.  He  was  directed  firmly  to  announce  that  no  foreign 
Government  could  recognize  the  rebels  as  an  independent 
power,  and  remain  the  friends  of  the  United  States.  Recog- 
nition was  War.  If  any  foreign  power  recognized,  they 
might  prepare  to  enter  into  an  alliance  also,  with  the  enemies 
of  the  Republic.  He  was  instructed  to  represent  the  whole 
country,  and  should  he  be  asked  to  divide  that  duty  with  the 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  207 

Representatives  of  the  Confederates,  he  was  directed  to  return 
home. 

The  action  of  the  insurgent  States  was  treated  as  a  rebel- 
lion, purely  domestie  in  its  character,  and  no  discussion  on 
the  subject  with  foreign  Nations  would  be  tolerated.  England 
did  not  recognize  the  Confederates  as  a  Nation.  She  did  not 
choose  war;  but  short  of  recognition,  alliance  and  war,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  how  she- could  have  done  more  to  encourage  and 
aid  the  insurgents.  On  the  floor  of  the  British  Parliament,  a 
member  exulted  in  the  secession  of  the  slaveholders,  as  "  The 
bursting  of  the  bubble,  Republic." 

We  have  seen  that  slavery  brought  on  the  attempted  revo- 
lution. To  secure  that  institution,  the  aristocracy  of  the 
South,  the  slaveholders,  seceded  from  the  Union  and  drew 
the  sword,  declaring  to  the  world  their  determination  to 
make  this  their  peculiar  institution,  the  corner-stone  of  their 
empire. 

The  Confederacy  had  secured  the  cooperation  of  eleven 
States;  and  it  had  active  aid  and  sympathy  from  Maryland, 
Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  while  the  Union  cause  had  effective 
and  numerous  friends  in  Tennessee,  and  a  large  majority  in 
that  part  of  Virginia,  since  organized  into  the  State  of  West 
Virginia. 

There  were,  at  this  time,  and  mostly  in  the  rebel  States, 
nearly  four  millions  sjaves.  How  should  they  be  treated  ? 
Should  the  Government,  by  offering  them  freedom,  make 
them  its  active  friends?  or  alienate  them  by  returning  them 
to  slavery?  In  the  light  of  to-day,  it  is  difficult  to  realize 
why  there  should  have  been  any  hesitation  or  vacillation  on 
this  question.  The  transfer  of  four  millions  of  people,  living 
in  the  seceding  States,  from  the  rebel  to  the  Union  side, 
would  be  decisive.  But  many  of  the  Union  men  of  Missouri, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Maryland,  were  slaveholders.  The 
Constitution  had  been  generally  held  as  recognizing  and  pro- 
tecting slavery.  By  precedent,  long  established  usage,  and 
generally  conceded  Constitutional  obligation,  negroes  were 
to  be  returned  by  Federal  officers,  on  demand,  to  their  claim- 
ants. The  power  of  the  Federal  authority  under  the  control 
of  slaveholders,  had  been  long  used  to  return  fugitive  slaves. 


208       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVEKTHKOW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  National  Judiciary,  the  army,  and  the  navy,  had  been 
the  instruments,  by  which  the  institution  of  slavery  was  up- 
held. The  claim  of  the  master  to  his  slave,  had  been  pro- 
tected by  extraordinary  guaranties  unknown  to  any  other 
species  of  property,  and  the  right  to  this  species  of  property 
had  grown  to  be  considered  a  sacred  thing.  No  "  rude  hand" 
must  touch  it!  Abolition  and  abolitionists  were  "vulgar 
fanatics,"  reckless  of  Constitutional  obligations;  slaveholders 
were  gentlemen.  For  years  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  and  the  Naval  School,  at  Annapolis,  had  been  under 
pro-slavery  influences.  For  eight  years  immediately  preced- 
ing the  revolt,  Jefferson  Davis  and  John  B.  Floyd,  as  Secre- 
taries of  "War,  had  controlled  the  army,  weeding  out  those 
who  did  not  agree  with  them  in  their  peculiar  views  of  State 
rights  and  slavery.  When  the  insurgents  raised  the  flag  of 
rebellion,  the  army  and  navy  were  scandalized,  and  the  Na- 
tion disgraced  by  large  numbers  of  the  officers  deserting 
their  flag.  Nearly  two  hundred  of  the  graduates  of  the  Mili- 
tary School  at  West  Point,  deserted  and  joined  the  rebel 
army.  From  Robert  E.  Lee,  down  to  the  contemptible  Bu- 
chanan, who  the  day  before  his  treason,  came  to  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  said,  "  If  all  others  desert  you,  I  will  stand  by  you,* 
there  is  a  catalogue  of  names,  which  will  forever  disgrace 
the  annals  of  the  old  regular  army.  The  name  of  Benedict 
Arnold,  long  so  conspicuous  alike  for  his  treason  and  his 
personal  courage,has  been  overshadowed  by  the  cloud  of  de- 
serters, who  turned  their  swords  against  the  flag  they  had 
sworn  to  defend,  and  against  the  country  which  had  adopted 
and  educated  them. 

Among  these  deserters,  the  man  destined  to  attain  the 
most  conspicuous  position  in  the  rebel  army,  was  Robert  E. 
Lee.  It  is  important  in  the  interest  of  truth,  that  history 
should  do  him  justice;  that  his  conduct  should  be  rightly 
appreciated  by  the  American  people,  and  the  world.  He  bore 
one  of  the  proudest  revolutionary  names,  and  had  intermar- 
ried with  a  family,  which,  by  its  connection  with  Washing- 
ton, has  always  commanded  the  love  and  honor  of  our 
country.  He  had  received  from  his  country,  grateful  for  the 

•This^statement  the  author  received  from  Mr.  Lincoln  himself, 


ROBERT  E.  LEE.  209 

services  of  his  ancestors,  the  best  education  her  National 
Military  School  could  give.  By  accepting  such  education  at 
her  hands,  he  had  dedicated  his  life  to  her  military  service. 
He  became  the  petted  soldier,  the  favorite  of  his  loyal  com* 
mander-in-Chief,  and  the  staff  of  his  years.  General  Scott 
loved  and  trusted  him;  and  by  his  confidential  relations  to 
the  Lieutenant  General,  Lee  was  in  possession  of  all  his  plans 
and  purposes.  Suddenly,  on  the  eve  of  a  rebel  war,  he  de- 
serted his  flag,  betrayed  his  Chief,  and  within  two  days  after 
his  resignation  was  accepted,  he  was  found  in  the  rebel  ser- 
vice, soon  to  receive  a  high  command.  How  does  his  treason 
compare  with  that  of  Benedict  Arnold?  Each  deserted  his 
flag;  each  was  treacherous  to  his  Chief,  by  whom  he  was 
honored  and  loved;  each  drew  his  sword  against  his  country 
and  his  old  faithful  comrades.  Lee  was  as  much  beloved  and 
honored  by  Scott,  as  Benedict  Arnold  was  by  Washington. 
Arnold  sought  to  betray  a  stronghold  into  the  enemies' 
hands.  Lee  took  into  the  rebel  councils,  full  knowledge  of 
Scott's  plans,  and  a  minute  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
military  establishment  of  his  country.  He  had  been  gener- 
ously educated  by  his  country,  and  his  life  was  doubly  pledged 
to  her  service ;  Arnold  was  a  volunteer,  and  complained  of 
personal  grievances.  Lee  had  the  countenance  of  many  trai- 
tors, to  keep  him  company;  Arnold's  infamy,  thanks  be  to 
God!  was  solitary  and  alone.  It  cannot  be  pleaded  in  exten- 
uation of  Lee's  treason,  that  he  followed  Virginia  into  seces- 
sion. He  deserted  before  the  secession  ordinance  of  his  na- 
tive State  had  been  adopted  by  the  people,  and  he  was  one 
of  those,  who  led  Virginia  into  rebellion.  Lee's  letter  of 
resignation  bears  date  April  20th,  and  the  people  of  Virginia 
did  not  vote  on  the  ordinance  of  secession  until  the  23d  of 
May.*  To  the  infamy,  justly  attaching  to  him  as  a  deserter 
from  his  flag,  and  a  traitor  to  his  country,  the  stern  logic  of 
truth  compels  us  to  add,  that  he  shares  with  Jefferson  Davis, 
the  blacker  colors  of  at  least  not  preventing  such  fearful  in- 
humanity, and  cool  calculating  cruelty,  as  finds  no  parallel 
in  the  conduct  of  Arnold,  nor  in  any  act  of  the  earlier 
American  history,  before  the  manhood  of  the  South  lost  its 
real  chivalry,  in  the  barbarities  of  the  slave  system. 

*  L««'s  appointment  in  the  rebel  service  bears  date  April  22d. 

14 


210  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OTORTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

During  a  long  and  bloody  war,  Davis  and  Lee  saw,  with- 
out interference,  their  comrades  and  fellow  soldiers  of  the 
days  before  their  fall,  murdered  by  thousands,  while  prison- 
ers of  war.  With  their  residences  at  Richmond,  one  as  Pres- 
ident and  dictator,  and  the  other  as  Commander  of  the 
armies  in  Virginia,  the  dark  and  horrid  records  of  Libby, 
and  Belle  Isle,  and  Andersonville,  could  not  have  been  un- 
known to  them.  Those  sickening  details  of  slow  murder, 
starvation  and  suffering,  at  which  humanity  shudders,  it 
would  be  well,  for  the  sake  of  our  common  manhood,  to  con- 
sign to  oblivion,  but  that  they  exemplify  how  some  of  the 
best  blood  of  the  South  could,  under  the  influence  of  the 
slave  system,  be  converted  into  the  brutal  barbarians,  by 
whom  such  outrages  were  perpetrated  !  The  saddest  spec- 
tacle of  this  fearful  war  is  not  the  desolated  field,  the  burning 
city,  the  homeless  family,  nor  the  bloody  battle-scene,  with 
its  bleeding  mutilated  sufferers,  patient,  noble,  sublime  in 
their  agony ;  nor  is  it  the  hospitals  of  sick,  wounded,  and 
dying;  nor  is  it  even  those  great  prison-fields,  where  famine, 
and  thirst,  and  heat,  and  vitiated  air,  and  nakedness,  and 
vermin,  and  every  loathsome  disease,  joined  with  brutal 
guards,  combined  to  reduce  gallant,  brave,  heroic  men  to 
insanity,  to  imbecility,  to  idiocy,  and  to  death.  No!  the 
the  saddest  picture  of  all,  is  to  see  educated,  refined  Southern 
gentlemen,  the  boasted  "  chivalry  "  of  the  slaveholding  section, 
Buffering,  tolerating  these  barbarities  as  an  instrumentality 
of  war  to  reduce  the  power  of  their  enemies ! 

This  is  indeed,  the  saddest  spectacle  of  the  war.  For  this 
the  South  has  been  purged  with  fire.  Passing  through  this 
agony,  the  slave  States  have  come  out  of  it,  freed,  emanci- 
pated, disenthralled,  and  regenerated.  The  noble  manhood 
of  the  South  will  be  restored.  On  the  dark  clouds,  which 
still  envelope  the  Southern  section  of  the  Union,  the  bow  of 
promise  appears.  That  bow  rests  upon  liberty. 

To  return  to  Robert  E.  Lee.  The  personal  misfortunes  of 
such  a  man,  the  romance  of  his  bravery  as  a  soldier,  the 
charm  of  his  personal  manners,  will  not  excuse  the  historian 
from  recording  the  truth;  that  this  man,  gallant  soldier  as  he 
was,  had  n^o  loyalty  to  his  flag,  no  regard  for  his  oath,  no 


LEE'S  TREASON.  211 

\ 

fidelity  nor  gratitude  to  his  country,  or  his  Chief;  no  human- 
ity, nor  good  fellowship  towards  his  comrades,  to  induce  him 
to  interfere  to  prevent  their  extermination  by  fearful  cruelties 
while  prisoners  of  war.  He  must  go  down  to  posterity  as 
a  deserter  and  a  traitor. 

There  were  Southern  loyalists  true  and  faithful,  scorning 
all  temptations  addressed  to  their  fidelity.  Among  others,  in 
civil  life,  were  Andrew  Johnson,  and  Andrew  J.  Hamilton; 
in  war,  the  glorious  names  of  Generals  Scott,  George  H. 
Thomas,  Geo.  G.  Meade,  and  Admiral  David  G.  Farragut. 
How  do  the  names  of  Lee  and  Davis  grow  black  in  con- 
trast with  that  of  the  hero  of  Lundy's  Lane,  of  Gettysburg, 
and  of  Nashville,  and  the  blunt,  but  honest  sailor,  who  so 
nobly  and  gloriously  triumphed  over  traitors  at  New  Orleans 
and  Mobile. 

Shall  we  so  teach  bur  children?  Shall  we  thus  make  up 
the  record ?  or  are  all  moral  distinctions  to  cease?  Is  treason 
odious?  Shall  truth,  fidelity,  and  patriotism  continue  to  be 
honored,  and  falsehood,  perjury,  and  treachery  scorned?  Or 
is  there  no  distinction  between  Andrew  Johnson  and  Jeffer- 
son Davis;  between  General  Scott  and  General  Twiggs; 
between  George  H.  Thomas  and  Robert  E.  Lee;  between 
David  G.  Farragut  and  Raphael  Semmes  ? 

The  former  were  faithful,  the  latter  faithless ;  the  former 
kept  their  oaths,  the  latter  broke  them;  the  former  shed  their 
blood  in  heroic  defense  of  their  flag,  and  the  latter  deserted, 
and  then  made  war  upon  it. 

Somebody  will  be  held  responsible  for  the  suffering  of  this 
terrible  war.  Unrepentant  rebels  and  traitors  are  consistent 
in  holding  the  Federal  Government  responsible.  Loyal  men 
cannot  be  consistent,  in  honoring  Scott,  Thomas,  and 
Farragut,  without  condemning  Twiggs,  Lee,  and  Davis. 

Of  the  officers  who  remained,  a  few  were  only  half  loyal. 
How  would  such  men — the  Government  seeking  to  hold  the 
slave  States  of  Kentucky,  Maryland  and  Missouri — treat 
the  negroes? 

The  solution  of  this  question  was  practically  made,  and 
the  difficulties  surrounding  it,  cut  away  by  the  clear,  bold, 


212       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

and  direct  mind  of  General  Benjamin  P.  Butler,  of  Massa- 
chusetts. He  had  been  a  pro-slavery  Breckinridge  democrat. 
When  his  political  friends  at  the  South  drew  the  sword,  he, 
without  hesitation,  drew  his  for  his  country,  and  against 
them ;  and  he  was  the  first  to  lead  a  brigade  to  the  defense 
of  Washington. 

In  May,  General  Butler  found  himself  in  command  at 
Fortress  Monroe.  One  evening  three  negroes  came  into  his 
camp,  saying,  "  they  had  fled  from  their  master,  Colonel  Mai- 
lory,  who  was  about  to  set  them  to  work  on  rebel  fortifica- 
tions!" If  they  had  been  Colonel  Mallory's  horses  or  mules, 
there  could  be  no  question  as  to  what  should  be  done  with 
them.  But  so  strangely  deluded  were  the  army  officers,  that 
up  to  that  time,  they  had  returned  fugitive  slaves  to  rebel 
masters,  to  work  and  fight  for  the  rebel  cause !  Would 
Butler  continue  the  folly? 

He  uttered  the  words,  "  These  men  are  contraband  of  war!" 
This  sentence,  expressing  an  obvious  truth,  was  more  im- 
portant than  a  battle  gained.  It  was  a  victory  in  the  direction 
of  emancipation,  upon  which  the  success  of  the  Union  cause 
was  ultimately  to  depend.  He,  of  course,  refused  to  surren- 
der them,  but  set  them  at  work  on  his  own  defenses.  Up  to 
this  time,  the  South  had  fought  to  maintain  slavery,  and  the 
Government,  for  fear  of  offending  Kentucky,  and  other  border 
States,  would  not  touch  it.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  rebel 
officer  had  the  presumption,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  demand 
the  return  of  these  negroes,  under  the  alleged  Constitutional 
obligation  to  return  fugitive  slaves.  General  Butler,  of 
course,  refused,  saying,  "  I  shall  retain  the  negroes  as  contra- 
band of  war!  You  are  using  them  upon  your  batteries;  it 
is  merely  a  question  whether  they  shall  be  used  for  or  against 
us."  Other  Generals  of  the  Union  army,  were  very  slow  in 
recognizing  this  obvious  truth.  General  McClellan,  on  the 
26th  of  May,  issued  an  address  to  the  people  of  his  military 
district,  in  which  he  said,  "  Not  only  will  we  abstain  from  all 
interference  with  your  slaves,  but  we  will,  on  the  contrary, 
with  an  iron  hand,  crush  any  attempt  at  insurrection  on  their 
part." 


DEATH  OF  DOUGLAS.  213 

Early  in  June,  the  administration  and  the  country,  sus- 
tained a  great  loss  in  the  death  of  Douglas.  He  died  at 
Chicago,  on  the  3d;  his  death,  hastened  by  the  zeal  and  en- 
ergy he  exerted  to  aid  and  strengthen  the  Government  to 
meet  the  dangers  surrounding  it. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  deeply  grieved  by  the  death  of  his  great 
rival,  who  had  become  one  of  his  most  valued  advisers. 
Douglas  had  caused  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
and  thereby  precipitated  the  conflict  between  freedom  and 
slavery;  but  for  this  repeal,  probably  the  resort  to  arms 
might  have  been  delayed  for  a  'generation;  possibly  by  the 
influence  of  moral  and  peaceful  agencies  prevented ;  but  as 
has  been  stated,  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  redeem  the  past, 
by  giving  all  his  influence  to  the  Government  when  the 
conflict  came.  The  moment  the  flag  of  the  insurgents  was 
raised,  he  tried  to  hush-  the  voice  of  party  strife,  and  rallied 
his  friends  to  the  support  of  his  country.  He  died  at  a  mo- 
ment when  he  had  the  opportunity  and  the  disposition  to 
have  rendered  the  greatest  service  to  his  country.  Had  he 
lived,  his  energetic,  determined,  positive  character  would 
have  continued  him  a  leader,  and  there  would  have  been 
no  voice  louder,  more  emphatic  than  his,  demanding  prompt, 
vigorous,  and  decisive  measures.  The  Nation  will  not  forget 
him,  and  Illinois  will  cherish  his  memory,  and  as  the  early 
opponent,  and  later,  the  friend  of  Lincoln,  his  name  will 
live  as  long  as  Lake  Michigan  shall  roll  her  blue  waves  upon 
the  shore  where  rest  his  remains. 


C  H  AFTER    X. 


EXTRA    SESSION    OF    CONGRESS —CIVIL    POLICY  AND    MILITARY 
EVENTS  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  1861. 

CONGRESS  —  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE — ACTION  OF  CONGRESS — BA- 
KER'S REPLY  TO  BRECKENRIDGE — ANDREW  JOHNSON — DENOUN- 
CES DAVIS  —  THE  REBEL  LEADERS  —  PROMINENT  SENATORS,  AND 
MEMBERS — SUMNER,  BAKER,  FESSENDEN  AND  OTHERS — STE- 
PHENS, COLFAX,  LOVEJOY  AND  OTHERS BlLL  TO  CONFISCATE 

THE  PROPERTY  AND  FREE  THE  SLAVES  OF  REBELS  —  THE  ARMY 
NOT  TO  RETURN  FUGITIVE  SLAVES — CRITTENDEN'S  RESOLUTION 

—  BuLi     RUN  —  McCLELLAN     IN      COMMAND  —  FREEMONT Hl8 

EMANCIPATION  ORDER — LETTER  OF  HOLT — PRESIDENT  MOD- 
IFIES THE  ORDER  —  His  REASONS  —  CAMERON'S  INSTRUCTION  TO 
SHERMAN  IN  S.  C.  —  MILITARY  MOVEMENTS  IN  THE  FALL  OF  1861 

—  DEATH  OF  L YON  —  BALL'S  BLUFF — DEATH  OF  BAKER  —  BEL- 
MONT —  THE    TRENT    AFFAIR — ARREST     OF    THE    MARYLAND 
LEGISLATURE. 

THE  special  session  of  the  37th  Congress  met  at  the  Capital 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  agreeably  to  the  call  of  the  Pres- 
ident. Hannibal  Hamlin,  Vice  President,  presided  over  the 
Senate,  Galusha  A.  Grow  of  Pennsylvania  was  elected 
Speaker  of  the  House,  and  Emerson  Etheridge  of  Tennessee, 
Clerk. 

In  the  Senate,  twenty-three  States,  and  in  the  House  twen- 
ty-two States  were  represented.  There  were  forty  Senators, 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  Representatives,  on  the  first 
day  of  the  session.  No  Representatives  appeared  from  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Al- 
abama, Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  or  Arkansas.  An- 
drew Johnson,  "  faithful  among  the  faithless,"  represented 
Tennessee  in  the  Senate,  and  Horace  Maynard  and  Andrew 

214 


EXTRA   SESSION   OF   CONGRESS.  215 

J.  Clements  appeared  and  took  their  seats  at  the  second  ses- 
sion, in  the  House.  Among  the  more  prominent  Senators 
of  New  England,  who  had  already  secured  a  National  rep- 
utation, were  Fessenden  and  Morrill  of  Maine,  Hale  and 
Clark  of  New  Hampshire,  Sumner  and  "Wilson  of  Massachu- 
setts, Collamer  and  Foote  of  Vermont,  and  Anthony  of  Rhode 
Island.  New  York  was  represented  by  Preston  King  and 
Ira  Harris. 

Mr.  Hale,  from  New  Hampshire,  had  been  the  leader  of 
the  old  Liberty  party.  "  Solitary  and  alone"  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  by  his  wit  and  humor,  his  readiness  and  ability, 
he  had  maintained  his  position  against  the  whole  Senatorial 
delegation  of  the  Slave  States,  and  their  numerous  allies 
from  the  Free  States.  From  Vermont,  the  dignified,  urbane, 
and  somewhat  formal,  Solomon  Foote  ;  his  colleague  was 
Jacob  Collamer,  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school  who  had  been 
a  member  of  Cabinets,  and  was  one  of  the  wisest  j  urists  and 
Statesmen  of  our  Country.  Preston  King  had  been  the 
friend  and  confidant  of  Silas  Wright  and  Thomas  H.  Benton, 
and  a  leader  at  the  Buffalo  Convention ;  genial,  true  and  de- 
voted to  the  principles  of  democracy  as  enunciated  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  From  Pennsylvania,  was  Da- 
vid Wilmot,  who,  while  a  member  of  the  House, introduced 
the  "Wilmot  Proviso,"  which  connects  forever  his  name, 
with  the  Anti-Slavery  contest. 

From  Ohio,  John  Sherman,  a  brother  of  General  Sher- 
man, and  late  a  distinguished  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives and  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance; 
and  Benjamin  Wade,  staunch,  rude,  earnest  and  true. 

From  Illinois,  Lyman  Trumbull  and  O.  H.  Browning, 
both  distinguished  lawyers,  and  competitors  at  the  bar  with 
Douglas  and  Lincoln.  From  Iowa,  Senators  Grimes  and 
Harlan ;  from  Wisconsin,  Doolittle  and  Howe ;  from  Mich- 
igan, Bingham  and  Chandler;  from  Indiana,  Jesse  D. 
Bright  and  Henry  S.  Lane;  the  latter  of  whom  had  presided 
over  the  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1856. 

But  many  vacant  chairs  in  these  council  chambers,  im- 
pressed the  spectator  with  the  magnitude  of  the  impending 
struggle.  The  old  Chiefs  of  slavery  were  absent;  some  at 


216  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Richmond,  others  in  arms  against  their  country.  The  chair 
of  their  leader,  Davis ;  that  of  the  blustering  Toorabs ;  the 
accomplished,  cautious  Hunter ;  the  polished  Benjamin  ;  the 
haughty,  pretentious  Mason ;  the  crafty,  unscrupulous  Slidell, 
and  their  compeers,  were  all  vacant.  The  seat  of  the  "Little 
Giant"  of  Illinois,  the  ambitious  but  true  patriot,  Douglas,  was 
vacant — not,  thank  God,  from  treason,  but  by  death.  Life- 
long opponents  gazed  sadly  upon  his  unoccupied  seat. 

Well  had  it  been  for  the  fame  of  Breckenridge  if  his  chair 
had  been  made  vacant  by  early  death.  But  still  conspicuous 
among  the  Senators  of  this  Congress,  was  the  late  Vice  Pres- 
ident, now  the  Senator  from  Kentucky.  As  the  representative 
of  one  of  the  historic  families  of  that  State,  no  young  man 
of  the  Nation,  until  1860,  had  prouder  prospects. 

Entering  into  the  conspiracy  to  divide  the  Union,  he  first 
permitted,  as  a  preliminary  step,  his  name  to  be  used  at 
Charleston,  for  the  Presidency,  to  divide  the  Democratic 
party.  He  came  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  July  1861, 
with  no  loyalty  to  the  Union.  He  had  on  the  25th  of  April 
preceding,  denounced  the  call  of  the  President  for  troops, 
and  advised,  that  in  the  event  of  the  failure  to  arrest  what 
he  called  coercion,  Kentucky  should  unite  with  the  South. 
He  entered  the  Senate  with  the  avowed  determination  to  ar- 
rest., if  possible,  the  efforts  of  the  Administration  to  protect 
and  maintain  the  Government  by  force.  He  had  now  few 
friends  or  sympathizers  in  Washington,  and  was  regarded 
with  distrust  by  his  loyal  associates.  Dark  and  gloomy,  he 
could  be  daily  seen,  without  companions,  wending  his  way  to 
the  Senate  Chamber,  where  his  voice  and  his  votes  were  con- 
stantly exerted  to  thwart  the  measures  introduced  for  main- 
taining the  authority  of  the  Constitution.  He  soon  came  to 
be  looked  upon  as  a  spy  as  well  as  a  traitor.  It  was  obvious 
that  his  heart  was  with  his  old  associates  at  Richmond. 

As  soon  as  the  special  session  closed,  he  threw  off  all  dis- 
guise, entered  the  Secession  Camp,  and  joined  his  fortunes 
with  the  insurgents. 

President  Lincoln,  in  his  message  to  this  Congress,  calmly 
reviews  the  situation.  He  calls  attention  to  the  fact,  that  at 
his  inauguration,  the  functions  of  the  Federal  Government 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.  217 

had  been  suspended  in  the  States  of  Georgia,  South  Caro- 
lina, Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas  and  Florida. 
All  the  National  property,  in  these  States  had  been  appro- 
priated by  the  insurgents.  They  had  seized  all  the  forts,  ar- 
senals, &c.,  except  those  on  the  Florida  coast,  and  Fort 
Sumter  in  Charleston  harbor,  and  these  were  then  in  a  state  of 
siege  by  the  rebel  forces.  The  National  arms  had  been  seiz- 
ed and  were  in  the  hands  of  hostile  armies.  Large  numbers 
of  officers  of  the  United  States  Army,  and  Navy,  had  resign- 
ed and  taken  up  arms  against  their  Government.  He  review- 
ed the  facts  in  relation  to  Fort  Sumter,  and  showed  that  by 
the  attack  upon  it,  the  insurgents  began  the  conflict  of  arms, 
thus  forcing  upon  the  country  immediate  dissolution  or  war. 
No  choice  was  left  but  to  call  into  action  the  war  powers  of  the 
Government,  and  to  resist  the  force  employed  for  its  destruc- 
tion, by  force  for  its  preservation.  The  call  for  troops  was 
made,  and  the  response  was  most  gratifying.  Yet  no  slave 
State  except  Delaware,  had  given  a  regiment  through  State 
organization.  He  then  reviewed  the  action  of  Virginia,  in- 
cluding the  seizure  of  the  National  armory  at  Harper's  Ferry 
and  the  Navy-yard  at  Gosport,  near  Norfolk.  "  The  people 
of  Virginia  had  permitted  the  insurrection  to  make  its  nest 
within  her  borders,  and  left  the  Government  no  choice  but 
to  deal  with  it,  where  it  found  it."  He  then  reviews  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Government,  the  calls  for  troops,  the  blockade  of 
the  ports  in  the  rebellious  States,  and  the  suspension  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus.  He  asked  Congress  to  confer  upon  him 
the  power  to  make  the  conflict  short  and  decisive.  He  asked 
to  have  placed  at  his  disposal,  400,000  men,  and  400  millions 
of  money.  Alluding  to  the  desire  of  the  people  to  furnish 
the  men  and  money  necessary  to  maintain  the  Union,  he  said, 
"  the  people  will  save  their  Government,  if  the  Government 
itself  will  do  its  part  only  indifferently  well." 

He  calls  attention  to  the  fact,  that  ours,  is  a  Government 
of  the  people,  and  they  appreciate  it;  that  while  large  num- 
bers of  the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  had  proved  "  false 
to  the  hand  which  had  pampered  them,  not  one  common 
soldier  or  common  sailor  is  known  to  have  deserted  his  flag." 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  the  President  in  this,  his  first 


218  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

message,  as  in  so  many  of  his  speeches  and  State  papers,  calls 
attention  to  the  great  fundamental  principle  of  our  Govern- 
ment, the  equality  of  all.  He  quotes  the  clause  in  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  that  "  all  men  are  created  equal"  and 
contrasted  it  with  the  aristocratic  features  of  the  Government, 
sought  to  be  created  on  its  ruins.  Those  who  knew  Mr.  Lin- 
coln best,  knew  that  he  looked,  confidently,  to  the  ultimate 
extinction  of  slavery.  It  is  clear,  that  in  accordance  with  his 
cautious  character,  he  hoped  to  destroy  it  by  gradual  emanci- 
pation. From  the  beginning,  he  watched  andgladly  used  every 
means  which  his  prudent  and  scrupulous  mind  recognized  aa 
right  and  proper,  to  hasten  its  ultimate  overthrow. 

Congress  responded  promptly  to  the  call  of  the  President, 
and  voted  500,000  men,  and  500  millions  of  dollars  to 
suppress  the  insurrection. 

At  this  memorable  session,  Congress  commenced  a  series 
of  measures,  which,  in  connection  with  the  action  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  and  the  victories  of  the  Union  arms,  resulted 
in  the  downfall  of  African  slavery. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  1861,  a  resolution  introduced  by 
Senator  Trumbull,  unanimously  passed  the  Senate,  "  That 
John  C.  Breckenridge,  the  traitor,  be,  and  he  hereby  is,  ex- 
pelled." Some  of  the  debates  of  this  session,  were  of  exceed- 
ing interest.  Among  the  most  dramatic  was  a  debate  between 
Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  and  Colonel  Baker,  of  Oregon. 
Breckenridge  received  from  the  fiery  and  eloquent  Senator, 
a  terrible  rebuke  for  his  treachery. 

Baker,  in  a  speech  made  on  the  1st  day  of  August,  in  reply 
to  the  treasonable  utterances  of  Breckenridge,  said : 

"  What  would  the  Senator  from  Kentucky,  have?  These  speeches  of 
his,  sown  broadcast  over  the  land,  what  clear  distinct  meaning  have 
they?  Are  they  not  intended  for  disorganization  in  our  very  midst? 
Are  they  not  intended  to  destroy  our  zeal?  Are  they  not  intended  to 
animate  our  enemies?  Sir,  are  they  not  words  of  brilliant  polished 
treason,  even  in  the  very  Capital  of  the  Republic  ?"  [Here  there 
were  such  manifestations  of  applause  in  the  galleries,  as  were  with 
difficulty  suppressed.] 

Mr.  Baker  resumed,  and  turning  directly  to  Mr.  Brecken- 
ridge, enquired: 


BAKER'S  REPLY  TO  BRECKINRIDGE.  219 

"  What  would  have  been  thought,  if,  in  another  Capital,  in  another 
Republic,  in  a  yet  more  martial  age,  a  Senator  as  grave,  not  more  elo- 
quent or  dignified  than  the  Senator  from  Kentucky,  yet  with  the  Ro- 
man purple  flowing  over  his  shoulders,  had  risen  in  his  place,  sur- 
rounded by  all  the  illustrations  of  Roman  glory,  and  declared  that'the 
cause  of  advancing  Hannibal  was  just,  and  that  Carthage  ought  to  be 
dealt  with  in  terms  of  peace  ?  What  would  have  been  thought  if,  after 
the  battle  of  Cannae,  a  Senator  there  had  risen  in  hi«  place,  and  de- 
nounced every  levy  of  the  Roman  people,  every  expenditure  of  its  trea- 
sure, and  every  appeal  to  the  old  recollections  and  the  old  glories?" 

There  was  a  silence  so  profound  throughout  the  Senate  and 
galleries,  that  a  pinfall  could  have  been  heard,  while  every 
eye  was  fixed  upon  Breckeundge.  Fessenden  exclaimed,  in 
deep  low  tones,  "  he  would  have  been  hurled  from  the 
Tarpean  Rock !" 

Baker  resumed: 

"  Sir,  a  Senator,  himself  learned  far  more  than  myself,  in  such  lore, 
^Mr.  Fessenden)  tells  me,  in  a  voice  that  I  am  glad  is  audible,  that 
'he  would  have  been  hurled  from  the  Tarpean  Rock.'  It  is  a  grand 
Commentary  upon  the  American  Constitution,  that  we  permit  these 
words  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky,  to  be  uttered.  I  ask  the  Senator 
to  recollect,  too,  what,  save  to  send  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  do 
these  predictions  amount  to?  Every  word  thus  uttered,  falls  as  a  note 
of  inspiration  upon  every  Confederate  ear.  Every  sound  thus  uttered, 
is  a  word,  (and  falling  from  his  lips,  a  mighty  word)  of  kindling  and 
triumph  to  a  foe  that  determines  to  advance." 

This  was  that  Baker,  brilliant  alike  as  an  orator  and  a  sol- 
dier, who,  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  had  contested  the  palm 
of  eloquence  and  popular  favor  with  Lincoln  and  Douglas; 
he,  who  had  gone  to  California,  and  pronounced  the  memor- 
able funeral  oration  over  the  murdered  Broderick,  assassin- 
ated because,  as  he  said,  "  he  was  opposed  to  the  extension 
of  slavery  and  a  corrupt  administration."  Going  thence  to 
Oregon,  he  came  to  Washington  as  its  Senator.  After  a 
short  and  brilliant  career  in  the  Senate,  he  fell,  pierced  with 
nine  bullets  at  Ball's  Bluff,  one  of  the  early  martyrs  of  the 
war,  because,  as  he  said,  "  a  United  States  Senator  must  not 
retreat." 


220       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

In  conspicuous  contrast  with  Breckenridge,  stood  ANDREW 
JOHNSON,  of  Tennessee.  Born  in  the  humblest  station,  without 
the  advantages  of  education,  a  man  before  he  learned  to  read, 
yet  his  vigorous  intellect  and  indomitable  will  soon  raised 
him  to  distinction.  In  the  winter  of  1860-61,  while  all 
around  him  seemed  treacherous  and  faithless,  he  stood  firm, 
"  faithful  among  the  faithless."  Confidence  in  his  supposed 
firm  integrity  and  unswerving  patriotism  were  such,  that  a 
party  with  which  he  became  associated  only  because  it  was 
identified  with  the  cause  of  his  country,  generously  offered 
him  the  second  office  in  its  gift. 

On  the  2d  day  of  March,  1861,  in  reply  to  Senator  Lane, 
of  Oregon,  Johnson,  turning  to  the  party  of  conspirators, 
who  still  lingered  in  the  Senate,  exclaimed,  "  who  is  it,  that 
has  fired  on  our  flag?  Who  has  given  instructions  to  take 
our  arsenals  and  dock-yards,  to  sack  mints,  and  steal  custom 
houses?  Those  who  have  done  this,  have  they  not  been 
guilty  of  treason?  Show  me  who  has  been  engaged  in  these 
conspiracies,  who  has  fired  on  our  flag,"  said  he,  turning  to- 
wards the  rebel  Senators,  "  "Who  telegraphed  to  take  our 
forts,  dock-yards,  mints,  and  armories?  Show  me  who  did 
this,  and  I  will  show  you  a  traitor." 

This  sentiment  was  received  with  applause  by  the  galleries, 
crowded  with  Union  men,  then  present  in  Washington  to 
witness  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Mr.  Clingman 
called  for  the  clearing  of  the  galleries,  but  it  was  not  insisted 
on.  "  If  individuals  were  pointed  out  to  me,"  Johnson  contin- 
ued, "  who  were  engaged  in  nightly  conspiracies,  in  secret  con- 
claves, issuing  orders,  directing  the  capture  of  our  forts,  and 
the  taking  of  our  custom  houses,  I  would  show  you  the  trai- 
tors ;  and  that  being  done,  the  persons  pointed  out,  coming 
within  the  purview  and  scope  of  the  Constitution,  were  I  Pres- 
ident, I  would  have  done  as  Jefferson  did  with  Aaron  Burr — 
I  would  have  arrested  them,  I  would  have  caused  them  to  be 
tried  for  treason,  and  if  found  guilty,  by  the  Eternal  God,  I 
would  execute  them!"  Such  was  the  temper  of  Johnson,  in 
1861.  He  took  his  seat,  the  crowds  in  the  galleries  tried  to 
repress  their  feelings,  but  they  could  not  restrain  themselves. 
First,  a  faint  cheer  from  the  ladies'  gallery,  then  the  clapping 
of  a  pair  of  fair  hands — then  one  general,  universal  cheer,  and 


ANDREW  JOHNSON.  221 

then  three  cheers  for  the  Union,  and  three  more  for  Andrew 
Johnson,  shook  the  dome  of  the  Senate  Chamber. 

Johnson  had  zealously  supported  Breckenridge  for  Presi- 
dent, and  yet,  when  his  treason  was  developed,  he  did  not 
hesitate  one  moment,  in  denouncing  the  traitor. 

On  the  27th  of  July,  in  a  speech  in  reply  to  Breckenridge, 
after  quoting  a  remark,  that  "  when  traitors  become  numer- 
ous enough,  treason  becomes  respectable."  Yet,  said  he, 
"  God  being  willing,  whether  traitors  be  many  or  few,  as  I 
have  hitherto  waged  war  against  traitors  and  treason,  I 
intend  to  continue  it  to  the  end." 

His  denunciation  of  Jefferson  Davis  was  vehement  and 
severe.  He  said,  "  Davis  —  a  man  educated  and  nurtured  by 
the  Government,  who  sucked  its  pap,  who  received  from  it 
all  his  military  instruction,  a  man  who  got  all  his  distinction, 
civil  and  military,  in  the  service  of  this  Government,  beneath 
its  flag,  and  then  without  cause,  without  being  deprived  of  a 
single  right  or  privilege — the  sword  he  unsheathed  in  vindi- 
cation of  the  stars  and  stripes  in  a  foreign  land,  given  to  him 
by  the  hand  of  a  cherishing  mother,  he  stands  this  day, 
prepared  to  plunge  into  her  bosom." 

Conspicuous  among  the  body  of  able  Senators  from  New 
England,  was  Charles  Sumner,  with  a  reputation  as  an  orator, 
a  scholar,  a  philanthropist,  extending  beyond  his  own  country. 
He  was  recognized  as  worthy  to  represent  the  best  and  nob- 
lest, the  most  cultivated  and  purest  manhood  of  Massachu- 
setts. In  intellect  worthy  to  fill  the  place  of  Everett;  in 
purity  and  learning,  the  worthy  disciple  of  John  Quincy 
Adams;  in  singleness  of  purpose,  in  devotion  to  the  broadest 
humanity  and  liberty  for.all,  he  was  a  worthy  representative 
of  those,  who  first  taught  the  great  Christian  principle  of  the 
common  Father  and  the  Universal  brotherhood  of  man.  He 
had  experienced  in  his  own  person,  the  cowardly  brutality 
and  barbarism,  the  legitimate  offspring  of  slavery.  The  same 
spirit  which  starved  to  death  Union  prisoners  at  Anderson- 
ville,  had  sought  to  assassinate  Sumner  in  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber. The  bludgeon  of  Brooks  and  the  pistol  of  Booth,  were 
alike  aimed  by  slavery.  Providence  directed  that  the  life  of 
Lincoln  should  be  crowned  by  the  death  of  a  martyr,  but 


222  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

had  preserved  Sumner  to  aid  Lincoln  in  the  great  work  of 
the  emancipation  of  a  race. 

The  speeches  of  Sumner,, up  to  this  time,  had  one  defect, 
they  were  overloaded  with  learning.  The  great  thought  was 
too  often  concealed  under  many  quotations.  In  the  earnest- 
ness and  gravity  of  the  discussions  during  the  war,  this  fault 
disappeared.  His  speeches,  during  the  four  years  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  administration,  illustrate  our  history,  while 
influential  in  moulding  and  guiding  public  opinion. 

Among  the  more  conservative  of  the  New  England  Sena- 
tors, was  Jacob  Coliamer,  of  Vermont.  He  had  held  the 
position  of  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State,  and 
had  been  Postmaster  General  under  President  Taylor.  Dis- 
tinguished for  solid  common  sense,  minutely  familiar  with 
his  country's  history  and  its  laws,  conscientious  and  self- 
poised,  he  exerted  a  commanding  influence,  and  was  always 
listened  to  with  profound  respect. 

Senator  Fessenden,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Fi- 
nance, and  the  successor  of  Mr.  Chase,  as  Secretary  of  th« 
Treasury,  was  another  very  able  and  learned  New  England 
Senator.  Ever  ready,  ever  well  informed,  keen,  witty  and 
sarcastic;  as  a  general  debater  he  had  no  superior.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  practical  and  careful  statesmen  in  the  Senate. 

The  House  of  Representatives  of  this  memorable  Congress, 
was  composed  generally,  of  men  of  good  sense,  respectable 
"abilities,  and  of  earnest  patriotism,  rather  than  of  shining 
parts  and  high  distinction.  It  represented  and  reflected  the 
intelligence,  integrity  and  patriotism  of  the  American  peo- 
ple. This  Congress  early  realized,  that  it  had  two  great  du- 
ties towards  which  all  its  energies  should  be  directed.  These 
were  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  by  subduing  the 
rebellion,  and  extirpating  its  cause — African  slavery. 

The  leader  of  the  House,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania,  united 
the  wisdom  of  three  score  years  and  ten,  with  the  vigor  and 
energy  of  twenty-five.  He  was  the  most  sarcastic,  and  witty, 
as  well  as  the  most  eccentric  member  of  the  House.  He  waa 
respected  alike  by  friend  and  foe,  and  none  desired  a  second 
encounter  with  him  on  the  floor  of  the  House.  If  he  could 


STEVENS,  COLFAX,  MORRILL  AND  DAWES.  223 

not  demolish  with  an  argument,  he  could  annihilate  with  an 
epigram  or  a  sarcasm.  Ready,  adroit,  and  sagacious,  as  wel. 
as  bold  and  frank,  he  exerted  a  large  influence  upon  tho 
House  and  the  country.  He  was  bitter  and  uncompromising, 
rather  adapted  to  the  position  of  leader  of  the  opposition, 
than  to  conduct  and  control  the  majority. 

The  most  rising  man  in  the  House,  was  Schuyler  Colfax,  of 
Indiana,  then  in  his  fourth  term,  destined  to  be  the  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  during  the  Thirty-eighth 
and  Thirty-ninth  Congresses.  Nature  had  given  him  an  un- 
tiring capacity  for  work,  quicksighted  tact,  much  common 
sense,  great  frankness,  and  greater  kindliness.  Often  differ- 
ing from  his  political  opponents,  he«ever  roused  their  anger 
by  too  strong  statements,  or  too  harsh  an  utterance;  while 
those  who  knew  him  most,  loved  him  best.  Starting  in  life 
at  the  lowest  point  of  a  printing  office,  then  an  editor  and 
publisher,  he  gave  up  business,  after  twenty  years  trial  for 
politics,  and  became  the  representative  man  of  his  State.  He 
has  constantly  improved  since  he  entered  Congress.  Never 
an  extreme  radical  in  his  views,  yet  he  never  wavers  from  his 
ideas  of  truth.  Politics  is  now  his  profession,  and  no  man 
better  understands  its  secrets  than  Schuyler  Colfax.  As  a 
parliamentarian,  he  had  no  superior  in  the  House,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  rising  statesmen  of  the  West. 

Justin  S.  Morrill,  of  Vermont,  the  author  of  the  Morrill 
tariff,  was  one  of  the  most  laborious  men  in  Congress.  Not 
brilliant,  but  so  well  informed,  with  such  a  fund  of  practical 
knowledge  on  the  subjects  of  taxation,  tariffs,  and  finance, 
that  he  was  a  most  useful  member,  and  his  influence  upon  all 
these  subjects  was  very  great. 

Henry  L.  Dawes,  of  Massachusetts,  occupied  the  important 
position  of  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Elections.  He 
was  a  man  so  perfectly  just  and  fair;  so  candid  and  impartial, 
that  he  always  commanded  the  respect  of  all  parties.  He  had 
all  the  information  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  New  Eng- 
land gent  eman.  His  State  and  section  ever  found  in  him  a 
most  able  and  eloquent  defender.  His  colleague,  B.  F. 
Thomas,  represented  the  Quincy  district.  He  was  a  fine 
scholar,  and  a  very  able  man,  but  too  much  of  a  lawyer  for  a 


224  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

statesman.     He  was  cramped  by  technicalities,  and  became 
too  conservative  for  Massachusetts,  and  retired. 

In  the  delegation  from  New  York,  were  Roscoe  Conklin, 
an  able  debater,  and  Abraham  B.  Olin,  a  leading  member  of 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs;  Charles  B.  Sedgwick, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs ;  E.  G.  Spauld- 
ing,  a  leading  member  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means ;  and  Reuben  E.  Fenton,  subsequently  Governor  of 
that  State,  and  Erastus  Corning,  the  President  of  the  New 
York  Central  Railroad. 

In  the  delegation  from  Pennsylvania,  were  Judge  W.  D. 
Kelly,  an  able  debater,  and  an  extreme  radical;  John  Hick- 
man,  James  H.  Campbell,  Hendricks  B.  Wright,  Edward 
McPherson,  John  Covode,  James  K.  Morehead,  and  the 
Speaker,  Mr.  Grow. 

From  Ohio,  were  Pendleton,  Vallandigham,  and  Cox, 
leaders  of  the  opposition,  and  James  M.  Ashley,  and  John  A. 
Bingham,  the  latter  one  of  the  most  ready,  eloquent,  and 
effective  debaters  in  the  House. 

From  the  State  of  Illinois,  as  supporters  of  the  President, 
were  Washburne,  Lovejoy,  Kellogg,  and  Arnold.  Among 
those  who  had  supported  Douglas,  were  Richardson,  McCler- 
nand,  and  Logan.  The  two  latter  retiring  after  the  special 
session  and  going  into  the  army,  became  distinguished  in  the 
field. 

Among  the  members  from  Wisconsin,  was  John  F.  Pot- 
ter, a  radical  abolitionist,  and  a  resolute,  true  man.  During 
the  Thirty-sixth  Congress,  he  accepted  a  challenge  from 
Roger  A.  Pryor,  of  Virginia,  but  Pryor  did  not  choose  to 
fight  the  member  from  Wisconsin. 

Among  the  members  known  as  anti-slavery  men,  the  most 
widely  distinguished,  perhaps,  was  Owen  Lovejoy,  of  Illinois. 
He  was  the  brother  of  that  Lovejoy,  who  fell  a  martyr  to 
freedom  and  the  liberty  of  the  Press,  at  Alton,  Illinois, 
twenty-five  years  before.  After  the  death  of  his  brother, 
kneeling  upon  his  grave,  he  swore  eternal  hostility  to  slavery, 
and  solemnly  dedicated  himself  to  the  anti-slavery  cause. 
He  was  a  man  of  powerful  frame,  strong  feelings,  great  per- 
sonal magnetic  power,  and  one  of  the  most  effective  stump 


OWEN  LOVEJOY.  225 

speakers  in  the  United  States.  As  early  as  1838,  he  aided  in 
the  organization  of  the  Liberty  party.  He  was  by  profession, 
a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  but  he  now  went  forth  among  the 
people,  and  with  a  tongue  of  fire,  and  a  vehemence  and  pas- 
sionate energy  that  ever  carried  the  masses  with  him,  spoke 
and  preached  against  slavery.  In  the  log  school  houses,  the 
churches,  on  the  open  prairies,  and  in  the  groves  of  the  West, 
he  preached  his  crusade  against  slavery.  His  party  grew  and 
increased  with  each  election.  He  was  sent,  first  to  the  Illi- 
nois Legislature,  and  then  to  Congress,  and  there,  while 
slavery  yet  held  control,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  beard  the  lion 
in  his  den.  He  had  seen  the  rise  and  growth  of  the  anti- 
slavery  cause,  from  the  time  when  its  friends  were  mocked, 
mobbed,  outraged,  and  every  way  abused,  until  increasing  and 
growing,  it  had  become  a  power  in  the  land;  had  elected  a 
President,  and  now  held  control  of  both  Houses  of  Congress. 
In  February  1859,  during  his  first  term  in  Congress,  in  re- 
ply to  the  furious  denunciations  of  the  slave  holders,  charg- 
ing, among  other  things,  upon  the  floor  of  Congress,  that  he 
was  a  "  negro  stealer"  he  indignantly  and  defiantly  exclaimed : 

' '  Yes,  I  do  assist  fugitive  slaves  to  escape  !  Proclaim  it  upon  the 
house-tops ;  write  it  upon  every  leaf  that  trembles  in  the  forest ;  make 
it  blaze  from  the  sun  at  high  noon,  and  shine  forth  in  the  radiance  of 
every  star  that  bedecks  the  firmament  of  God.  Let  it  echo  through  all 
the  arches  of  heaven,  and  reverberate  and  bellow  through  all  the  deep 
gorges  of  hell,  where  slave  catchers  will  be  very  likely  to  hear  it.  Owen 
Lovejoy  lives  afe  Princeton,  Illinois,  and  he  aids  every  fugitive  that 
comes  to  his  door  and  asks  it.  Thou  invisible  demon  of  slavery!  dost 
thou  think  to  cross  my  humble  threshold,  and  forbid  me  to  give  bread 
to  the  hungry  and  shelter  to  the  houseless  ?  I  bid  you  defiance  in  the 
name  of  God." 

The  first  great  measure  of  this  Congress,  looking  to  the 
slave  question,  was  a  bill  reported  by  Senator  Trumbull, 
Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  to  confiscate  all  prop- 
erty, and  free  all  slaves  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes. 
Mr.  Breckinridge  vehemently  opposed  the  bill,  and  stated 
that  it  was  one  of  a  series  of  measures  which  would  amount 
to  the  "  loosening  of  all  bonds." 
15 


226  LINCOLN   AND   THE    OVERTHROW   OF   SLAVERY. 

Senators  justified  their  vote  for  the  bill,  on  the  ground, 
that  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  fought  on  Sunday,  July  21, 
the  rebels  had  used  the  negroes  and  slaves  in  battle  against 
the  Union  army.  The  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  thirty-three 
to  six.  In  the  House  of  Representatives  Mr.  Burnett,  of 
Kentucky,  a  member  who  joined  the  rebel  army,  immediate- 
ly after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  declared  that  the  bill 
would  amount  to  a  wholesale  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in 
the  rebellious  States.  Mr.  Cox  of  Ohio,  opposed  the  bill. 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  Chairman  of  the  committee  of  "Ways  and 
Means,  ably  advocated  it.  He  said : 

"  I  warn  Southern  gentlemen,  that  if  this  war  continues,  there  will 
be  a  time  when  it  will  be  declared  by  this  free  nation,  that  every  bond- 
man in  the  South,  belonging  to  a  rebel,  (recollect,  I  confine  it  to  them,) 
shall  be  called  upon  to  aid  us  in  war  against  their  masters,  and  to  restore 
the  Union." 

On  the  third  of  August  the  bill  passed.  It  is  a  remark- 
able fact,  how  reluctantly  members  touched  slavery,  and  in- 
dicates how  slowly  the  public  mind  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  surest  way  to  destroy  the  rebellion,  was  to  destroy 
slavery.  Some  of  the  best  and  most  patriotic  men  in 
Congress,  voted  against  this  bill ;  among  them  Messrs.  Bai- 
ley, Crittenden,  Diven,  Haight,  Hale,  Odell,  McPherson,  Rol- 
lins and  others. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  the  slaves  flocked  to 
the  Union  army,  as  to  a  haven  of  refuge.  They  believed 
freedom  was  to  be  found  within  its  picket  lines,  and  under  thi 
shelter  of  its  flag.  They  were  ready  to  act  as  guides,  to  dig, 
to  work,  to  fight  for  liberty.  The  Yankees,  as  their  masters 
called  the  Union  troops,  were  believed  by  them,  to  come  as 
their  deliverers  from  long  and  cruel  bondage.  And  yet,  al- 
most incredible  as  it  may  now  seem,  many  officers  permitted 
masters  and  agents  to  enter  their  lines  and  carry  away,  by 
force,  these  fugitive  slaves.  Many  cruelties  and  outrages 
were  perpetrated  by  these  masters,  and  in  many  instances, 
the  colored  men,  who  had  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  < 
Union  cause,  were  permitted  to  be  carried  from  beneath  the 
flag  of  the  Union  back  to  bondage. 


SLAVERY   IN   THE   BORDER   STATES.  227 

Lovejoy  was  most  indignant  at  this  stupid  and  inhuman 
treatment,  and  early  in  the  special  session,  introduced  a  res- 
olution declaring  that  it  was  no  part  of  the  duty  of  the  sol- 
diers of  the  United  States,  to  capture  and  return  fugitive, 
slaves.  This  passed  the  House  by  the  very  large  majority  of 
ayes  ninety  three,  nays  fifty  nine. 

In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Powell  of  Kentucky,  proposed  to  amend 
the  Army  Bill,  by  providing  that  no  part  of  the  army  should 
be  employed  "  in  subjugating  or  holding,  as  a  conquered 
province,  any  sovereign  State,  or  in  freeing  any  slave."  The 
amendment  was  rejected.  Senators  from  the  slave  holding 
States  were  advised  that  slavery  would  not  survive,  in  any 
State,  the  march  of  Union  armies. 

There  were,  in  the  border  States,  many  Union  men  who 
desired  to  maintain  the  Union,  and  wished,  also,  that  there 
might  be  no  interference  with  the  institution  of  slavery. 
These  men,  with  the  small  band  of  anti-slavery  men  in 
Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Missouri  had  rendered  efficient  aid 
in  preventing  those  States  from  seceding.  Their  representa- 
tive man  in  Congress  was  the  aged,  venerable,  and  eloquent 
John  J.  Crittenden  of  Kentucky.  He  had  been  the  confi- 
dential friend  and  colleague  of  Clay,  and  had  never  faltered 
in  his  loyalty  to  the  Union.  He  had  been  conspicuous  in 
the  session  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress,  in  attempting 
to  bring  about  terms  of  compromise,  to  prevent  the 
threatened  war. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  on  motion  of  General  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand,  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
one,  to  five,  adopted  a  resolution,  pledging  itself  to  vote  any 
amount  of  money  and  any  number  of  men,  which  might  be 
necessary  to  ensure  a  speedy  and  effectual  suppression  of  the 
rebellion. 

On  the  22d  of  July  1861,  Mr.  Crittenden  offered  the  fol- 
lowing resolution,  defining  the  object  of  the  war  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  present  deplorable  civil  war  has  been  forced 
upon  the  country,  by  the  disunionists  of  the  Southern  States,  now  in 
revolt  against  the  Constitutional  Government,  and  in  arms,  around  the 
Capital ;  that,  in  this  National  emergency  Congress,  banishing  all  feel- 
ing of  mere  passion  or  resentment,  will  recollect  only  its  duty  to  the 


228  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

whole  country;  that  this  war  is  not  waged,  upon  our  part,  in  any 
spirit  of  oppression,  nor  for  any  purpose  of  conquest,  or  subjugation, 
nor  purpose  of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  estab- 
lished institutions  of  those  States ;  but  to  defend  and  maintain  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union,  with  all  the 
dignity,  equality  and  rights  of  the  several  States  unimpaired ;  that  aa 
soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished,  the  war  ought  to  cease." 

It  was  adopted  by  the  House,  there  being  only  two  dissent- 
ing votes.  It  served  to  allay  the  apprehensions  of  the  bor- 
der States,  whose  sensitiveness  had  been  excited  by  the  agents 
and  abettors  of  the  rebellion. 

The  special  session  of  Congress,  confined  its  action  to 
measures  connected  with  the  war,  and  did  comparatively  lit- 
tle in  the  way  of  general  legislation.  After  long  debate,  it 
sanctioned  the  acts  of  President  Lincoln,  and  voted  more 
than  all  the  men  and  means  he  had  called  for  to  suppress  the 
insurrection.  Its  anti-slavery  action  was  confined  to  a  rebuke 
of  the  army  officers,  for  returning  fugitive  slaves  ;  and  the 
agitation  and  passage  of  the  bill,  confiscating  the  property, 
and  freeing  slaves  employed  to  aid  in  the  rebellion.'  This 
became  a  law  on  the  6th  of  August,  and  was  the  first  in  that 
series  of  measures,  which  resulted  in  the  language  of  Breok- 
inridge,  in  "loosening  all  'bonds." 

But  the  discussions  which  occurred  on  the  floor  of  tho 
Capitol,  contributed  largely,  to  the  formation  of  that  public 
sentiment,  which  resulted  in  the  final  overthrow  of  slavery 
by  the  President's  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  The  way 
was  being  prepared. 

One  of  the  most  memorable  speeches  of  this  session,  dis; 
tinguished  alike  for  its  eloquence,  boldness  and  sagacity,  was 
that  of  Senator  Baker,  on  a  resolution  approving  the  acts  of 
President  Lincoln,  in  calling  out  men,  in  raising  an  army, 
suspending  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  and  other  acts  to 
suppress  the  insurrection.  He  said : 

"  As  a  personal  and  political  friend  of  the  President,  I  approve  of 
every  measure  of  his  administration,  in  relation  to  the  troubles  of  tne 
country.  I  propose  to  ratify  whatever  needs  ratification.  I  propose 
to  render  my  clear  and  distinct  approval,  not  only  of  the  measure,  but 


SENATOR   BAKER.  229 

of  the  motive  which  prompted  it.  I  propose  to  lead  the  whole  power 
of  the  country — arms,  men,  money,  and  place  them  in  his  hands,  with 
authority,  almost  unlimited,  until  the  conclusion  of  this  struggle.  He 
has  asked  for  $400,000,000.  We  propose  to  give  him  $500,000,000 
He  has  asked  for  four  hundred  thousand  men.  We  propose  to  give 
him  half  a  million,  and  for  my  part,  if,  as  I  do  not  apprehend,  the 
emergency  should  still  be  greater,  I  will  cheerfully  add  a  cipher  to 
either  of  these  figures. 

"But,  sir,  while  I  do  that,  I  desire  by  my  word  and  my  vote,  to  have 
it  clearly  understood,  that  I  do  that  as  a  measure  of  war.  As  I  had 
occasion  to  say  in  ~a  very  early  discussion  of  this  question,  I  want  sud- 
den, bold,  forward,  determined  war.  I  do  not  think  any  body  can 
conduct  one  of  that  kind,  as  well  as  a  dictator.  But,  as  a  Senator,  I 
deem  it  my  duty  to  look  forward  to  returning  peace.  I  do  not  believe 
it  will  be  longer  than  next  February. 

"  Till  danger's  troubled  night  is  o'er, 

And  the  star  of  peace  returns." ' 

Whether  that  peace  shall  be  conquered  at  Richmond,  or  Montgom- 
ery, or  New  Orleans,  or  in  the  wilds  of  Texas,  I  do  not  presume  to 
say;  but  I  do  know,  if  I  may  use  so  bold  a  word,  that  the  determined 
aggregated  power  of  the  whole  people  of  this  country — all  its  treasure, 
all  its  arms,  all  its  blood,  all  its  enthusiasm,  kindled,  concentrated, 
poured  out,  in  one  mass  of  living  valor,  upon  any  foe,  will  conquer. 

"1  believe,  with  most  gentlemen,  that  the  Union  sentiment  will  yet 
prevail  in  the  Southern  States.  Bayonets  are  sharp  remedies,  but  they 
are  very  powerful.  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  there  may  be 
reverses.  I  am  not  quite  confident  that  we  shall  overrun  the  Southern 
States,  as  we  shall  have  to  overrun  them,  without  severe  trials  of 
our  courage  and  our  patience.  I  believe  they  are  a  brave,  determined 
people,  filled  with  enthusiasm,  false  in  its  purposes,  as  I  think,  but 
still,  one  which  animates  almost  all  classes  of  their  population.  But 
however  that  may  be,  it  may  be  that  instead  of  finding  within  a  year, 
loyal  States  sending  members  to  Congress,  and  replacing  their  Senators 
upon  this  floor,  we  may  have  to  reduce  them  to  the  condition  of  terri- 
tories, and  send  from  Massachusetts,  or  from  Illinois,  Governors  to  con- 
trol them.  It  may  be  ;  and  sir,  if  need  come,  I  am  one  of  those  who 
would  be  willing  to  do  it.  I  would  do  that ;  I  would  risk,  even  the 
stigma  of  being  despotic  and  oppressive,  rather  than  risk  the  perpetu- 
ity of  the  Union  of  these  States.  I  repeat,  and  with  that  repetition  I 
close.  Fight  the  war  through ;  accomplish  a  peace ;  make  it  so  per- 
fect and  so  permanent,  that  a  boy  may  preserve  it ;  and  when  you  have 
done  that,  you  have  no  more  need  for  a  standing  army." 


230       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  right  of  the  President  to  increase  the  regular  Army, 
and  to  suspend  the  Habeas  Corpus  were  gravely  questioned. 
Indeed,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  right  to  increase  the  regular 
Army,  Mr.  Lincoln  himself,  regarded  it  as  an  act  called  out 
by  imperious  necessity,  and  requiring  the  sanction  of  Con- 
gress to  legalize.  Mr.  Sherman  of  Ohio,  said : 

"  I  believe  that  the  President  had  the  right,  and  that  it  was  his  duty 
to  issue  the  Proclamation  of  April  last.  I  believe  he  had  a  right ;  it 
was  a  part  of  the  power  of  suppressing  an  insurrection,  to  blockade  the 
ports  of  the  States,  or  any  of  them.  I  do  not  believe  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  has  the  power  to  suspend  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus, 
because  that  power  is  expressly  given  by  the  Constitution  to  Con- 
gress and  to  Congress  alone ;  and  therefore  I  cannot  vote  for  either 
of  the  last  three  propositions  —  the  fourth,  the  fifth  or  the  sixth. 
Still,  I  approve  of  the  action  of  the  President.  I  believe  the  President 
did  right.  He  did  precisely  what  I  would  have  done  if  I  had  been  in 
his  place ;  no  more,  no  less ;  but  I  cannot,  here,  in  my  place  as  a  Sen- 
ator under  oath,  declare  that  what  he  did,  was  legal.  I  may  say  it  was 
proper,  and  was  justified  by  the  necessity  of  the  case ;  but,  I  cannot, 
here,  in  my  place,  under  oath,  declare  that  it  was  strictly  legal,  and  in 
consonance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  I  shall,  therefore, 
be  compelled  to  vote  against  the  resolution." 

Congress  by  large  majorities,  both  in  the  Senate,  and  m 
the  House  legalized  and  approved,  of  all  the  acts,  proclam- 
ations and  orders  of  the  President,  respecting  the  Army  and 
Navy,  and  calling  out  the  militia  and  enrolling  volunteers.* 

There  had,  up  to  July,  already  gathered  to  the  standard  of 
the  Union,  many  more  men  than  the  number  mentioned  in 
the  President's  call.  These  troops  held  Fortress  Monroe  and 
vicinity ;  garrisoned  Baltimore,  guarded  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad  and  other  roads  leading  to  the  Capital,  besides 
which,  there  were  at  Washington  some  30,000  troops.  A 
force  under  General  George  B.  McClellan  were  driving  1'ie 
rebels  out  of  West  Virginia.  The  insurgents,  under  Beaure- 
gard,  confronted  the  troops  near  the  Capital,  with  an  equal, 
if  not  superior  force,  holding  a  position  along  Bull  Run 
Creek ;  their  right  resting  on  Manassas,  and  their  left  at 

•Act  of  August  5,  1861. 


BULL   BUN.  231 

Winchester,  under  General  Johnston.  It  was  determined  to 
attack  this  force,  and  the  Union  army  under  General  Mc- 
Dowell, left  its  camps  near  the  Potomac  on  the  16th  of  July, 
and  attacked  the  enemy  on  the  21st.  The  attack  was  skill- 
fully planned,  and  was  at  first  successful,  until  reinforcements 
under  Johnson  arriving  opportunely,  at  the  crisis  of  the  hat 
tie,  saved  the  insurgents  from  a  defeat,  and  enabled  them  to 
repulse  the  Union  troops  and  drive  them  hack  from  the  base 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  to  the  defences  of  Washington.  There 
never  was  a  more  mortifying  defeat  than  that  sustained  by 
the  National  forces  at  Bull  Run.  It  took  the  people  com- 
pletely by  surprise.  They,  and  the  Union  soldiers  had  not 
appreciated  the  strength  and  magnitude  of  the  rebellion, 
nor  the  fierce  vigor  with  which  the  rebels  would  fight. 

With  this  battle,  commenced  the  exhibition  of  those  fe- 
rocious cruelties  and  barbarities,  which,  to  a  great  extent, 
characterized  the  insurgents  during  the  war.  There  was  a 
hatred  arid  ferocity  on  the  part  of  the  rebels  towards  the 
Union  soldiers,  scarcely  paralleled,  and  which  was  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  conciliatory  feelings  of  the  loyalists  towards 
the  rebels.  The  latter  robbed  and  mutilated  the  dead  upon 
the  battle  field,  and  wore  the  bones  of  the  fallen  as  personal 
ornaments.  These  things  it  were  well  to  forget,  except  that 
they  illustrate  the  barbarism  produced  by  slavery,  and  there- 
fore, the  truth  of  history  demands  their  record.  The  slave- 
holders have  ceased  to  exist,  because  slavery  has  been  des- 
troyed, but  as  a  beacon  and  a  warning,  the  real  character  of 
the  men  produced  by  this  institution,  should  be  truthfully  de- 
scribed. The  public  mind  was  learning  to  recognize  the  re- 
bellion as  slavery  in  arms.  It  was  advancing  towards  that 
position  in  which  slavery  was  to  be  attacked  directly.  But 
yet,  the  Country,  the  Army  and  the  President  hesitated. 

Much  has  been  said  by  the  Press,  about  this  battle  being 
forced  upon  the  military  authorities  by  the  President,  who, 
it  was  asserted,  had  been  influenced  by  popular  clamor  and 
the  cry  of  "  On  to  Richmond."  It  was  said  that  General 
Scott  was  forced  to  fight  this  battle  before  he  was  ready.  li. 
is  true,  the  cry  of  "On  to  Richmond"  was  very  general,  but 
it  is  known,  that  when  General  Johnston  had  escaped  from 


232  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

General  Patterson,  and  was  marching  to  join  Beauregard, 
President  Lincoln  suggested  to  General  Scott,  the  propriety 
of  delaying  until  Patterson's  corps  could  co-operate  with  the 
Union  army  at  Centreville.  General  Cameron,  Secretary  of 
War,  returned  from  the  field  on  Saturday  before  the  battle, 
and  urged  the  sending  of  re-inforcements;  and  five  regimen ta 
were  started  towards  Bull  Run  but  did  not  reach  there  in 
time  to  participate  in  the  engagement. 

The  disaster  of  Bull  Run,  mortified  the  National  vanity 
and  pride,  but  aroused  also  the  National  spirit  and  courage. 
The  morning  following  the  defeat,  witnessed  dispatches  flash- 
ing over  the  wires  to  every  part  of  the  North,  authorizing  the 
reception  of  the  eager  regiments,  ready  to  enter  the  service 
and  retrieve  the  results  of  the  battle.  The  Administration 
and  the  people,  immediately  they  learned  of  the  loss  of  this 
battle,  set  themselves  vigorously  to  increase  and  re-organ- 
ize the  army.  Grave  and  thoughtful  men  left  their  private 
pursuits  and  organized  regiments,  and  offered  them  to  the 
Government.  None  were  now  refused. 

The  popular  feeling  through  the  loyal  States  again  rose  to 
an  extent  even  greater  and  deeper  than  that  which  followed 
the  attack  upon  Fort  Sumter. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  more  striking  and  curious  exhibition 
of  it,  than  was  shown  in  the  devices  and  inscriptions  upon 
the  envelopes  of  letters  passing  through  the  post-office,  among 
the  masses  of  the  people  and  the  soldiers.  Every  envelope 
had  engraved  upon  it,  in  rude  wood-cuts  or  steel,  some  patri- 
otic emblem,  motto,  or  the  head  of  some  popular  leader  or 
General.  The  heads  most  frequently  thus  honored,  at  this 
time,  were  those  of  Washington,  Scott,  Lincoln,  Lyon,  Ells- 
worth, Douglas,  McClellau,  Anderson,  Foote,  Grant,  Fre- 
mont, Rosecrans  and  Dix.  The  Flag,  the  Eagle,  the  Nation- 
al Arms,  Liberty,  the  Temple  of  Freedom,  the  Capitol,  and 
Mt.  Vernon,  were  among  the  emblems  engraved.  Mottoes 
expressing  devotion  to  the  Union,  to  liberty,  to  loyalty,  were 
almost  universally  printed  on  the  envelopes  :  such  as  "Lib- 
erty or  death;"  "  Liberty  and  Union;"  "We  have  beat  our 
last  retreat;"  "Victory  or  death;"  "Death  to  Traitors;" 
"  Strike  till  the  last  armed  foe  expires;"  "One  people  and 


POPULAR   FEELING   AFTER   BULL   RUN.  233 

one  Government  from  ocean  to  ocean,  from  the  Lakes  to  the 
Gulf;"  Remember  Ellsworth;"  "Not  a  star  shall  fall ;"  "  Our 
hearts  are  with  the  heroes  who  defend  our  glorious  flag;"  "Fear 
not,  Abraham,  I  am  thy  shield,  and  thy  exceeding  great 
reward;"  "Death  to  Slavery;"  "Down  with  the  slave-holders;" 

"  We  are  coming,  Father  Abraham, 
Six  hundred  thousand  more !" 

These,  and  hundreds  of  others  gave  expression  to  the  deep 
and  all  pervading  feelings  of  the  people. 

Expeditions  were  organized  and  sent  to  the  south,  and  Fort 
Hatteras  was  surrendered  to  the  Union  troops  on  the  28th 
August.  On  the  31st  of  October  Port  Royal  came  into  possess- 
ion of  the  Union  army.  The  rebels  were  driven  out  of  West 
Virginia,  and  General  George  B.  McClellan,  who  had  been  in 
command  there,  and  who  was  believed  at  the  time,  to  pos- 
sess military  ability  of  a  high  order,  was  called  to  command 
the  armies  again  gathering  in  vast  numbers  around  the  Cap- 
ital. In  October,  General  Scott  retired  on  account  of  age  and 
infirmity,  and  General  McClellan  was  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand. The  policy  governing  the  Administration  as  announc- 
ed on  the  close  of  the  special  session  of  Congress  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  was  to  receive  all  fugitive  slaves,  as  well  from  loyal 
as  disloyal  masters,  and  employ  them  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  under  such  '  organizations"  and  in  such  "  occu- 
pations" as  might  be  most  convenient.  The  troops,  however, 
were  not  permitted  to  interfere  with  the  servants  of  peaceful 
citizens,  nor  were  they  to  be  permitted  to  encourage  such 
servants  to  leave  their  masters,  nor  was  the  army  to  prevent 
the  voluntary  return  of  slaves.  Slavery  was  still  tenderly 
treated.  The  superstitious  regard  for  it,  which  pervaded  the 
Nation,  as  if  the  Union  was  in  some  mysterious  way,  bound 
up  with  the  institution,  still  lingered.  The  question  was  not, 
as  in  stern  war,  how  can  most  destruction  be  dealt  to  the  slave 
holder,  as  the  enemy  of  the  Country?  but  rather,  how  can 
the  countiy  carry  on  war,  and  do  the  institution  the  least 
harm  ?  But  war  is  a  stern  and  rapid  teacher,  and  these  long 
cherished  notions,  were  fast  disappearing  before  the  roar  of 
rebel  guns  and  the  flash  of  rebel  swords. 


234       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHREW  OF  SLAVERY. 

John  C.  Fremont  was  abroad,  at  Paris,  at  the  breaking 
out  of  the  rebellion.  This  ardent  soldier,  whose  adventures, 
in  tracing  a  route  across  the  Continent  for  the  Pacific  Rail- 
way, had  given  him  the  name  of  the  "Path-finder,"  had  long 
been  the  object  of  romantic  admiration,  on  the  part  of  the 
American  people.  He  had  been  the  candidate  of  the  Repub- 
licans for  the  Presidency  in  1856,  and  he  was,  for  a  time,  a 
popular  idol  among  a  large  portion  of  the  people.  He  has- 
tened home  and  offered  his  sword  to  the  Government.  He 
was  immediately  appointed  a  Major  General,  and  given 
command  of  the  Western  Department,  embracing1  Missouri 
and  a  part  of  Kentucky.  On  the  31st  of  August,  he  issued 
an  order  declaring  martial  law  throughout  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri, and  declaring  that  the  property,  real  and  personal,  of 
all  persons  in  that  State,  who  should  take  up  arms  against 
the  United  States,  or  who  should  be  proved  to  have  taken  an 
active  part  with  their  enemies  in  the  field,  "is  declared  con- 
fiscated to  the  public  use,  and  their  slaves,  if  any  they  have,  are 
hereby  declared  free." 

At  this  time,  the  contest  in  Kentucky,  between  the  traitors 
and  Unionists,  was  of  doubtful  result.  The  order  went  far 
beyond  the  act  of  Congress,  which,  up  to  this  time,  freed 
such  slaves  only  as  were  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes, 
or  in  aid  of  the  rebellion.  It  was  not  in  accordance  with  the 
instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  It  was  clearly  compe- 
tent for  the  President,  under  the  war  power,  and  independent 
of  the  act  of  Congress,  to  issue  such  an  order ;  but  he  was 
not  prepared  as  yet  to  take  such  a  step,  and  it  was  more 
proper,  when  taken,  that  it  should  emanate  from  the  Presi- 
dent, as  the  Commander-in-Chief,  than  from  a  subordinate, 
and  apply,  generally,  throughout  the  States  in  rebellion.  The 
order,  however,  was  hailed  with  enthusiastic  delight  by  im- 
pulsive and  ardent  patriots  throughout  the  Union.  Even 
the  New  York  Herald  approved  it.  But  it  tended  seriously 
to  embarrass  the  Executive,  in  his  efforts  to  retain  Maryland 
and  Kentucky  in  the  Union.  The  spirit  in  which  it  was  re- 
ceived in  Kentucky,  appears  from  a  letter  of  Hon.  Joseph 
Holt  to  the  President.  After  pointing  out  the  violation  of 
the  act  of  Congress,  he  says : 


JOSEPH   HOLT   TO   THE    PRESIDENT.  235 

"  You  may  judge  of  the  alarm  and  condemnation  with  which  the 
Union  loving  citizens  of  Kentucky  have  received  this  proclamation. 
The  hope  is  earnestly  indulged  by  them,  as  it  is  by  myself,  that  this 
paper  was  issued  under  the  pressure  of  military  necessity,  which  Gen- 
eral Fremont  believed  justified  the  step;  but  that  in  the  particulars 
specified,  it  has  not  your  approbation,  and  will  not  be  enforced  in  dero- 
gation of  law.  The  magnitude  of  the  interest  at  stake,  and  my  ex- 
treme desire  that  by  no  misapprehension  of  your  sentiments  or  purpos- 
es, shall  the  power  and  fervor  of  the  loyalty  of  Kentucky  be  at  this 
moment  abated  or  chilled,  must  be  my  apology  for  the  frankness  with 
which  I  have  addressed  you,  and  for  the  request  I  venture  to  make, 
of  an  expression  of  your  views  upon  the  points  of  General  Fremont's 
proclamation,  on  which  I  have  commented. 

The  President,  after  mature  deliberation,  requested  Gen- 
eral Fremont  to  modify  this  order  ;  but  on  the  General's  ex- 
pressing a  preference  that  the  President  should  himself  do 
so,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  an  order,  modifying  the  proclamation 
of  Fremont  so  far  as  to  make  it  conform  to  the  act  of 
Congress. 

Even  this  modification  subjected  the  President  to  much 
censure ;  but  his  own  explanation  of  his  modification  of  this 
order  contains  a  complete  vindication  of  his  conduct.  He 
says: 

When,  early  in  the  war,  General  1  remont  attempted  military  emancipation,  I 
forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  think  it  an  indispensable  necessity.  When  a  little 
later,  General  Cameron,  then  Secretary  of  War,  suggested  the  arming  of  the  blacks, 
I  objected.because  I  did  not  yet  think  it  an  indispensable  necessity.  When  still  later, 
General  Hunter  attempted  military  emancipation,  I  again  forbade  it,  because  I 
did  not  yet  think  the  indispensable  necessity  had  come.  When,  in  March  and 
May  and  July,  1862, 1  made  earnest,  and  successive  appeals  to  the  border  States,  to 
favor  compensated  emancipation,  I  believed  the  indispensable  necessity  for  mili- 
tary emancipation,  and  arming  the  blacks,  would  come,  unless  averted  by  that 
measure.  They  declined  the  proposition,  and  I  was,  in  my  best  judgment,  driven 
to  the  alternative  of  either  surrendering  the  Union,  and  with  it  the  Constitution, 
or  of  laying  strong  hands  upon  the  colored  element.  I  chose  the  latter.  In  choos- 
ing It,  I  hoped  for  greater  gain  than  loss,  but  of  this  I  was  not  entirely  confident 
More  than  a  year  of  trial  now  shows  no  loss  by  it  in  our  foreign  relations,  none 
in  our  home  popular  sentiment,  none  in  our  white  military  force  —  no  loss  by  it 
anyhow  or  anywhere.  On  the  contrary,  it  shows  a  gain  of  quite  a  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  soldiers,  seamen  and  laborers.  These  are  palpable  facts,  about 
which,  as  facts,  there  can  be  no  caviling.  We  have  the  men,  and  we  could  not 
have  had  them  without  the  measure. 

And  now,  Jet  any  Union  man  who  complains  of  this  measure,  test  himse':f  by 
writing  down  in  one  line,  that  he  is  for  subduing  the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms; 
and  in  the  next,  that  he  is  for  taking  these  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  men 
from  the  Union  side,  and  placing  them  where  they  would  be  best  for  the  measure 
he  condemns.  If  he  cannot  face  his  case  so  stated,  it  is  only  because  he  cannot 
face  the  truth. 


236  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

I  add  a  word  which  was  not  in  the  verbal  conversation.  In  telling  this  tale,  I 
attempt  no  compliment  to  my  own  sagacity.  I  claim  not  to  have  controlled 
events,  but  confess  plainly,  that  events  have  controlled  me.  Now,  at  the  end  of 
three  years'  struggle,  the  Nation's  condition  is  not  what  either  party  or  any  man 
desired  or  expected.  God  alone  can  claim  it.  Whither  it  is  tending  seems  plain. 
If  God  now  wills  the  removal  of  a  great  wrong,  and  wills  also  that  we  of  the  North, 
as  well  as  you  of  the  South,  shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complicity  in  that  wrong, 
impartial  history  will  find  therein  new  causes  to  attest  and  revere  the  justice  and 
goodness  of  God. 

From  this  time,  strenuous  efforts  were  being  constantly 
made  to  induce  the  President  to  abandon  what  was  called 
the  "border  State  policy,"  and  to  proclaim  universal  eman- 
cipation of  all  the  slaves,  and  also  to  arm  and  employ  them 
as  soldiers  against  the  rebellion. 

A  step  towards  this  policy,  and  another  step  towards 
emancipation  was  taken  October  14,  1861,  by  the  orders 
issued  by  General  Cameron,  as  Secretary  of  "War,  to  Gen- 
eral Sherman,  then  about  to  assume  command  in  South 
Carolina. 

The  following  extract  shows  its  character  : 

You  will  however,  in  general,  avail  yourself  of  the  services  of  any  persons, 
whether  fugitives  from  labor  or  not.who  may  offer  themselves  to  the  National  Gov- 
ernment. You  will  employ  such  persons  in  such  services  as  they  may  be  fitted  for, 
either  as  ordinary  employees,  or,  if.  "special"  [the  word  special  interlined  by 
President  Lincoln,  and  in  his  own  handwriting,]  circumstances  seem  to  require 
it,  in  any  other  capacity,  with  such  organization  in  squads,  companies  or  other- 
wise, as  you  may  deem  most  beneficial  to  the  service.  ["  This  however  not  to 
mean  a  general  arming  of  them  for  military  service."*]  You  will  assure  all  loyal 
masters,  that  Congress  will  provide  just  compensation  to  them  for  the  loss  of  the 
services  of  the  persons  so  employed.  And  you  will  assure  all  persons  held  to 
involuntary  labor,  who  may  be  thus  received  into  the  service  of  the  Government, 
that  they  will,  under  no  circumstances,  be  again  reduced  to  their  former  condi- 
tion, unless  at  the  expiration  of  their  respective  terms  of  service,  they  freely 
choose  to  return  to  the  service  of  their  former  masters. 

It  is  believed  that  the  course  thus  indicated,  will  best  secure  the  substantial 
rights  of  loyal  masters,  and  the  -proper  benefits  to  the  United  States,  of  the 
services  of  all  disposed  to  support  the  Government,  while  it  will  avoid  all  inter- 
ference with  the  social  systems  or  local  institutions  of  every  State,  beyond  that 
which  insurrection  makes  unavoidable,  and  which  a  restoration  of  peaceful 
relations  to  the  Union  under  the  Constitution,  will  immediately  remove.f 

This  was  the  first  authority  conferred  upon  any  commander 
to  avail  himself  of  the  services  of  fugitives  from  labor,  and 
authorizing  their  organization  into  "squads,  companies  or 
otherwise,  as  might  be  most  beneficial  to  the  service." 

*  This  sentence  interlined  by  the  President. 

fTaken  from  the  original  draft,  with  the  President's  interlineation,  in  possession 
•){  Mr.  Cameron. 


ARMING  NEGROES  AS  SOLDIERS.  237 

It  was  the  inauguration  of  the  policy  of  arming  the  colored 
men,  and  was  a  most  memorable  event  in  the  progress  of 
that  history,  which  placed  nearly  two  hundred  thousand 
colored  men  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  The  sensi- 
tiveness of  the  public  mind  appears  by  the  peculiar  terms  of 
the  order,  and  especially  by  the  words  interlined  by  President 
Lincoln,  qualifying  the  order,  and  disclaiming  the  idea  that 
this  was  to  *'  mean  a  general  arming  of  them  for  military 
service."  It  undoubtedly  was  the  meaning  and  intention  of 
the  Secretary  of  War,  except  for  such  qualification,  that  there 
should  be  a  general  arming  for  military  service,  as  private 
orders  were  given  by  General  Cameron  to  General  Sherman, 
to  take  with  him  to  South  Carolina  ten  thousand  extra 
muskets.  The  execution  of  this  order  necessarily  involved 
emancipation.  It  was  submitted  to  the  President,  and  re- 
ceived his  careful  consideration  and  deliberate  sanction,  and 
it  was  peculiarly  appropriate  that  as  the  rebellion  had  its 
origin  in  South  Carolina,  the  policy  of  emancipation  should 
be  inaugurated  there. 

In  the  meantime,  what  had  been  the  progress  of  the  Union 
arms?  The  disastrous  battle  of  Bull  Run  occurred  on  the 
21st  of  July.  The  administration,  as  has  been  stated,  mani- 
fested the  utmost  vigor  in  reorganizing  and  enlarging  the 
armies. 

It  now  adopted  the  policy  of  placing  at  the  head  of  the 
armies,  young,  ambitious  and  active  men,  and  those  who 
fully  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  people. 

On  the  25th  of  July,  General  Fremont  had  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  the  West.  General  N.  P.  Banks 
reached  Harpers'  Ferry,  relieving  General  Patterson,  by 
whose  tardy  movements,  General  Johnson  was  enabled  to 
reinforce  Beauregard  on  the  battle-field  of  Bull  Run,  and 
snatch  victory  from  McDowell ;  and  on  that  day,  General 
George  B.  McClellan  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

The  command  in  "West  Virginia  was  given  to  General 
Rosecrans,  who  had  gained  distinguished  reputation  at  Rich 
Mountain. 

For  the  next  ensuing  three  months,  the  greatest  activity 
prevailed,  in  organizing  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  In  the 


238       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Autumn,  it  had  reached  fully  200,000  men.  Previous  to  the 
arrival  of  General  Fremont  in  Missouri,  the  Union  force 
had,  under  the  gallant  leadership  of  Generals  Lyon  and 
Sigel,  greatly  aided  by  the  boldness,  activity  and  prompt  de- 
cision of  Colonel  Frank  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  maintained  the  ascend- 
ency of  the  Union  cause,  and  driven  the  rebels  far  towards 
the  Southwest.  The  heroic  Lyon  fell  at  the  battle  of  Wilson's 
Creek,  while  bravely  leading  a  charge,  and  his  loss  to  the 
Union  cause  was  irreparable.  More  than  any  other,  at  that 
early  day,  he  seems  to  have  appreciated  the  magnitude  of  the 
rebellion.  His  action  in  Missouri  was,  from  the  first,  prompt 
and  bold.  Modest,  brave,  rapid  and  decided,  he  left  few 
equals.  He  ought  to  have  been  better  supported.  General 
Franz  Sigel,  a  gallant  German  soldier,  rallied  the  Germans 
of  St.  Louis,  organized  them  into  regiments,  and  rendered 
efficient  service  in  maintaining  in  Missouri  the  Union 
supremacy. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  citizens  of  Illinois,  scarcely 
waiting  the  action  of  the  Government,  had,  on  the  opening 
of  hostilities,  promptly  seized  and  held  the  very  important 
strategic  point  of  Cairo.  This  is  the  termination  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  rivers,  and  is  the  key  to  the  navigation  of  both. 
Such  occupation  was  not  too  soon.  Here  began  to  be  con- 
centrated a  very  considerable  force,  and  here  came,  very 
soon,  the  regiments  of  Colonels  U.  S.  Grant,  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand,  Palmer,  B.  M.  Prentiss,  Richard  J.  Oglesby, 
Paine,  Wallace  and  others,  whose  names  emblazon  the 
records  of  Illinois.  Commodore  A.  H.  Foot,  in  August, 
assumed  command  of  the  naval  forces  being  organized  on 
the  Western  waters.  The  insurgent  General  Sterling  Price, 
Governor  Jackson,  and  Ben.  McCullough,  of  Texas,  were 
very  actively  engaged  in  movements  to  overrun  and  hold 
Missouri.  On  the  12th  of  September,  Price  attacked,  with 
overwhelming  numbers,  the  heroic  Colonel  Mulligan  at  Lex- 
ington, and  notwithstanding  a  most  gallant  defense,  com- 
pelled his  surrender.  As  Fremont,  in  command  in  Missouri, 
was  pursuing  Price  with  a  confident  belief  of  overtaking  and 
crushing  him,  he  was,  on  the  2d  day  of  November,  relieved 


BALLS  BLUFF.  239 

of  his  command.  General  Fremont  was  the  victim  of  in- 
discreet friends,  of  military  jealousy,  arid  political  opposition. 
General  Ilunter,  who  temporarily  relieved  him,  withdrew 
from  the  further  pursuit  of  Price,  in  accordance  with 
suggestions  or  orders  from  Washington. 

On  the  29th  of  August,  General  Butler,  acting  in  conjunc- 
tion with  a  naval  force  under  Commodore  Stringham,  cap- 
tured and  took  possession  of  the  forts  at  Cape  Hatteras, 
taking  near  seven  hundred  prisoners,  guns,  and  a  large 
amount  of  material  of  war. 

General  McClellan  had  organized,  armed  and  drilled  the 
immense  army  which  had  gathered  around  Washington; 
but  as  time  passed  on,  and  this  great  force  remained  inactive, 
shut  up  in  the  defenses  of  the  Capital,  the  Potomac  closed, 
and  the  rebel  flag  in  view  from  the  National  Capitol,  great 
impatience  was  felt  at  the  inactivity  of  this  army.  Sensible 
men  early  perceived,  that  while  in  men,  material  of  war  and 
resources,  we  were  greatly  superior  to  the  rebels,  this  inac- 
tivity was  exhausting  our  resources,  and  that  under  it  the 
Union  cause  was  losing  prestige ;  and  the  National  spirit 
chafed  and  fretted  against  the  humiliating  spectacle  of  an 
army,  200,000  strong,  permitting  itself  to  be  shut  up,  and 
almost  in  a  state  of  siege. 

On  the  21st  of  October,  occurred  the  sad  butchery  of  Ball's 
Bluff';  evidently  a  blunder  and  a  sacrifice,  for  which  McClel- 
lan was  responsible.  At  this  battle  fell  the  eloquent  and 
brave  Senator  from  Oregon,  Colonel  Baker.  In  the  light  of 
subsequent  events,  it  is  most  clear  that  this  blunder  should 
have  caused  the  removal  of  McClellan.  Had  the  President 
then  relieved  him,  and  could  he  have  found  a  Grant,  a  Sheri- 
dan or  a  Sherman,  to  have  placed  in  command,  what  myriads 
of  lives  might  have  been  saved !  But  McClellan  hud  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  Scott,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  having  given  him 
his  confidence,  was  very  slow  to  withdraw  it. 

If  he  had  remembered  that  McClellan  had  been  a  favorite 
of  Jefferson  Davis,  while  the  latter  was  Secretary  of  War — • 
that  he  had  been  sent  by  him  to  the  Crimea,  to  learn,  from 
the  Armies  ot*'France,  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  how  tc 
fight,  and  that  kis  early  political  associations  had  been  with 


240  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  and  their  sympathizers  in  the 
North — he  would,  perhaps,  have  been  more  slow  in  yielding 
his  confidence',  and  more  prompt  in  relieving  him  from 
command. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  a  force  under  Generals  Grant 
and  McClernand,  advanced  from  Cairo  to  Belmont,  attacked 
the  rebel  camp  under  General  Cheatham,  captured  twelve 
guns,  burned  the  camp,  and  took  many  prisoners.  The  gun- 
boats Tyler  and  Lexington  accompanied  the  expedition,  and 
rendered  efficient  aid. 

A  few  months  after  this  battle,  there  came  to  "Washington 
a  fine,  intelligent,  young  man,  of  pleasing  address  and  manly 
bearing,  who  had  lost  his  right  arm  at  Belmont.  He  came 
highly  recommended  to  ask  the  position  of  assistant  com- 
missary of  subsistence,  with  the  rank  of  captain.  The  Se- 
cretary of  War,  owing  to  some  misapprehension,  treated  him 
with  some  rudeness,  whereupon  the  Member  of  Congress  by 
whom  he  was  presented  took  him  to  the  President.  Upon 
his  being  introduced,  Mr.  Lincoln,  glancing  at  the  eloquent, 
empty  sleeve,  said :  "My  friend,  can  you  write."  "0  yes," 
said  the  young  soldier,  "here  is  some  of  my  writing."  Look- 
ing at  it,  Mr.  Lincoln  instantly  directed  his  appointment. 
"It  is  little  I  can  do  for  you,  to  repay  you  for  the  loss  of  that 
arm,'  said  he,  "but  I  gladly  do  this."  No  wounded  soldier 
ever  approached  Mr.  Lincoln  but  he  was  received  with  the 
greatest  kindness  and  friendship. 

On  the  10th  of  November,  General  Halleck  assumed 
command  of  the  Department  of  the  West. 

On  the  8th  of  November,  Commodore  Wilkes,  in  the  San 
Jacinto,  intercepted  the  Trent,  a  British  mail  steamer  from 
Havana,  with  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell,  late  Senators,  and 
then  rebel  agents  on  their  way  to  represent  the  Confederacy  at 
the  Courts  of  St.  James  and  St.  Cloud.  He  took  them 
prisoners,  and  bringing  them  to  the  United  States,  they  were 
confined  at  Fort  Warren,  in  Boston  harbor. 

The  impulse  of  the  .people,  already  indignant  at  the  con- 
duct of  Great  Britain,  exasperated  by  her  early  recognition 
of  the  rebels  as  belligerents,  was  to  adopt,  and  take  the  con- 
sequences of  an  act  which  gratified  popular  passion  and  pride. 


THE  TRENT  AFFAIR.  241 

Congress  wag  in  session,  and  the  House  of  Representatives, 
on  motion  of  Lovejoy,  immediately  adopted  a  resolution  of 
thanks  to  Captain  Wilkes.  Fortunately,  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  State  were  cool  and  reticent,  and  did  not  yield 
to  the  passion  of  the  day.  Great  Britain  demanded  their 
release.  The  President  and  Secretary  carefully  examined 
the  precedents. 

Were  Mason  and  Slidell  "contraband  of  war?"  If  so, 
was  the  method  of  their  capture  justifiable  ?  Resistance  to 
the  right  of  search  had  been  one  chief  cause  of  the  war  with 
Great  Britain  in  1812.  "One  war  at  a  time,"  said  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

Mr.  Seward  concluded  the  argument  of  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  remarkable  State  papers  of  modern  times  in  these 
words  :  "  If  I  decide  this  case  in  favor  of  my  own  Govern- 
ment, I  must  disavow  its  most  cherished  principles,  and 
reverse  and  forever  abandon  its  essential  policy.  The  country 
cannot  afford  the  sacrifice.  If  I  maintain  those  principles, 
and  adhere  to  that  policy,  I  must  surrender  the  case  itself." 
The  rebel  emissaries  were  cheerfully  surrendered  to  Great 
Britain. 

Had  President  Lincoln,  yielding  to  popular  clamor,  accept- 
ed the  challenge  of  Great  Britain  and  gone  to  war,  he  would 
have  done  exactly  what  the  rebels  desired,  and  thus  made 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell  incomparably  more  useful  to  the 
insurgents  than  they  were  able  to  be  by  hanging  around  the 
courts  to  which  they  were  accredited.  The  sober  second 
thought  of  the  public  cheerfully  acquiesced  in  the  course 
which  their  judgments  approved. 

The  Confederate  Government  had  relied  with  great  confi- 
dence on  its  early  recognition  by  the  great  powers  of  Europe, 
and  the  immediate  concession  to  them  of  belligerent  rights, 
encouraged  them  in  this  expectation.  The  leaders  of  the  re- 
bellion had  been,  to  a  great  extent,  the  governing  power  at 
Washington,  and  there  is  no  doubt,  had  Deceived  before  the 
war  opened,  the  encouragement  of  the  representatives  of 
European  Kingdoms.  The  Confederates,  therefore,  rather 
rejoiced  in  the  seizure  of  Slidell  and  Mason,  believing  it 
would  bring  on  a  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  their  own 
16 


242  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

recognition.  But  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  the  sagacity  which  marked 
his  career  as  a  statesman,  determined  that  so  long  as  there 
was  no  recognition  of  the  rebels  as  a  nation,  not  to  bring 
on  a  war.  "  One  war  at  a  time,"  said  he. 
*  It  is  known  that  Lord  Palmerston,  and  i£  is  believed  that 
several  other  of  the  British  Statesmen,  desired  to  fight  the 
United  States  in  regard  td  the  Trent  affair.  It  is  known  that 
France  would  have  followed  Great  Britian  in  recognizing 
the  Confederacy.  A  war  with  France  and  England,  and  with 
the  rebels  at  the  same  time,  would  have  taxed  the  power  and 
resolution  of  the  loyal  people  of  the  United  States  to  the 
utmost.  But  it  would  have  inspired  an  energy  and  an  earn- 
nestness,  that  was  long  wanting  in  the  conduct  of  the  war 
on  our  "  Southern  brethren." 

The  failure  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  administration  to  arrest  per- 
sons known  to  be  plotting  treason,  has  caused  some  members 
of  that  administration  to  be  regarded  as  particeps  criininis  in 
the  civil  war  which  followed.  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration 
was  slow  in  making  such  arrests;  but  as  its  absolute  neces- 
sity became  clearly  apparent,  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was 
suspended,  the  power  was  executed. 

George  P.  Kane,  Chief  of  Police  of  Baltimore,  the  Mayor 
and  Police  Commissioners  of  that  city,  the  Mayor  of  "Wash- 
ington, and  many  others  were  arrested;  but  more  important 
than  all,  was  the  arrest  of  the  Legislature  of  Maryland. 

The  majority  of  the  Legislature  of  Maryland  were  seces- 
sionists. The  Executive,  and  a  majority  of  people,  were  for 
the  Union.  Several  of  the  insurgent  States  had  been  pre- 
cipitated into  hostilities  by  the  Legislature  passing  acts  or 
ordinances  of  secession. 

In  September,  1861,  the  Secretary  of  "War  received  infor- 
mation that  the  insurgents  in  Maryland,  were  to  procure  the 
passage  by  the  Legislature  of  that  State,  of  an  act  of  seces- 
sion, and  he  issued  an  order  to  General  McClellan  to  prevent 
it,  by  the  arrest  of  ^all,  or  any  part  of  the  members  thereof. 

Directions  were  issued  by  General  McClellan  to  General 
Banks,  to  execute  this  order.  In  his  instructions,  dated 
September  12th,  General  McClellau  says: 


ARREST  OP  MARYLAND  LEGISLATURE.  243 

Some  four  or  five  of  the  chief  men  in  the  affair  are  to  be  arrested  to-day.  When 
they  meet  on  the  17th,  you  will  please  have  everything  prepared  to  arrest  the 
whole  party,  and  be  sure  that  none  escape.  *  *  If  successfully  carried  out,  it  will 
go  far  towards  breaking  the  back-bone  of  the  rebellion.  *  *  I  have  but  one  thing  to 
impress  upon  you ;  the  absolute  necessity  of  secresy  and  success. 

The  order  was  successfully  executed;  the  meeting  of  the 
Legislature  broken  up,  and  Maryland  saved  from  a  civil  war 
among  her  own  citizens. 

This  act  has  been  censured  as  an  arbitrary  arrest.  How- 
ever arbitrary,  it  was  a  necessary  measure,  and  in  the 
propriety  of  which  General  McClellau  fully  coincided. 

Governor  Hicks,  said  in  the  Senate  of  United  States,  "  I 
believe  that  arrests,  and  arrests  alone,  saved  the  State  of 
Maryland  from  destruction.  I  approved  them  then,  and  I 
approve  them  now." 


OHAPTEE   XI. 


SECOND  SESSION,  THIRTY-SEVENTH  CONGRESS—  CONGRESS  OF  1862. 

PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE  —  REPORT  or  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  —  MODI- 
FIED BY  THE  PRESIDENT  —  STANTON  SUCCEEDS  CAMERON  — 
ANTI-SLAVERY  MEASURES  —  ARTICLE  OF  WAR  PROHIBITING  THE 
RETURN  OF  FUGITIVE  SLAVES  —  SLAVERY  ABOLISHED  AT  THE 
CAPITAL  —  PROHIBITED  IN  ALL  THE  TERRITORIES  —  NEGRO 
SOLDIERS  —  MILITARY  ORDERS  IN  REGARD  TO  SLAVES  —  HUN- 
TER'S NEGRO  REGIMENTS  IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA  —  WICKLIFFE'S 
RESOLUTION  —  HUNTER'S  REPLY  —  BILL  TO  GIVE  FREEDOM  TO 
THE  FAMILIES  OF  NEGRO  SOLDIERS. 


assembled  at  its  regular  session,  December  2d, 
^  1861,  and  found  the  grand  drama  of  rebellion  fully 
opened  and  developed.  Two  hundred  thousand  Union  troops 
on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  confronted  a  rebel  army  then 
supposed  to  be  of  equal  numbers,  but  now  known  to  have 
been  far  less.  The  magnitude  of  the  American  rebellion, 
and  the  principles  involved,  had  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  world,  which  was  watching  with  deep  interest  the  pro- 
gress of  events.  The  common  people,  the  lovers  of  liberty 
and  free  institutions,  were  hopeful,  yet  anxious  for  the  issue. 
Those  who  had  no  faith  in  man's  capacity  for  self-govern- 
ment, those  whose  interests  were  in  making  firm  and  per- 
manent old  dynasties,  were  already  exulting  over  the  failure 
of  the  American  Republic,  as  "  another  bubble  burst,"  an- 
other fruitless  effort  at  self-government.  Meanwhile,  the 
issue  between  freedom  and  slavery  began  to  be  more  sharply 
defined. 

The  forbearance  of  the  Government  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  was  cited  by  rebel  emissaries  in  Europe,  as  evidence 

244 


CONDITION  OF  AFFAIRS  DECEMBER,  1861.        245 

that  the  issue  was  not  freedom  against  slavery,  but  empire 
and  subjugation  against  independence  and  self-government. 

It  was  obvious  that  sound  statesmanship,  as  it  regarded 
our  cause  both  at  home  and  abroad,  required  a  more  vigor- 
ous policy.  It  became  every  day  more  clear  that  slavery  was 
not  only  the  cause  of  the  war,  but,  as  treated  thus  far,  an 
element  of  great  strength,  and  a  bond  of  union  to  the  rebel 
States.  The  neglect  of  the  government  to  strike  decisive  and 
fatal  blows  at  this  institution,  especially  to  those  who  did  not 
know  and  appreciate  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Maryland 
and  Kentucky,  was  inexplicable,  and  had  encouraged  the  ene- 
mies, and  paralyzed  the  friends  of  the  republic  abroad.  The 
friends  of  the  administration  impatiently  asked,  if  the  time 
had  not  arrived  for  making  war  directly  upon  slavery  ?  They 
insisted  that  this  source  of  strength  to  the  rebels  could  be 
made  a  source  of  weakness;  that  the  millions  of  colored 
people  were  the  friends  of  the  Republic,  and  could  be  made 
to  aid  its  cause  against  their  masters.  The  period  was  criti- 
cal. Bull  Run  and  Ball's  Bluff  were  unavenged,  and  the 
great  army  under  McClellan  had  as  yet  done  nothing  to  give 
confidence  to  the  country.  The  Confederates  were  striving 
to  secure  recognition  abroad,  Mason  and  Slidell,  were  in. 
Fort  "Warren  as  prisoners  taken  from  beneath  the  folds  of 
the  British  flag,  and  England,  backed  by  France,  would  make 
the  refusal  to  surrender  them,  a  cause  of  war. 

Such  was  the  condition  in  which  Congress  assembled,  and 
received  the  President's  jnessage,  jn^December,  1861. 

This  message  has  fewer  of  the  characteristics  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, than  any  other  of  his  State  papers.  The  truth  is,  he 
was  feeling  his  way,  revolving  the  slavery  question,  and  was 
scarcely  yet  ready  to  announce  a  settled  policy  on  that 
subject.  He  congratulates  Congress  that  the  patriotism  of 
the  people  had  proved  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  that  the 
number  of  troops  tendered,  greatly  exceeded  the  force  called 
for. 

He  calls  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  fact,  that  Mary- 
land, Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  neither  of  which  at  his  first 
call  for  troops  in  April,  had  promised  a  single  soldier,  had, 
at  the  date  of  the  message,  not  less  than  40,000  men  in  the 


246       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

field  under  the  Union  flag;  and  that  in  West  Virginia,  the 
Union  men,  after  a  severe  struggle,  were  masters  of  the 
country.  He  announced  the  retirement  of  General  Scott, 
and  stated  that  public  sentiment  and  the  recommendation 
of  the  Lieutenant  General,  and  Executive  confidence,  had  all 
indicated  General  McClellan  as  the  man  upon  whom  to  place 
the  command. 

He  said  that  the  insurgents  at  the  beginning,  confidently 
claimed  a  strong  support  from  North  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line,  and  that  the  friends  of  the  Union  were  not  free  from  ap- 
prehension on  the  point.  But  this  was  soon  settled,  the 
people  of  the  free  States  were  united  for  the  Union.  Of  the 
slave  States,  little  Delaware  was  right  from  the  first.  Mary- 
land was  made  to  seem  against  the  Union.  The  soldiers  of 
the  Eepublic,  were  assaulted,  bridges  were  burned,  and  rail- 
roads torn  up  within  her  limits,  and  the  Government  had 
been  at  one  time,  for  several  days  without  the  ability  to 
bring  a  single  regiment  over  her  soil  to  the  Capital.  Now 
all  this  was  changed.  She  had  already  given  seven  regiments 
to  the  Union  cause,  and  none  to  the  enemy.  Kentucky,  for 
sometime  in  doubt,  was  now,  decidedly,  and  he  hoped,  un- 
changeably, on  the  side  of  the  Union.  Missouri  was  com- 
paratively quiet,  and  he  believed  could  not  be  again 
overcome  by  the  insurrectionists. 

Upon  the  policy  on  the  slavery  question,  he  said,  "  I  have 
adhered  to  the  act  of  Congress,  confiscating  property,  and 
freeing  persons  held  to  service,  used  for  insurrectionary 
purposes."  On  the  subject  of  emancipating  and  arming  ne- 
groes, he  said,  "  The  Union  must  be  preserved,  and  all  in- 
dispensable means  must  be  used,  but  he  deprecated  haste  in 
the  use  of  extreme  measures,  which  might  reach  the  loyal, 
as  well  as  disloyal." 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  as  illustrative  of  his  views  of  the 
condition  of  the  insurgent  States,  and  the  power  of  Congress 
over  them  in  time  of  war,  that  he  recommends  the  establish- 
ment by  act  of  Congress,  of  courts  in  the  insurgent  States, 
when  brought  under  the  control  of  the  National  Government, 
in  which  civil  rights  might  be  adjudicated. 

This  is  his  language  on  that  subject: 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.  247 

"  I  have  been  urgently  solicited  to  establish  by  military  power,  courts 
to  administer  summary  justice  in  such  cases.  I  have  thus  far  declined 
to  do  this,  because  I  have  been  unwilling  to  go  beyond  the  pressure  of 
necessity  in  the  unusual  exercise  of  power.  But  the  power  of  Congress 
I  suppose,  is  equal  to  the  anomalous  condition,  and  therefore  I  refer  the 
whole  matter  to  Congress  with  the  hope  that  a  plan  may  be  devised  for 
the  administration  of  justice  in  all  such  parts  of  the  insurgent  States 
as  may  be  under  the  control  of  this  Government."* 

The  courts  were  to  be  temporary,  but  the  recommendation 
is  conclusive,  that  he  recognized  fully,  the  right  of  Congresd 
to  legislate  for  the  insurgent  States,  while  in  a  condition  of 
war,  and  before  they  were  restored  to  their  proper  relations 
to  the  Union. 

He  reviewed  at  some  length,  the  condition  of  affairs,  the 
advantages  of  our  democratic  institutions;  and  expressed  his 
deep  convictions  that  the  fate  of  free  government  was  in- 
volved in  the  contest.  "  The  struggle,"  said  he,  "  of  to-day ,1 
is  not  altogether  for  to-day.  It  is  for  a  vast  future  also." 

Mr.  Cameron's  report,  as  Secretary  of  War,  was  a  very 
important  paper.  After  reciting  the  operations  of  the  army, 
he  states  that  under  the  call  for  75,000  men,  made  by  the 
President,  and  under  the  call  for  500,000  volunteers  for 
three  years,  authorized  by  act  of  Congress  in  July,  there  had 
been  raised  an  army  of  600,000  men. 

His  report,  as  originally  prepared,  ably  discussed  and 
strongly  recommended  the  arming  and,  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  of  the  seceding  States.  This  part  of  the  report  was 
not  submitted  to  the  President  until  it  was  in  print.  When 
it  was  then  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  he 
expressed  surprise  and  some  displeasure,  that  a  member  of 
his  Cabinet  should  have  prepared  and  printed  such  a  report, 
without  first  submitting  it  to  him,  and  he  caused  the  report 
to  be  modified.  A  portion  of  this  report  is  here  presented 
as  a  very  clear  and  able  presentation  of  the  great  Question 
which  was  then  agitating  the  public  mind : 

"  It  has  become  a  grave  question  for  determination,  what  shall  be 
done  with  the  slaves  abandoned  by  their  owners  on  the  advance  of  our 

•Message  of  December  3d,  1861.    McPherson's  Political  History,  p.  132. 


248  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

troops  into  Southern  territory,  as  in  the  Beaufort  District  of  South 
Carolina.  The  whole  white  population  therein  is  six  thousand,  while 
the  number  of  negroes  exceeds  thirty-two  thousand.  The  panic  which 
drove  their  masters  in  wild  confusion  from  their  homes,  leaves  them  in 
undisputed  possession  of  the  soil.  Shall  they,  armed  by  their  masters, 
be  placed  in  the  field  to  fight  against,  or  shall  their  labor  be  continually 
employed  in  producing  the  means  for  supporting  the  armies  of  the 
rebellion  ? 

"  It  was  the  boast  of  the  leader  of  the  rebellion,  while  he  yet  had  a 
seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  that  the  Southern  States  would 
be  comparatively  safe  and  free  from  the  burdens  of  war,  if  it  should  be 
brought  on  by  the  contemplated  rebellion,  and  that  boast  was  accom- 
panied by  the  savage  threat  that  'Northern  towns  and  cities  would 
become  the  victims  of  rapine  and  military  spoil,'  and  that  'Northern 
men  should  smell  Southern  gunpowder  and  feel  Southern  steel.'  No 
one  doubts  the  disposition  of  the  rebels  to  carry  that  threat  into  execu- 
tion. The  wealth  of  Northern  towns  and  cities,  the  produce  of  North- 
ern farms,  Northern  workshops  and  manufactories,  would  certainly  be 
seized,  destroyed,  or  appropriated  as  military  spoil.  No  property  in  the 
North  would  be  spared  from  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  and  their  rapine 
would  be  defended  under  the  laws  of  war.  While  the  loyal  States  thus 
have  all  their  property  and  possessions  at  stake,  are  the  insurgent  rebels 
to  carry  on  warfare  against  the  Government  in  peace  and  security  to 
their  own  property? 

"Reason,  and  justice,  and  self-preservation,  forbid  that  such  should 
be  the  policy  of  this  Government,  but  demand,  on  the  contrary,  that, 
being  forced  by  traitors  and  rebels  to  the  extremity  of  war,  all  the 
rights  and  powers  of  war  should  be  exercised  to  bring  it  to  a  speedy 
end. 

"  Those  who  make  war  against  the  Government,  justly  forfeit  all 
rights  of  property,  privilege  or  security  derived  from  the  Constitution 
and  laws  against  which  they  are  in  armed  rebellion ;  and  as  the  labor 
and  service  of  their  slaves  constitute  the  chief  property  of  the  rebels, 
such  property  should  share  the  common  fate  of  war,  to  which  they 
have  devoted  the  property  of  loyal  citizens. 

"  As  has  been  said,  the  right  to  deprive  the  rebels  of  their  property 
in  slaves  and  slave  labor,  is  as  clear  and  absolute,  as  the  right  to  take 
forage  from  the  field,  or  cotton  from  the  warehouse,  or  powder  and 
arms  from  the  magazine.  To  leave  the  enemy  in  the  possession  of  such 
property  as  forage  and  cotton,  and  military  stores,  and  the  means  of 
constantly  reproducing  them,  would  be  madness.  It  is,  therefore,  mad- 
ness to  leave  them  in  peaceful  and  secure  possession  of  slave  property, 


CAMERON'S  REPORT.  249 

more  valuable  and  efficient  to  them  for  war,  than  forage,  cotton,  and 
military  stores.  Such  policy  would  be  National  suicide.  What  to  do 
with  that  species  of  property,  is  a  question  that  time  and  circumstances 
will  solve,  and  need  not  be  anticipated  further  than  to  repeat  that  they 
cannot  be  held  by  the  Government  as  slaves.  It  would  be  useless  to 
keep  them  as  prisoners  of  war ;  and  self-preservation,  the  highest  duty 
of  a  government,  or  of  individuals,  demands  that  they  should  be  dis- 
posed of,  or  employed  in  the  most  effective  manner,  that  will  tend  most 
speedily  to  suppress  the  insurrection,  and  restore  the  authority  of  the 
Government.  If  it  shall  be  found  that  the  men  who  have  been  held 
by  the  rebels  as  slaves,  are  capable  of1  bearing  arms,  and  performing 
efficient  military  service,  it  is  the  right,  and  may  become  the  duty  of 
the  Government  to  arm  and  equip  them,  and  employ  their  services 
against  the  rebels,  under  proper  military  regulation,  discipline  and 
command. 

"  But  in  whatever  manner  they  may  be  used  by  the  Government,  it 
is  plain  that,  once  liberated  by  the  rebellious  act  of  their  masters,  they 
should  never  again  be  restored  to  bondage.  By  the  master's  treason 
and  rebellion,  he  forfeits  all  right  to  the  labor  and  service  of  his  slave ; 
and  the  slave  of  the  rebellious  master,  by  his  service  to  the  Government, 
becomes  justly  entitled  to  freedom  and  protection. 

"  The  disposition  to  be  made  of  the  slaves  of  rebels,  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  can  be  safely  left  to  the  wisdom  of  Congress.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  will  unquestionably  secure  to  the  loyal  slave- 
holders every  right  to  which  they  are  entitled  under  the  Constitution." 

The  foregoing  gives  the  substance  of  Mr.  Cameron's  ar- 
gument. By  direction  of  the  President,  that  part  of  it  in 
regard  to  emancipation  and  the  arming  of  freedmen,  was  so 
modified  as  to  read  as  follows : 

"  It  is  already  a  grave  question  what  shall  be  done  with  those  slaves 
who  were  abandoned  by  their  owners  on  the  advance  of  our  troops  into 
Southern  territory,  as  at  Beaufort  District,  in  South  Carolina.  The 
number  left  within  our  control  at  that  point  is  very  considerable,  and 
similar  cases  will  probably  occur.  What  shall  be  done  with  them  ? 
Can  we  afford  to  send  them  forward  to  their  masters,  to  be  by  them 
armed  against  us,  or  used  in  producing  support  to  sustain  the  rebellion  ? 
Their  labor  may  be  useful  to  us ;  withheld  from  the  enemy  it  lessens 
his  military  resources,  and  withholding  them  has  no  tendency  to  induce 
the  horrors  of  insurrection,  even  in  the  rebel  communities.  They  con- 
stitute a  military  resource,  and  being  such,  that  they  should  got  be 


250  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

turned  over  to  the  enemy,  is  too  plain  to  discuss.  Why  deprive  him 
of  supplies  by  a  blockade,  and  voluntarily  give  him  men  to  produce 
them  ? 

"  The  disposition  to  be  made  of  the  slaves  of  rebels,  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  can  be  safely  left  to  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  Congress. 
The  representatives  of  the  people  will  unquestionably  secure  to  the 
loyal  slaveholders  every  right  to  which  they  are  entitled  under  the 
Constitution  of  the  country" 

On  the  14th  of  January,  1862,  Simon  Cameron  resigned 
the  position  of  Secretary  of  War,  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton 
was  appointed  his  successor.  This  appointment  of  a  man 
who  had^held  a  position  in  the  Cabinet  of  Buchanan  was  at 
first  a  matter  of  some  surprise  to  the  Republican  friends  of 
the  President. 

The  President  was  recommended  to  make  this  appoint- 
ment by  Senator  Wade,  of  Ohio,  John  A.  Bingham,  of  the 
House,  and  other  radical  members  of  Congress.  The  Presi- 
dent himself  thought  it  expedient  to  give  the  appointment 
to  a  war  democrat  if  a  suitable  man  could  be  found.  It  was 
believed  Stanton  would  be  for  vigorous  fighting.  Senator 
Wade  said:  "If  the  democrats  think  they  have  gained  any- 
thing by  the  appointment  of  Stanton,  as  Secretary  of  War, 
they  will  learn  their  mistake ;  they  will  find  they  have  caught 
la  tartar.'  Stanton  (in  his  own  rough  phrase)  is  for  fight 
in  earnest." 

The  new  Secretary  soon  gave  proof  of  his  great  energy, 
his  wonderful  industry,  and  his  power  as  an  organizer.  He 
was  always  a  belligerent,  looking  at  great  ends,  not  very 
scrupulous  about  the  means  of  removing  the  obstacles  which 
stood  in  his  path,  and  somewhat  careless  of  the  forms  and 
restraints  of  law.  Honest  and  true,  and  intensely  in  earnest: 
if  a  thing  was  right  in  itself,  he  would  cut  through,  or  break 
over  all  formal  obstacles  which  stood  in  his  way.  His  tem- 
per was  irritable,  but  placable.  There  were  many  instances 
of  cruel  injustice,  which  the  more  patient  and  just  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  compelled  to  correct,  but  he  himself  was  ready  to 
repair  a  wrong  when  convinced  he  had  committed  one.  He 
acted  with  the  radicals  in  Congress  more,  it  is  believed, 


ACTION  OF  CONGRESS.  251 

because  they  were  in  earnest,  than  on  account  of  sympathy 
with  their  principles.  He  hated  the  slaveholding  traitors 
more  than  he  loved  liberty. 

This,  the  first  regular  session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Con- 
gress, made  large  advances  towards  the  entire  abolition  of 
slavery.  Its  measures  were  justly  characterized  by  a  Senator 
as  looking  to  universal  abolition.  By  its  legislation  and  its 
grand  debates,  this  Congress  prepared  the  way  for  the  great 
edict  of  emancipation  issued  by  Abraham  Lincoln.  The 
great  anti-slavery  measures  which  will  hand  down  this  Con- 
gress to  immortality,  were- — First,  The  abolition  of  slavery 
at  the  National  Capitol.  Second,  The  prohibition  of  slavery 
in  all  the  Territories.  Third,  The  setting  free  the  slaves  of 
rebels,  fourth,  Giving  legal  authority  to  employ  colored  men, 
as  soldiers,  thus  converting  slaves  into  patriotic  Union  sold- 
iers. Fifth,  The  enactment  of  an  additional  article  of  war, 
prohibiting  any  officer  or  person  in  the  military  or  naval 
service,  under  pain  of  dismissal,  from  aiding  in  the  arrest 
of  any  fugitive  slave. 

These  great  measures  were  carried  after  long  discussion, 
and  able  and  full  debate.  The  truth  of  history,  and  justice 
to  great  principles,  and  those  who  advocate  them,  require 
that  the  world  should  know  the  history  of  these  measures 
which  have  changed  the  character  of  the  republic  for  all  time 
to  come. 

The  delays  and  inactivity  of  the  army,  and  dissatisfaction 
with  its  movements,  resulted  in  the  creation  by  Congress,  on 
the  18th  and  19th  of  December,  of  the  Joint  Committee  on 
the  conduct  of  the  war.  This  committee  was  composed  of 
Senators  Wade,  Chandler,  and  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Tennes- 
see, on  the  part  of  the  Senate;  on  Mr.  Johnson  being  ap- 
pointed Military  Governor  of  Tennessee,  Mr.  Wright,  of 
Indiana,  was  appointed  in  his  place;  and  Messrs.  Goocli, 
Covode,  Julian  and  Odell,  of  the  House. 

Many  of  the  army  officers  had  disregarded  the  act  of  Con- 
gress giving  freedom  to  all  slaves  employed  to  aid  the  rebels. 
Rebels  and  rebel  officers,  under  flags  of  truce,  continued  to 
enter  the  Union  lines,  and  Union  officers  had  been  guilty  of 
surrendering  to  them  colored  men  who  had  fled  to  their 


252  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

camps,  bringing  most  valuable  information.  This  was,  how- 
ever, far  from  being  a  universal  practice.  General  Curtiss, 
of  Iowa,  in  command  in  Arkansas,  ordered  immediate  eman- 
cipation of  all  slaves  who  had  been  at  work  for  the  Confede- 
racy by  consent  of  their  masters.  So  did  General  Hunter  ia 
South  Carolina,  and  he  continued  to  do  this  until  his  general 
order  of  the  9th  of  May,  1862,  declaring  free  all  slaves  in  his 
department,  consisting  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia  and 
Florida. 

The  House  had  scarcely  completed  its  organization,  when 
Lovejoy,  indignant  that  loyal  negroes  should  still  be  sent 
back  to  slavery  from  the  camps  of  the  Union  army,  on  the 
4th  of  December,  introduced  a  bill  making  it  a  penal  offence 
for  any  officer  to  return  a  fugitive  slave.  Senator  Wilson 
gave  early  notice  of  a  bill  in  the  Senate  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  various  propositions  on  the  subject  finally  resulted  in 
the  enactment  of  an  additional  article  of  war,  forbidding,  on 
pain  of  dismissal  from  the  service,  the  arrest  of  any  fugitive, 
by  any  officer  or  person  in  the  -military  or  naval  service  of 
the  United  States. 

The  location  of  the  Capital  on  slave  territory  had  proved 
one  of  the  most  important  triumphs  ever  achieved  by  the  slave- 
holders. The  powerful  influence  of  society,  local  public 
sentiment,  fashion,  and  the  local  press,  in  favor  of  the  insti- 
tution, was  ever  felt;  and  its  power,  from  1800  to  1860, 
could  scarcely  be  over-estimated.  Our  country  had  long 
been  reproached  and  stigmatized  by  the  world,  and  the 
character  of  a  pro-slavery  despotism  over  the  colored  race 
fixed  upon  it,  by  reason  of  the  existence  of  slavery  at  the 
National  Capital.  The  friends  of  liberty  had  for  years  chafed 
and  struggled  in  vain  against  this  malign  influence.  Con- 
gress had  supreme  power  to  legislate  for  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  was  exclusively  responsible  for  the  continued 
existence  of  slavery  there.  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, when  serving  his  single  term  in  Congress,  had  intro- 
duced a  bill  for  its  gradual  abolition.  The  President  and 
the  friends  of  the  Union  and  of  liberty,  at  the  opening  of 
this  Congress,  thought  it  quite  time  this  relic  of  barbarism 
at  the  National  Capital  should  be  destroyed.  On  the  4th  of 


ABOLITION  OF  SLAVERY  AT  THE  CAPITAL.         253 

December,  Senator  "Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  introduced  a 
resolution  that  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  be  directed 
to  consider  the  expediency  of  abolishing  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  with  compensation  to  loyal  owners. 

On  the  15th  of  December,  he  introduced  a  bill  for  the 
immediate  emancipation  of  slaves,  and  the  payment  to  their 
loyal  owners  of  an  average  sum  of  $300,  and  providing  for 
the  appointment  of  commissioners  to  assess  the  sums  to  be 
paid  each  claimant,  and  appropriating  one  million  of  dollars 
for  the  purpose. 

The  debates  upon  this  bill,  involved  the  whole  subject  of 
Slavery,  the  rebellion,  the  past,  present  and  future  of  the 
country.  Mr.  Davis  of  Kentucky,  made  a  very  remarkable 
prediction  to  the  Senate  and  the  country,  saying,  "If  you 
should  liberate  the  slaves  in  the  rebellious  States,  the  mo- 
ment you  re-organize  the  white  inhabitants  of  these  States,  as  States 
of  the  Union,  they  would  reduce  these  slaves  again  to  a  state 
of  slavery,  or  they  would  expel  them,  or  hunt  them  like  wild 
beasts  and  exterminate  them."  Such  was  the  humane  senti- 
ment of  the  exponent  of  slavery  !  And  yet,  recent  events 
indicate  that  there  was  too  much  of  truth  in  it. 

Senator  Willey  of  "West  Virginia,  opposed  the  bill  as  a 
part  of  a  series  of  measures  already  initiated,  looking  to  the 
universal  abolition  of  slavery  by  Congress. 

In  the  midst  of  this  grave  debate  involving  their  liberty, 
many  of  the  more  intelligent  colored  men  thronged  to  the 
galleries  of  the  Senate,  and  listened,  while  Senators  urged 
reasons  for  and  against  setting  them  free.  Eager,  anxious 
and  hopeful,  this  impressible  race  could  not  suppress  the  ex- 
•hibition  of  the  intense  solicitude  they  felt  in  the  result.  Their 
dark  faces  lighted  up  and  saddened  with  the  varying  pro- 
gress of  the  debate.  Senator  Davis  could  not  appreciate 
their  feelings,  and  he  called  attention  to,  and  seemed  him- 
self astonished  at  their  audacity.  "  I  saw,"  said  he,  "a  few 
days  ago,  several  negroes  thronging  the  open  door,  listening 
to  the  debate  on  this  subject,  and  I  suppose  in  a  few  months, 
they  will  be  crowding  white  ladies  out  of  the  galleries  I" 

Some  Senators  desired  to  couple  with  emancipation,  colo- 
nization of  the  colored  races.  Others  objected  to  paying  the 


254       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

masters  for  the  slaves,  and  insisted  that  if  money  was  to  be 
paid,  it  ought  to  be  fairly  divided  between  the  master  and  the 
slave,  on  an  equitable  adjustment  of  wages  for  labor,  and  an 
equivalent  rendered  by  the  master.  Mr.  Sumner  closed  an 
eloquent  speech  in  favor  of  the  bill  by  saying,  "  Slavery  will 
give  way  to  freedom,  but  the  good  work  will  proceed.  What 
God  and  Nature  decree,  rebellion  cannot  arrest.  And  as  the 
whole  wide-spread  tyranny  begins  to  tremble,  then,  above 
the  din  of  battle,  sounding  from  the  sea,  and  echoing  along 
the  land,  above  even  the  exultations  of  victory  on  well  fought 
fields,  will  ascend  the  voices  of  gladness  and  benediction, 
swelling  from  generous  hearts,  wherever  civilization  bears 
sway,  to  commemorate  a  sacred  triumph,  whose  trophies  in- 
stead of  tattered  banners,  will  be  ransomed  slaves." 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  yeas,  twenty-nine,  nays, 
six. 

When  the  bill  came  up  for  action  in  the  House,  containing 
as  it  did  an  appropriation  of  money,  under  the  rules,  it  was 
necessarily  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  whole  House. 
As  there  was  a  large  number  of  bills  in  advance  of  it  on 
the  calender,  its  enemies,  although  in  a  minority,  had  hopes 
of  delaying  action  or  defeating  it. 

The  struggle  to  take  up  the  bill  came  on  the  10th  of  April, 
under  the  lead  of  that  accomplished,  adroit,  and  bold  parli- 
amentarian, Thaddeus  Stevens.  He  moved  that  the  House  go 
into  committee,  which  motion  was  agreed  to,  Mr.  Dawes  of 
Massachusetts,  in  the  Chair.  The  Chairman  called  the  cal- 
ender in  its  order,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Stevens,  every  bill 
was  laid  aside  until  the  bill  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  was  reached.  An  unsuccessful  effort  to  lay  the  bill 
on  the  table  was  made  by  a  member  from  Maryland. 

F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  in  an  able  speech,  advocated  colonization 
in  connection  with  abolition.  He  said  :  "It  is  in  the  gorge- 
ous region  of  the  American  tropics,  that  our  freedmen  will 
find  their  homes;  among  a  people  without  prejudice  against 
their  color,  and  to  whom  they  will  carry  and  impart  new  en- 
ergy and  vigor,  in  return  for  the  welcome  which  will  greet 
them,  as  the  pledge  of  the  future  protection  and  friendship 
of  our  great  republic ;  I  look  with  confidence  to  this  move- 


DEBATE  ON  ABOLITION  AT  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL.    255 

ment,  as  the  true  and  only  solution  of  this  question  of 
slavery."* 

The  venerable  John  J.  Crittenden  of  Kentucky,  opposed 
the  passage  of  the  bill.  He  expressed  fears  that  its  passage 
would  strengthen  the  apprehension  that  Congress  would  in- 
terfere with  slavery  in  the  States,  to  the  fear  of  which  he  at- 
tributed the  war.  He  opposed  it  also,  because  it  was  a  link 
in  the  chain  of  universal  emancipation. 

He  was  replied  to  by  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio,  a  gentleman 
of  vehement,  impassioned  eloquence,  and  of  an  acute  and  dis- 
criminating mind.  On  the  subject  of  human  rights,  he  was 
always  ardent  and  full  of  enthusiasm  in  favor  of  freedom. 
After  alluding  to  the  faot  that  none  denied  the  constitutional 
power  of  Congress  to  abolish  slavery,  he  considered  the  ques- 
tion of  expediency.  Speaking  in  reply  to  Mr.  Crittenden 
concerning  a  quotation  made  by  the  venerable  member  from 
Kentucky,  from  Magna  Charta,  he  said : 

"  That  great  .charter  which  the  Barons  wrung  from  the  trembling, 
unwilling  hands  of  their  King  six  centuries  ago,  and  which  the  histo- 
rian of  the  English  Constitution  declares  to  be  "  the  keystone  of  En- 
glish liberty,"  only  provided  in  the  section  which  the  gentleman  cited, 
that  "no  freeman  shall  be  taken  or  imprisoned,  or  disseized  01  outlawed, 
or  banished,  or  anyways  injured,  nor  will  we  pass  upon  him  nor  send 
him,  unless  by  legal  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  by  the  law  of  the  land." 
— Magna  Charta,  sec.  45.^ 

"  That  provision,  sir,  only  protected  from  unjust  seizure,  imprison- 
ment, disseizin,  outlawry,  and  banishment,  those  fortunate  enough  to  be 
known  as  FREEMEN  ;  it  secured  no  privileges  to  vassals  or  slaves.  Sir, 
our  Constitution,  the  new  Magna  Charta,  which  the  gentleman  aptly 
says  is  the  greatest  provision  for  the  rights  of  mankind  and  for  the  ameli- 
oration of  their  condition,  rejects  in  its  bill  of  rights,  the  restrictive 
word  "  freeman,"  and  adopts  in  its  stead,  the  more  comprehensive  words 
"  no  person,"  thus  giving  its  protection  to  all,  whether  born  free  or  bond. 
The  provision  of  our  Constitution  is  '  No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life, 
or  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law.'  This  clear  recog- 
nition of  the  rights  of  all  was  a  new  gospel  to  mankind,  something  un- 

*Cong.  Globe,  2d  Sess.  37  Cong.,  p.  1634— p.  1635. 
t!7  Vol.  Cong.  Globe,  p.  1638,  2d  sess.  37  Cong. 


256       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

known  to  men  of  the  thirteenth  century,  who  then  demanded  and  re- 
ceived for  themselves,  the  acknowledgment  of  their  rights  as  freemen. 
The  Barons  of  England  demanded  the  security  of  law  for  themselves ; 
the  patriots  of  America  proclaimed  the  security  and  protection  of  law 
for  all.  The  later  and  nobler  revelation  to  our  fathers  was,  that  all 
men  are  equal  before  the  law.  No  matter  upon  what  spot  of  the  earth's 
surface  they  were  born;  no  matter  whether  an  Asiatic  or  African, 
a  European,  or  an  American  sun  first  burned  upon  them ;  no  matter 
whether  citizens  or  strangers ;  no  matter  whether  rich  or  poor ;  no  mat- 
ter whether  wise  or  simple ;  no  matter  whether  strong  or  weak ;  this 
new  magna  charta  to  mankind  declares  the  rights  of  all  to  life,  and  lib- 
erty and  property  are  equal  before  the  law ;  that  no  person  by  virtue 
of  the  American  Constitution,  by  the  majesty  of  American  law,  shall 
be  deprived  of  life,  or  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law. 
Unhappily,  for  about  sixty  years,  this  provision  of  the  Constitution 
here  upon  the  hearthstone  of  the  Republic,  where  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  is  exclusive,  without  State  limitation, 
and  subject  to  no  restraint  other  than  that  imposed  by  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  Constitution,  this  sacred  guarantee  of  life  and  liberty  and 
property  to  all,  has  been  wantonly  ignored  and  disregarded  as  to  a  large 
class  of  our  natural  born  citizens." 

In  the  course  of  the  dehate,  he  eulogised  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  as  follows : 

*"The  old  Bay  State,  true  to  her  sacred,  her  immortal  traditions, 
recollecting  that  her  soil  is  holy  ground,  marked  with  the  footprints  of 
the  apostles  and  martyrs  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  has  held  to  her 
ancient  faith  that  rights,  even  political  rights  are  inseparable  from  man- 
hood and  citizenship,  and  in  no  wise  dependent  upon  complexion,  or  the 
accident  of  birth.  I  trust  in  God,  whatever  States  may  falter,  Massa- 
chusetts may  continue  in  the  ancient  ways  forever  more.  Taxation 
without  representation,  once  stirred  the  American  people  like  the  blast 
of  a  trumpet ;  rather  than  submit  to  it,  they  proclaimed  resistance 
unto  death.  In  the  purer  and  better  days  of  the  Republic,  taxation 
only  with  representation,  was  the  very  sign  under  which  the  Jefferso- 
nian  Democracy  were  wont  to  conquer." 

He  then  proclaims  the  identity  of  Christianity  and 
Democracy: 

*Cong.  Globe,  2d  sess,  37  Cong,  p.  1639. 


SPEECH    OF   JOHN   A.    BINGHAM.  257 

"  They  found  out  and  adopted  a  wiser,  juster  and  bettor  policy,  than 
pagan  ever  knew.  They  learned  it  from  the  simple  but  profound  teach- 
ings of  Him  who  went  about  doing  good ;  who  was  no  respecter  of  per- 
sons, who  made  the  distant  land  of  his  nativity  forever  sacred  to  man- 
kind, and  whose  intense  holiness  shed  majesty  over  the  manger  and  the 
straw,  and  took  from  the  cross  its  shame  and  reproach.  By  His  great 
apostle,  came  to  men  and  nations  the  new  message,  declaring  the  true 
'G-od,  to  whom  the  pagan  inscribed  UNKNOWN  upon  His  altar ;  that  God 
who  made  the  world,  and  giveth  to  ALL  life  and  breath,  and  hath  made 
of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth. 
From  this  new  message  to  men,  has  sprung,  the  new  and  better  civil- 
ization of  to-day.  What  was  your  declaration  at  Philadelphia  on  the 
4th  of  July  1776,  that  'ALL  MEN  are  created  equal,'  but  a  reiteration 
of  the  great  truth  announced  by  the  apostle  of  the  Nazarene  ?  What 
but  this  is  the  sublime  principle  of  your  Constitution,  the  equality  of 
all  men  before  the  law  ?  To-day  we  deliberate  whether  we  shall  make 
good,  by  legislation,  this  vital  principle  of  the  Constitution,  here,  in 
the  Capital  of  the  Republic.' 

t 

Crittenden  had  said  "  The  time  was  unpropitious."  "  Sir," 

said  Mr,  Binghara,  "  I  think  no  time  is  unpropitious  for  an 
act  of  simple  justice." 

Bingham  closed  his  eloquent  speech  by  saying  :  "  One 
year  ago  (llth  April  1861)  slavery  opened  its  batteries  of 
treason  upon  Fort  Sumter  at  Charleston  ;  let  the  anniversary 
of  the  crime  be  signalized  by  the  banishment  of  slavery  from 
the  National  Capital."  t 

Said  Riddle  of  Ohio : 

"  The  result  of  this  war  is  freedom  to  all.  Every  day  of  its  contin- 
uance, every  delay,  every  dragging  moment,  makes  this  end  the  more 
inevitable.  Every  step  on  slave  soil,  every  battle  fought,  no  matter 
with  what  temporary  result,  every  musket  fired,  every  sword  brandish- 
ed, every  soldier  that  suffers,  and  every  heart  that  mourns,  but  makes 
this  result  the  more  absolute.  Our  early  disasters,  Bull  Run  and  Ball's 
Bluff,  the  death  of  Lyon  and  the  removal  of  Fremont,  shall  all  bear 
rich  fruits  j  and  the  breeze  that  mournfully  lifts  the  flag  of  the  drown- 
ed Cumberland,  where  the  bitter  salt  sea  quenched  the  noblest  hearts 
that  ever  burned  with  American  heroism,  shall  yet  bear  to  earth'ft  ends, 
the  legend  of  a  continent  made  free  I  ***** 

"  It  is  most  fitting  that  while  the  army  marches  to  the  restoration  of 
the  National  power  over  the  form  of  fallen  slavery,  and  tramps  its  life 
17 


258  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

out,  that  the  solemn  lustration  of  the  Nation's  Capital  should  be  per- 
formed by  our  hands ;  that  these  fetters  should  dissolve  in  our  breath, 
so  that  when  our  country  again  confronts  her  sister  nations,  though  her 
feet  should  still  be  ensanguined  with  the  mingled  blood  of  her  filial  and 
parricidal  children,  she  may  present  her  countenance  in  cloudless,  though 
saddened  beauty,  purged  of  its  hideous  deformity,  by  her  own  uncon- 
strained hand. 

"  Make  haste  to  complete  this  great  act,  and  it  shall  proclaim  itself  to 
the  waiting  and  oppressed  of  the  earth,  as  the  realized  gospel  of  deliv- 
erance. The  yellow  waves  of  the  Potomac  in  their  downward  flow  to 
the  sea,  shall  whisper  in  liquid  murmurs  to  the  great  sleeper  on  its 
banks,  that  the  city  that  bears  his  name,  is  now  worthy  of  it." 

"Wickliffe  of  Kentucky,  venerable  in  years,  but  fiery  and 
vehement  in  temper,  moved  to  amend  the  bill  by  striking 
out  the  provision  prohibiting  the  exclusion  of  witnesses  on. 
account  of  color  ;  he  said  :  "  I  do  hope  the  friends  of  the 
bill  will  not  so  far  outrage  the  laws  of  the  District,  as  to 
authorize  slaves  or  free  negroes  to  be  witnesses!" 

Stevens,  in  reply,  expressed  the  hope  that  the  committee 
would  not  so  far  "  continue  an  outrage  as  not  to  allow  any 
man  of  credit  whether  white  or  black,  to  be  a  witness." 

Mr.  Vallandigham  vehemently  opposed  the  bill,  declaring 
truly  there  were  not  ten  men  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress, 
who  would  have  voted  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District.  The  slaveholders,  by  their  rebellion  had  produced 
the  change.  After  various  amendments,  and  long  continued 
struggle  to  defeat  the  bill  by  parliamentary  tactics,  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Stevens,  the  previous  question  was  sustained,  and  the 
bill  passed  by  a  vote  of  92  ayes  to  38  noes.  This  bill  was 
approved  by  the  President,  and  became  a  law  on  the  16th 
day  of  April.  Its  passage  was  hailed  with  joy  throughout 
the  Union,  and  the  colored  men  themselves  met  in  their 
churches,  and  offered  their  gratitude  to  Almighty  God  for 
liberty. 

A  distinguished  officer  of  the  old  United  States  army 
states,  that  years  before  the  rebellion,  he  had  been  much 
among  the  slaves,  and  that  in  passing  their  cabins  at  night, 
when  they  supposed  no  white  man  was  near,  his  attention 


SLAVERY  PROHIBITED  IN  THE  TERRITORIES.  259 

had  been  often  arrested  by  hearing  earnest  prayers;  and 
going  nearer,  he  heard  men  and  women  praying  to  God  for 
their  liberty.  Such  was  the  impression  which  the  earnest- 
ness and  faith  of  these  poor  creatures  made  upon  him,  that 
he  declares,  that  from  that  time,  he  never  doubted  but  sooner 
or  later,  the  slaves  would  be  freed. 

The  territories  had  long  been  the  battle-fields  on  which 
free  labor  and  slavery  had  struggled  for  supremacy.  The 
early  policy  of  the  Government,  that  of  the  fathers,  was 
prohibition.  The  proposition  of  Jefferson,  that  slavery  should 
never  exist  in  any  territory  of  the  United  States  failed  only  by 
one  vote,  caused  by  the  absence  of  the  delegate  from  New 
Jersey.  The  ordinance  of  1787  inaugurated  the  policy. 
Slavery  was  strong  enough  in  1820  to  secure  a  division  by 
an  isothermal  line  of  36°  30' of  latitude,  embodied  in  what  was 
called  the  Missouri  Compromise.  In  1854,  that  compromise 
was  repealed,  with  the  avowed  purpose  on  the  part  of  the 
slaveholders  of  carrying  slavery  into  all  the  Territories.  Then 
came  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  that  Congress  could  not  pro- 
hibit slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  then  the  hand-to-hand 
struggle  in  Kansas  followed.  The  distinct  issue  of  the  ex- 
clusion of  slavery  by  Congressional  enactment  was,  in  1860, 
submitted  to  the  people,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  upon 
the  distinct  and  unequivocal  pledge  to  the  policy  of 
prohibition. 

On  the  24th  of  Marchj  1862,  Mr.  Arnold,  of  Illinois,  intro- 
duced "a  Bill  to  render  freedom  national,  and  slavery  sec- 
tional," and  which,  after  reciting  "  To  the  end  that  freedom 
may  be  and  remain  forever  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land 
in  all  places  whatsoever,  so  far  as-  it  lies  in  the  power,  or 
depends  upon  the  action  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  make  it  so,  it  was  enacted  that  slavery,  except  as  a 
punishment  of  crime,  whereof  the  party  had  been  duly  con- 
victed, should  henceforth  cease  and  be  prohibited  forever,  in 
all  the  following  places,  viz. :  1st,  In  all  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  then  existing,  or  thereafter  to  be  formed  or 
acquired  in  any  way.  2d,  In  all  places  purchased  or  acquired 
with  the  consent  of  the  United  States  for  forts,  magazines, 


260  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

dock-yards  and  other  needful  buildings,  and  over  which  the 
,  United  States  have  or  shall  have  exclusive  legislative  juris- 
diction. 3d,  In  all  vessels  on  the  high  seas.  4th,  In  all 
places  whatsoever,  where  the  National  Government  has 
exclusive  jurisdiction."* 

.  Mr.  Cox  opposed  the  bill  vehemently,  declaring  that,  in 
his  judgment,  it  was  a  bill  for  the  benefit  of  secession  and 
Jeff.  Davis. 

Mr.  Fisher,  in  an  able  speech,  opposed  the  passage  of  the 
bill.  In  conclusion,  he  appealed  to  the  majority  to  let  this 
cup  pass  from  our  lips.  He  said:  "We  have  done  nobly: 
we  have  done  much  in  behalf  of  liberty  and  humanity  at  this 
session  of  Congress.  Let  us  then  here  call  a  halt  and  take 
our  bearings. 

Finally,  as  a  concession  to  the  more  conservative  members, 
Mr.  Lovejoy  offered  an  amendment,  striking  out  all  except 
the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  on  which 
he  demanded  the  previous  question,  and  the  bill  passed 
the  House,  ayes  eighty -five,  noes  fifty.  The  bill  was 
slightly  modified  in  the  Senate,  and  finally  passed  the  House 
on  the  19th  of  June,  prohibiting  slavery  forever  iu  all  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States  now  existing,  or  that  might 
hereafter  be  acquired.  Thus,  the  second  great  step  towards 
the  destruction  of  slavery  was  taken  ;  and  closing  the  great 
struggle  over  slavery  in  the  Territories,  which  had  agitated 
the  country,  with  short  intervals,  since  the  organization  of 
the  Republic  under  the  Constitution.  Had  this  act  been 
passed  in  1784,  when  Jefferson  proposed  one  substantially 
like  it,  the  terrible  war  of  the  slaveholders  would  never  have 
come  upon  the  Republic.  '  The  institution  would  never  have 
grown  to  such  vast  power.  Missouri  would  have  had  the 
wealth  and  position  of  Ohio,  and  slavery,  driven  by  moral 
and  economical  influences  towards  the  Gulf,  would  have 
gradually  aud  peacefully  disappeared. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  14th  of 
September,  1861,  instructed  General  Sherman  to  avail  him- 
self of  the  service  of  any  persons,  whether  fugitives  from 

*  See  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  2042. 


NEGRO  SOLDIERS.  261 

laborer  not,  who  might  offer  themselves  to  the  National  Gov- 
ernment, and  he  was  instructed  to  employ  them  in  such  service 
as  they  might  be  best  fitted  for ;  and  that  he  might  organize 
them  into  squads,  companies  or  otherwise,  as  he  might  deem 
most  beneficial  to  the  service.  This  was  qualified  by  the 
President,  so  as  not  to  mean  "  a  general  arming  for  military 
service." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  portion  of  the  report  of  Mr. 
Cameron,  as  Secretary  of  "War,  recommending  the  general 
arming  of  the  slaves,  made  December  1,  1861,  was  stricken 
out  by  order  of  the  President.  The  public  sentiment  had 
not  at  that  time,  in  his  judgment,  advanced  far  enough  to 
warrant  this  measure.  Indeed,  whether  the  Government 
should  avail  itself  of  the  ready  and  willing  services  of  citizens 
and  slaves  of  African  descent,  was,  strangely  enough  in  the 
light  of  the  present,  a  question  which  agitated  the  public 
mind  in  the  early  stages  of  the  rebellion.  Many  very  loyal 
and  sincere  men  hesitated,  and  some  opposed  it.  "We  have 
seen  that  at  first,  colored  men  escaping  to  the  Union  lines, 
though  bringing  with  them  most  important  intelligence,  and 
strong  arms  and  brave  and  loyal  hearts,  found  there  no  wel- 
come, but,  on  the  contrary,  were  repelled;  and  in  some- in- 
stances, rebel  masters  were  permitted  to  hunt  loyal  fugitive 
slaves  within  the  Union  lines,  and  within  Union  camps. 

General  Halleck  issued  an  order,  November  20,  1861,  pro- 
hibiting fugitive  slaves  from  being  admitted  within  the  lines 
of  his  army,  and  expelling  those  who  had  already  taken 
refuge  there.*  On  the  2d  of  February,  1862,  he  repeated  the 
order  that  no  fugitive  slaves  should  be  admitted  within  the 
lines  or  camps,  except  by  special  order  of  the  Commanding 
General. 

General  Buell,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1862,  declared:  "It 
has  come  to  my  knowledge,  that  slaves  sometimes  make 
their  way  improperly  into  our  lines,  and,  in  some  instances, 
they  may  be  enticed  there,  but  I  think  the  number  has  been 
magnified  by  report.  Several  applications  have  been  made 
to  me  by  persons  whose  servants  have  been  found  in  our 
camps,  and  in  every  instance  that  I  know  of,  the  master  has 
recovered  his  servant,  and  taken  him  away." 

*  McPherson's  Hist.,  p.  248-250. 


260  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

dock-yards  and  other  needful  buildings,  and  over  which  the 
United  States  have  or  shall  have  exclusive  legislative  juris- 
diction. 3d,  In  all  vessels  on  the  high  seas.  4th,  In  all 
places  whatsoever,  where  the  National  Government  has 
exclusive  jurisdiction."* 

.  Mr.  Cox  opposed  the  bill  vehemently,  declaring  that,  in 
his  judgment,  it  was  a  bill  for  the  benefit  of  secession  and 
Jeff.  Davis. 

Mr.  Fisher,  in  an  able  speech,  opposed  the  passage  of  the 
bill.  In  conclusion,  he  appealed  to  the  majority  to  let  this 
cup  pass  from  our  lips.  He  said:  "We  have  done  nobly: 
we  have  done  much  in  behalf  of  liberty  and  humanity  at  this 
session  of  Congress.  Let  us  then  here  call  a  halt  and  take 
our  bearings. 

Finally,  as  a  concession  to  the  more  conservative  members, 
Mr.  Lovejoy  offered  an  amendment,  striking  out  all  except 
the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  on  which 
he  demanded  the  previous  question,  and  the  bill  passed 
the  House,  ayes  eighty -five,  noes  fifty.  The  bill  was 
slightly  modified  in  the  Senate,  and  finally  passed  the  House 
on  the  19th  of  June,  prohibiting  slavery  forever  iu  all  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States  now  existing,  or  that  might 
hereafter  be  acquired.  Thus,  the  second  great  step  towards 
the  destruction  of  slavery  was  taken  ;  and  closing  the  great 
struggle  over  slavery  in  the  Territories,  which  had  agitated 
the  country,  with  short  intervals,  since  the  organization  of 
the  Republic  under  the  Constitution.  Had  this  act  been 
passed  in  1784,  when  Jefferson  proposed  one  substantially 
like  it,  the  terrible  war  of  the  slaveholders  would  never  have 
come  upon  the  Republic.  •  The  institution  would  never  have 
grown  to  such  vast  power.  Missouri  would  have  had  the 
wealth  and  position  of  Ohio,  and  slavery,  driven  by  moral 
and  economical  influences  towards  the  Gulf,  would  have 
gradually  and  peacefully  disappeared. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  14th  of 
September,  1861,  instructed  General  Sherman  to  avail  him- 
self of  the  service  of  any  persons,  whether  fugitives  from 


See  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  2042. 


NEGRO  SOLDIERS.  261 

labor  or  not,  who  might  offer  themselves  to  the  National  Gov- 
ernment, and  he  was  instructed  to  employ  them  in  such  service 
as  they  might  be  best  fitted  for ;  and  that  he  might  organize 
them  into  squads,  companies  or  otherwise,  as  he  might  deem 
most  beneficial  to  the  service.  This  was  qualified  by  the 
President,  so  as  not  to  mean  "  a  general  arming  for  military 
service." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  portion  of  the  report  of  Mr. 
Cameron,  as  Secretary  of  War,  recommending  the  general 
arming  of  the  slaves,  made  December  1,  1861,  was  stricken 
out  by  order  of  the  President.  The  public  sentiment  had 
not  at  that  time,  in  his  judgment,  advanced  far  enough  to 
warrant  this  measure.  Indeed,  whether  the  Government 
should  avail  itself  of  the  ready  and  willing  services  of  citizens 
and  slaves  of  African  descent,  was,  strangely  enough  in  the 
light  of  the  present,  a  question  which  agitated  the  public 
mind  in  the  early  stages  of  the  rebellion.  Many  very  loyal 
and  sincere  men  hesitated,  and  some  opposed  it.  "We  have 
seen  that  at  first,  colored  men  escaping  to  the  Union  lines, 
though  bringing  with  them  most  important  intelligence,  and 
strong  arms  and  brave  and  loyal  hearts,  found  there  no  wel- 
come, but,  on  the  contrary,  were  repelled ;  and  in  some1  in- 
stances, rebel  masters  were  permitted  to  hunt  loyal  fugitive 
slaves  within  the  Union  lines,  and  within  Union  camps. 

General  Halleck  issued  an  order,  November  20,  1861,  pro- 
hibiting fugitive  slaves  from  being  admitted  within  the  lines 
of  his  army,  and  expelling  those  who  had  already  taken 
refuge  there.*  On  the  2d  of  February,  1862,  he  repeated  the 
order  that  no  fugitive  slaves  should  be  admitted  within  the 
lines  or  camps,  except  by  special  order  of  the  Commanding 
General. 

General  Buell,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1862,  declared:  "It 
has  come  to  my  knowledge,  that  slaves  sometimes  make 
their  way  improperly  into  our  lines,  and,  in  some  instances, 
they  may  be  enticed  there,  but  I  think  the  number  has  been 
magnified  by  report.  Several  applications  have  been  made 
to  me  by  persons  whose  servants  have  been  found  in  our 
camps,  and  in  every  instance  that  I  know  of,  the  master  has 
recovered  his  servant,  and  taken  him  away." 

*  McPherson's  Hist.,  p.  24&-250.     • 


264  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

This  resolution  was  forwarded  by  the  Secretary  of  War 
to  Hunter,  with  a  request  for  an  immediate  reply.  In 
response  to  this,  General  Hunter  made  the  following  reply: 

"Sir: — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  communica- 
tion from  the  Adjutant  General  of  the  Army,  dated  June  13,  1862, 
requesting  me  to  furnish  you  with  the  information  necessary  to  answer 
certain  resolutions  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  June 
9,  1862,  on  motion  of  Hon.  Mr.  Wickliffe,  of  Kentucky, — the  sub- 
stance being  to  inquire : — 1st,  Whether  I  had  organized  or  was  organ- 
izing a  regiment  of  '  fugitive  slaves '  in  this  Department.  2d,  Whe- 
ther any  authority  had  been  given  to  me  from  the  War  Department 
for  such  organization.  3d,  Whether  I  had  been  furnished  by  order 
of  the  War  Department  with  clothing,  uniforms  and  equipments,  etc., 
for  such  a  force. 

"To  the  first  question,  therefore,  I  reply  that  no  regiment  of  'fugi- 
tive slaves'  has  been,  or  is  being,  organized  in  this  Department.  There 
is,  however,  a  fine  regiment  of  persons,  whose  late  masters  are  'fugitive 
rebels' — men  who,  everywhere  fly  before  the  appearance  of  the  Na- 
tional flag,  leaving  their  servants  behind  them  to  shift  as  best  they  can 
for  themselves.  So  far,  indeed,  are  the  loyal  persons  composing  this 
regiment  from  seeking  to  avoid  the  presence  of  their  late  owners,  that 
they  are  now,  one  and  all,  working  with  remarkable  industry  to  place 
themselves  in  a  position  to  go  in  full  and  effective  pursuit  of  their 
fugacious  and  traitorous  proprietors. 

"  To  the  second  question,  I  have  the  honor  to  answer  that  the  instruc- 
tions given  to  Brigadier  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  by  Hon.  Simon  Cameron, 
late  Secretary  of  War,  and  turned  over  to  me  by  succession,  for  my 
guidance,  do  distinctly  authorize  me  to  employ  alHoyal  persons  offering 
their  services  in  defence  of  the  Union,  and  for  the  suppression  of  this 
rebellion,  in  any  manner  I  might  see  fit,  or  that  the  circumstances 
might  call  for.  There  is  no  restriction  as  to  the  character  or  color  of 
the  persons  to  be  employed,  or  the  nature  of  the  employment,  whether 
civil  or  military,  in  which  their  services  should  be  used.  I  conclude, 
therefore;  that  I  have  been  authorized  to  enlist  'fugitive  slaves'  as 
soldiers,  could  any  such  be  found  in  this  Department.  No  such  charac- 
ters, however,  have  yet  appeared  within  view  of  our  most  advanced 
pickets — the  loyal  slaves  everywhere  remaining  on  their  plantations  to 
welcome  us,  aid  us,  and  supply  us  with  food,  .labor  and  information.  It 
is  the  masters  who  have,  in  every  instance,  been  the  'fugitives,'  running 
away  from  loyal  slaves  as  well  as  loyal  soldiers,  and  whom  we  have  only 
partially  been  able  to  see,  chiefly  their  heads  over  ramparts,  or,  rifle 


HUNTER'S  REPLY  TO  WICKLIFFE.  265 

in  hand,  dodging  behind  trees  in  the  extreme  distance.  In  the  absence 
ofvany  'fugitive  master  law,'  the  deserted  slaves  would  be  wholly  with- 
out remedy,  had  not  the  crime  of  treason  given  them  the  right  to  pur- 
sue, capture  and  bring  back  those  persons,  of  whose  protection  they 
have  been  thus  suddenly  bereft. 

"To  the  third  interrogatory,  it  is  my  painful  duty  to  reply  that  I 
never  have  received  any  specific  authority  for  issues  of  clothing,  uni- 
form, arms,  equipments,  etc.,  to  the  troops  in  question — my  general 
instructions  from  Mr.  Cameron  to  employ  them  in  any  manner  I  might 
find  necessary  and  the  military  exigencies  of  the  Department  and  the 
country,  being  my  only,  but,  in  my  judgment,  sufficient  justification. 
Neither  have  I  had  any  specific  authority  for  supplying  these  persons 
with  shovels,  spades  and  pickaxes,  when  employing  them  as  laborers, 
nor  with  boats  and  oars  when  using  them  as  lightermen,  but  these  are 
not  points  included  in  Mr.  Wicklifie's  resolution.  To  me,  it  seemed 
that  liberty  to  employ  men  in  one  particular  capacity,  implied  with  it, 
liberty,  also,  to  supply  them  with  the  necessary  tools ;  and,  acting  upon 
this  faith,  I  have  clothed,  equipped  and  armed  the  only  loyal  regiment 
yet  raised  in  South  Carolina. 

''  I  must  say,  in  vindication  of  my  own  conduct,  that  had  it  not  been 
for  the  many  other  diversified  and  imperative  claims  on  my  time  and 
attention,  a  much  more  satisfactory  result  might  have  been  hoped  for, 
and  that  in  place  of  only  one,  as  at  present,  at  least  five  or  six  well 
drilled,  brave  and  thoroughly  acclimated  regiments  should  by  this  time 
have  been  added  to  the  loyal  forces  of  the  Union.  The  experiment  of 
arming  the  blacks,  so  far  as  I  have  made  it,  has  been  a  complete  and 
marvellous  success.  They  are  sober,  docile,  attentive  and  enthusiastic, 
displaying  great  natural  capacity  for  acquiring  the  duties  of  the  soldier. 
They  are  eager  beyond  all  things  to  take  the  field  and  be  led  into  ac- 
tion ;  and  it  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  officers  who  have  had 
charge  of  them,  that,  in  the  peculiarities  of  this  climate  and  country, 
they  will  prove  invaluable  auxiliaries,  fully  equal  to  the  similar  regi- 
ments so  long  and  successfully  used  by  the  British  authorities  in  the 
West  India  Islands. 

"In  conclusion,  I  will  say  it  is  my  hope  —  there  appearing  no  possi- 
bility of  other  reinforcements  owing  to  the  exigencies  of  the  campaign 
in  the  Peninsula — to  have  organized  by  the  end  of  next  Fall,  and  to 
be  able  to  present  to  the  Government,  from  forty-eight  to  fifty  thousand 
of  these  hardy  and  devoted  soldiers." 

The  grim  Secretary  read  this  reply  with  great  satisfaction, 
and  hurried  it  down  to  Congress,  and  its  reception  there  fur- 
nished one  of  the  most  amusing  and  interesting  scenes  which 


266       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

ever  occurred  in  a  grave,  deliberative  body.  The  irascible 
Kentuckian  foamed  with  rage,  while  shouts  of  laughter 
greeted  the  reading  of  the  reply  from  all  parts  of  the  House. 
Hunter's  successful  movement  in  organizing  colored  soldiers, 
and  this  sarcastic  reply,  settled  the  question  that  negroes 
should  have  the  privilege  of  fighting  for  the  Union  and  their 
own  liberty. 

For  this  act  of  common  sense,  General  Hunter  was 
outlawed  by  the  Confederates. 

On  the  9th  of  July,  1862,  Senator  Grimes,  .of  Iowa, 
moved  to  amend  the  bill  providing  for  the  calling  out  of  the 
militia,  by  providing ;  "  that  there  should  be  no  exemption 
from  military  service  on  account  of  color ;  that  when  the  mili- 
tia should  be  called  into  service,  the  President  should  have  full 
power  and  authority  to  organize  them  according  to  race  or 
color." 

Senator  Carlisle,  of  "West  Virginia,  declared  that  the  negro 
constituted  no  part  of  the  militia  of  his  State. 

Preston  King,  of  New  York,  moved  to  amend  the  amend- 
ment of  Mr.  Grimes,  by  providing,  that  the  President  should 
be  authorized  to  'receive  into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
for  any  war  service  for  which  they  might  be  found  compe- 
tent, persons  of  African  descent;  clothing  the  President  with 
full  power  to  enroll  and  organize  them  and  to  feed,  and  pay 
them  such  compensation  as  they  might  agree  to  receive,  and 
that  when  any  man  or  boy  of  African  descent,  should  render 
such  service,  he,  his  mother,  and  wife  and  children,  should 
forever  thereafter  be  free."  Mr.  Grimes  accepted  this 
amendment. 

Mr.  Fessenden,  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Maine,  in 
the  discussion  of  this  bill,  said: 

"  I  tell  the  President  from  my  place  here  as  a  Senator,  and  I  tell  the 
generals  of  our  army,  they  must  reverse  their  practices  and  their  course 
of  proceeding  on  this  subject.  *  *  *  I  advise  it,  here  from  my 
place — treat  your  enemies  as  enemies,  as  the  worst  of  enemies,  and 
avail  yourselves  like  men,  of  every  power  which  God  has  placed  in  your 
hands,  to  accomplish  your  purpose,  within  the  rules  of  civilized 
warfare." 


EMPLOYMENT  OF  NEGRO  SOLDIERS.  267 

The  ever  faithful  Senator  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  said: 

"  The  Senator  from  Delaware,  as  he  is  accustomed  to  do,  speaks  boldly 
and  decidedly.  He  asks  if  American  soldiers  will  fight,  if  we  organize 
colored  men  for  military  purposes.  Did  not  American  soldiers  fight  at 
Bunker  Hill  with  negroes  in  the  ranks,  one  of  whom  shot  down  Major 
Pitcairn  as  he  mounted  the  works  ?  Did  not  American  soldiers  fight  at 
Bed  Bank,  with  a  black  regiment  from  your  own  State  sir?  (Addressing 
Senator  Anthony,  of  Rhode  Island,  then  in  the  Chair.)  Did  they  not  fight 
on  the  battle-field  of  Rhode  Island,  with  that  black  regiment,  one  of  the 
best  and  bravest  that  ever  trod  the  soil  of  this  continent?  Did  not 
American  soldiers  fight  at  Fort  Griswold  with  black  men?  Did  they 
not  fight  with  black  men  in  almost  every  battle-field  of  the  Revolution  ? 
Did  not  the  men  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  standing  on  the  lines  of 
New  Orleans,  under  the  eye  of  Andrew  Jackson,  fight  with  colored 
battallions  whom  he  had  summoned  to  the  field,  and  whom  he  thanked 
publicly,  for  their  gallantry  in  hurling  back  a  British  foe  ?  It  is  all 
talk,  idle  talk,  to  say  that  the  volunteers  who  are  fighting  the  battles  of 
this  country,  are  governed  by  any  such  narrow  prejudice  or  bigotry. 
These  prejudices  are  the  results  of  the  teachings  of  demagogues  and 
politicians,  who  have  for  years,  undertaken  to  delude  and  deceive  the 
American  people,  and  to  demean  and  degrade  them." 

Garrett  Davis,  of  Kentucky,  said: 

"  In  my  own  State,  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  from  eighty  to  a 
hundred  thousand  slaves,  that  belong  to  disloyal  men.  You  propose  to 
place  arms  in  the  hands  of  the  men  and  boys,  or  such  of  them  as  are 
able  to  handle  arms,  and  to  manumit  the  whole  mass,  men,  women, 
and  children,  and  leave  them  among  us.  Do  you  expect  us  to  give  our 
sanction  and  our  approval  to  these  things  ?  No,  no !  We  would  regard 
their  authors  as  our  worst  enemies;  and  there  is  no  foreign  despotism 
that  could  come  to  our  rescue,  that  we  would  not  joyously  embrace,  be- 
fore we  would  submit  to  any  such  condition  of  things  as  that.  But 
before  we  had  invoked  this  foreign  despotism,  we  would  arm  every  man 
and  boy  that  we  have  in  the  land,  and  we  would  meet  you  in  a  death 
struggle,  to  overthrow  together,  such  an  oppression  and  our  oppressors." 

The  wise,  sedate,  and  conservative  Mr.  Collamer  said: 

"  I  never  could  understand,  and  do  not  now  understand  why  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  has  not  the  right  to  the  use  of  every 


268  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

man  in  it,  black  or  white,  for  its  defense;  and  every  horse,  every  particle 
of  property,  every  dollar  in  money  of  every  man  in  it.  *  *  * 
The  second  section  of  the  amendment  provides,  that  when  any  man  or 
boy  of  African  descent,  who,  by  the  laws  of  any  State,  owes  service  or 
labor  to  any  person,  who,  during  the  present  rebellion,  has  borne  arms 
against  the  United  States,  or  adhered  to  their  enemies,  by  giving  them 
aid  or  comfort,  shall  render  to  the  United  States  any  such  service  as  is 
provided  in  the  preceding  section,  he,  his  mother,  and  his  wife  and 
children,  shall  forever  thereafter,  be  free,  any  law  or  usage  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding.  I  have  a  word  to  say  about  that.  I  am  con- 
strained to  say,  whether  it  is  to  the  honor  or  dishonor  of  my  country, 
that,  in  the  land  of  slavery,  no  male  slave  has  a  child ;  none  is  known  as 
father  to  a  child;  no  slave  has  a  wife,  marriage  being  repudiated  in  the 
slave  system.  This  is  the  condition  of  things ;  and  wonderful  as  it  may 
be,  we  are  told  that  that  is  a  Cliristian  institution!" 

Mr.  Ten  Eyck,  a  republican  Senator  from  New  Jersey, 
moved  to  strike  out  the  words  "  military  and  naval,"  before 
"  service,"  fearful  of  offending  the  sensitiveness  of  the  public, 
in  regard  to  employing  negroes  in  the  military  service.  Hon- 
est Preston  King  said,  "  we  may  as  well  meet  this  question 
directly,  and  that  he  had  done  talking  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  avoid  giving  offence  to  our  enemies  in  this  matter."  He 
related  an  incident,  "that,  in  March,  1861,  the  Captain  of 
the  watch  at  the  Capitol,  desired  permission  to  omit  hoisting 
the  National  flag  over  the  Senate  chamber,  because  it  hurt 
the  feelings  of  some  people  to  look  at  it!" 

John  Sherman,  of  Ohio,  moved  that  the  provisions,  giving 
freedom  to  the  slave  and  his  family,  as  a  reward  for  military 
service,  should  apply  to  those  only,  who  are  owned  by  rebel 
masters !  He  said : 

"  When  we  take  the  slave  of  a  loyal  man  and  make  him  work  for  us, 
I  do  not  for  that  reason,  wish  to  deprive  the  master  entirely  of  what  he 
regards  as  his  property,  or  what  is  regarded  by  local  law  as  his  property. 
If  we  inflict  injury  on  him  by  taking  his  property  and  using  it  for  the 
time  being,  we  certainly  should  not  in  addition  to  that,  deprive  him  of 
his  property  altogether.  The  slave  is  in  no  worse  condition  than  he  was 
before,  and  I  think  it  would  be  grossly  unjust  and  improper  now,  or  at 
any  time,  to  deprive  the  owner  of  a  slave  of  the  legal  right  to  the 


NEGKO  SOLDIERS.  269 

service  of  his  slave,  if  he  is  a  loyal  and  true  man,  and  has  done  his  duty 
in  the  emergency.     I  certainly  would  not  vote  for  such  a  proposition." 

Mr.  King,  in  reply  said : 

"  When  we  take  a  slave  to  serve  the  country  in  this  emergency,  my  own 
opinion  is,  that  he  should  be  made  free,  whether  he  belongs  to  a  rebel 
or  not.  I  should  like  to  have  a  division  on  this  amendment,  so  as  to 
have  an  opportunity  to  record  my  vote  upon  it.  It  is  so  plain  a 
proposition,  that  it  does  not  need  any  discussion." 

Mr.  Browning,  of  Illinois,  moved  to  amend  so  that  the 
mother,  wife,  and  children  of  the  slave  fighting  for  the 
country,  should  be  free,  only  in  those  cases  where  they  were 
owned  hy  rebels.  This  proposition  received  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  17  votes.  Rough  and  blunt  James  Lane, 
Senator  from  Kansas,  said : 

"  After  this  war  is  over,  a  soldier,  perhaps  covered  with  scars, 
his  mother,  wife  and  children  around  him,  having  escaped,  or  their 
masters  escaped  from  them,  are  in  Washington  City.  I  say  that  the 
•Government  that  would  restore  that  mother,  that  wife  and  those  chil- 
dren to  slavery,  after  that  father  and  husband  has  been  covered  with 
wounds  in  defence  of  the  country,  deserves  to  be  damned.  God  himself 
would  turn  his  face  against  a  Government  that  would  commit  a  crime 
like  that.  Let  me  tell  the  Senator  from  Illinois,  the  bill  provides  that 
if  the  mother,  wife  and  children,  belong  to  a  loyal  person,  he  is  to  get 
remuneration  from  the  Government,  as  the  Senator  or  I  would  for  our 
property.  I  deny  that  this  Government  cannot  take  the  slaves  of  the 
loyal  and  disloyal,  and  that  they  are  estopped  from  making  any  use  of 
them  that  they  choose  for  the  suppression  of  this  rebellion ;  and  having 
made  use  of  them,  I  say  it  would  be  a  crime  before  God  to  return  them 
to  slavery." 

Senators  Sherman,  and  Browning,  and  all  who  voted 
for  these  amendments,  have  lived,  I  think,  to  blush  for  these 
votes,  and  wish  that  the  record  could  be  obliterated. 

Senator  Howard,  of  Michigan,  said: 

"  I  do  not  care  how  lowly,  how  humble,  how  degraded  a  negro  may 
be,  if  he  takes  his  musket  or  any  other  implement  of  war,  and  risks 


270  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW.  OF  SLAVERY. 

his  life  to  defend  me,  my  countrymen,  my  family,  my  Government,  my 
property,  my  liberties,  my  rights,  against  any  foe,  foreign  or  domestic, 
it  is  my  duty  under  God,  it  is  my  duty  as  a  man,  as  a  lover  of  justice, 
to  see  to  it  that  he  shall  be  free." 

Senator  Wilson  called  attention  to  the 'fact,  that  while 
thousands  of  negroes  would  have  gladly  sought  refuge  in  the 
lines  of  our  armies,  and  labored  for  low  wages,  they  were 
repelled;  and  that  thousands  and  thousands  of  the  young 
men  of  New  England,  and  the  North,  had  been  broken  down 
by  the  labor  of  the  spade  in  ditching  and  entrenching,  which 
labor  the  fugitive  slave  would  gladly  have  relieved  them 
from. 

The  bill  finally  passed,  giving  freedom  to  all  who  should 
perform  military  service,  but  restricting  liberty  to  the  families 
of  such  only  as  belonged  to  rebel  masters. 

The  bill  passed  the  House  on  the  16th  of  July,  1862,  and 
on  the  17th,  it  received  the  sanction  of  the  President,  and 
became  a  law. 

The  measure  thus  sanctioned  by  Congress  was  the  inaugur- 
ation of  a  system  which  resulted  in  bringing  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States,  186,057  soldiers,  nearly  two  hundred 
thousand!  The  loss  by  wounds,  disease,  and  all  causes,  of 
the  negro  soldiers  during  the  war,  was  sixty-eight  thousand 
one  hundred  and  seventy-eight.  This  was  the  contribution  of 
the  negro  towards  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  the 
acquisition  of  liberty  for  his  race ! 

The  good,  faithful,  and  just  Lincoln  said,  in  this  connection : 

"  Negroes,  like  other  people,  act  upon  motives.  Why  should  they  do 
anything  for  us,  if  we  will  do  nothing  for  them.  If  they  stake  their 
lives  for  us,  they  must  be  prompted  by  the  strongest  of  motives,  even 
the  promise  of  freedom.  And  the  promise  being  made  must  be  kept." 
The  '  job '  of  saving  the  Nation,  was  a  great  National  one,  and  let  none 
be  slighted  who  bore  an  honorable  part  in  it.  There  are  some  negroes 
living  who  can  remember,  and  the  children  of  some  who  are  dead,  who 
will  not  forget,  that  some  black  men  with  steady  eye  and  well  poised 
bayonet,  helped  mankind  to  save  liberty  in  America.'/ 


EMPLOYMENT  OF  NEGRO  SOLDIERS.  271 

This  measure  was  as  important  and  effective  in  aiding  in 
the  overthrow  of  slavery,  as  in  crushing  armed  resistance  to 
the  Union.  To  the  accomplishment  of  both  of  these  great 
objects,  the  President  was  anxiously  but  cautiously  looking. 
Measures  were  immediately  taken  to  enroll  negro  soldiers  as 
well  in  the  rebel  territory,  as  in  the  border  and  free  States, 
and  this  was  a  powerful  agency  in  redeeming  Maryland, 
Missouri,  and  Tennessee,  from  the  curse  of  slavery. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


CONFISCATION  AND  EMANCIPATION. 

BILL  TO  CONFISCATE  THE  PROPERTY  AND  EMANCIPATE  THE  SLAVES 
OF  REBELS  —  ACTION  OF  THE  SENATE  —  OF  THE  HOUSE — SPEECH 
OP  CRITTENDEN  —  REPLY  OF  LOVEJOY  —  WADE,  OF  OHIO  — 
SEDOWICK — PASSAGE  OF  THE  BILL — JOINT  RESOLUTION  EX- 
PLANATORY THEREOF — PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE — ELLIOTT'S  EMAN- 
CIPATION RESOLUTION — PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE  RECOMMENDING 
GRADUAL  AND  COMPENSATED  EMANCIPATION — HUNTER'S  ORDER 
FREEING  SLAVES  IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA,  ETC. — LINCOLN  DECLARES 
IT  UNAUTHORIZED — His  ADDRESS  TO  BORDER  STATE  DELEGATION 
IN  CONGRESS. 

ON  the  16th  of  July,  1861,  Senator  Pomeroy,  introduced  a 
bill  into  the  Senate,  "  To  suppress  the  slaveholder's  rebel- 
lion." This  bill  abolished  slavery  in  the  seceding  states.  It  was 
a  measure  too  bold  and  decided  for  that  session,  but  time  and 
war  soon  effected,  what  this  bill  sought  to  accomplish.  Va- 
rious propositions  were  introduced  at  the  regular  session  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  freedom  to  the  slaves  of  rebels. 

Senator  Trumbull,  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee, 
on  the  5th  of  December,  introduced  a  bill  which  provided, 
that  the  slaves  of  persons  who  should  take  up  arms  against 
the  United  States,  or  in  any  manner  aid  or  abet  the  rebellion, 
should  be  discharged  from  service  and  labor,  and  become 
forever  free,  any  law  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  The 
measure  was  zealously  advocated  by  Senators  Morrill,  Sum- 
ner,  Wade,  Wilmot,  and  others,  and  opposed  by  Senators 
Davis,  Powell,  Wiley  and  others.  Finally,  after  a  long  dis- 
cussion, the  bill  and  the  various  amendments  were  referred 
to  a  committee  of  nine,  with  instructions  to  report  as  early 
as  possible.  This  committee,  through  its  Chairman,  Mr. 

272 


CONFISCATION  AND  EMANCIPATION.  273 

Clark,  of  New  Hampshire,  reported  a  substitute  for  the  vari- 
ous bills  and  amendments  which  had  been  introduced.  This 
substitute  provided,  in  substance — First,  That  at  any  time 
after  the  passage  of  the  act,  the  President  might  issue  his 
proclamation,  proclaiming  the  slaves  of  persons  found  thirty 
days  after  the  issuing  of  the  proclamation  in  arms  against 
the  Government,  free,  any  law  or  custom  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding—  Second,  That  no  slave  escaping  from  his 
master  should  be  given  up,  unless  the  claimant  should  estab- 
lish by  proof  that  he  had  given  no  aid  to  the  rebellion,  and, 
Third,  That  the  President  should  be  authorized  to  employ 
persons  of  African  descent  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion. 
This  last  clause  illustrates  the  strength  of  the  still  lingering 
influence  of  slavery,  as  though  a  law  of  Congress  was  neces- 
sary to  enable  the  President  to  employ  persons  of  African  de- 
scent to  suppress  the  rebellion !  The  whole  people,  black  as 
well  as  white,  were  subject  to  the  call  of  the  President  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Government. 

Strange  that  any  should  dream  that  the  master's  claim  to 
service,  and  especially  a  rebel  master's  claim,  could  stand  in 
the  way  of  the  Government's  claim  for  service  as  a  soldier. 
The  Government  could,  forsooth,  take  the  son  from  the 
father,  but  not  the  slave  from  the  master !  If  the  persons 
held  to  service  were  property,  the  Government  could  take  it 
for  the  public  and  use  it  for  its  self  preservation.  If  persons, 
then  they  were  subject  to  call  for  military  services. 

Various  propositions  to  effect  purposes  of  confiscation  and 
emancipation,  were  introduced  into  the  House.  The  subject 
was  debated  in  various  forms  during  the  Winter  and  Spring 
of  1862,  and  finally,  on  the  8th  of  April,  the  whole  subject 
was  referred  to  a  Select  Committee  of  nine,  to  report  on  the 
various  propositions  pending. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  passages  in  the  whole 
debate  was  that  which  occurred  between  Mr.  Crittenden,  the 
grey  haired,  venerable  member  from  Kentucky,  and  Mr. 
Lovejoy,  of  Illinois.  Crittenden  was  the  head  of  a  leading 
and  influential  slaveholding  family  of  his  State,  and  had 
been  the  successor  of  Henry  Clay,  as  the  leader  of  the  old 
Whig  party  of  Kentucky.  An  able  and  eloquent  man,  his 
'  18  * 


274       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

influence  was  great  in  his  own  State,  and  considerable 
throughout  the  Union.  In  a  great  speech  made  on  the  23d 
of  April,  in  opposition  to  the  confiscation  bill,  he  said : 

"  I  voted  against  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  opposed  him  honestly  and  sin- 
cerely, but  Mr.  Lincoln  has  won  me  to  his  side.  There  is  a  niche  in 
the  temple  of  fame,  a  niche  near  to  Washington,  which  should  be  occu- 
pied by  the  statue  of  him  who  shall  save  this  country.  Mr.  Lincoln 
has  a  mighty  destiny.  It  is  for  him,  if  he  will,  to  step  into  that  niche. 
It  is  for  him  to  be  but  a  President  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
and  there  will  his  statue  be.  But  if  he  choose  to  be,  in  these  times,  a 
mere  sectarian  and  a  party  man,  that  niche  will  be  reserved  for  some 
future  and  better  patriot.  It  is  in  his  power  to  occupy  a  place  next  to 
Washington — the  founder  and  the  preserver,  side  by  side.  Sir,  Mr. 
Lincoln  is  no  coward.  His  not  doing  what  the  Constitution  forbade 
him  to  do,  and  what  all  of  our  institutions  forbade  him  to  do,  is  no 
proof  of  his  cowardice." 

This  Speech  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  was  regarded  as  an  appeal 
from  the  ablest,  and  most  influential  border  State  man,  to 
Mr.  Lincoln,  to  stay  his  hand;  to  withhold  the  proclamation 
of  Emancipation,  and  save  the  imperiled  institution  of  slavery. 

The  border  State  men  were  ready  to  crown  him  the  peer 
of  Washington,  if  he  would  save  slavery.  Lovejoy,  who 
knew  Mr.  Lincoln  well,  and  appreciated  him,  replied : 

"  The  gentleman  from  Kentucky,  says,  he  has  a  niche  for  Abraham 
Lincoln.  Where  is  it?  He  points  upwards.  But  sir,  should  the  Pres- 
ident follow  the  counsels  of  that  gentleman,  and  become  the  defender 
and  perpetuator  of  human  slavery,  he  should  point  downward  to  some 
dungeon  in  the  temple  of  Moloch,  who  feeds  on  human  blood,  and  is 
surrounded  with  fires  where  are  forged  manacles  and  chains  for  human 
limbs  —  in  the  crypts  and  recesses  of  whose  temple,  woman  is  scourged 
and  man  tortured,  and  outside  the  walls,  are  lying,  dogs  gorged  with 
human  flesh,  as  Byron  describes  them,  stretched  around  Stamboul. 
'  That '  said  he,  is  a  suitable  place  for  the  statue  of  one  who  would 
defend  and  perpetuate  slavery. 

"  Sir,  the  friends  of  American  slavery  need  not  beslime  the  President 
with  their  praise.  He  is  an  anti-slavery  man  !  He  hates  human  bond- 
age. The  gentleman  says  he  did  not  vote  for  him.  Why  did  not  tho 
gentleman  remind  the  House  that  he  did  vote  for  a  man  now  among  the 
rebels?  I  did  vote  for  the  occupant  of  the  Executive  Chair,  and  labored 


LOVEJOY'S  REPLY  TO  CRITTENDEN.  275 

for  his  election,  as  I  never  labored  for  that  of  any  other  man  If  the 
gentleman  wants  to  sustain  the  President  in  his  administration  in  its 
stormy  and  perilous  voyage,  why  did  he  not  vote  for  his  wise  and  patri- 
otic message,  hailed  and  approved,  so  far  as  I  know,  by  the  whole 
country,  except  slaveholders  ?  I  voted  cordially  for  that  message.  Ex- 
treme men,  as  they  are  called,  voted  for  that  message.  On  saying  as  I 
have  .said,  slavery  must  perish,  I  do  not  mean  that  it  must  perish  at 
once  necessarily.  Nor  while  I  say  that  the  slaves  can  take  care  of  them- 
selves, and  that  they  should  be  let  alone,  do  I  mean  to  preclude  the  idea 
of  colonization  that  is  not  compulsory.  The  message  of  the  President, 
therefore,  presented  ground  where  all  might  stand,  the  conservative 
and  radical,  and  with  common  purpose  and  combined  effort,  put  forth 
their  exertions  for  the  beneficent  object  of  universal  emancipation,  ac- 
companied by  colonization,  if  just  to  the  slave,  and  best  for  the  country. 
Why  did  not  the  gentleman  vote  for  it?  I  yield  to  no  one  in  my  honest 
belief  in  the  pure  patriotism  of  the  President.  I  believe  in  these 
respects,  he  stands  by  the  side  of  Washington. 

"I  too,  have  a  niche  for  Abraham  Lincoln;  but  it  is  in  Freedom's 
holy  fane,  and  not  in  the  blood  besmeared  temple  of  human  bondage; 
not  surrounded  by  slave  fetters  and  chains,  but  with  the  symbols  of  free- 
dom; not  dark  with  bondage,  but  radiant  with  the  light  of  liberty.  In 
that  niche  he  shall  stand  proudly,  nobly,  gloriously,  with  shattered  fet- 
ters and  broken  chains,  and  slave  whips  beneath  his  feet.  If  Abraham 
Lincoln  pursues  the  path  evidently  pointed  out  for  him  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  as  I  believe  he  will,  then  he  will  occupy  the  proud  posi- 
tion I  have  indicated.  That  is  a  fame  worth  living  for;  aye,  more,  that 
is  a  fame  worth  dying  for,  though  that  death  led  through  the  blood  of 
Gethsemane,  and  the  agony  of  the  accursed  tree.  That  is  a  fame  which 
has  glory  and  honor,  and  immortality  and  eternal  life.  Let  Abraham 
Lincoln  make  himself,  as  I  trust  he  will,  the  emancipator,  the  liberator, 
as  he  has  the  opportunity  of  doing,  and  his  name  shall  not  only  be  en- 
rolled in  this  earthly  temple,  but  it  will  be  traced  on  the  living  stones 
of  that  temple  which  rears  itself  amid  the  thrones  and  hierarchies  of 
Heaven,  whose  top  stone  is  to  be  brought  in  with  shouting  of  grace, 
grace,  unto  it. 

"  It  is  said  that  Wilberforce  went  up  to  the  judgment  seat  with  the 
broken  chains  of  eight  hundred  thousand  emancipated  slaves.  And  it 
w  not  too  much  to  believe  that  the  slave  liberated  by  the  beneficent 
power  of  the  President,  should,  in  that  future  world,  next  to  the  God 
that  made  him,  and  the  Savior  who  redeemed  him,  thank  the  benefac- 
tor who  released  him  from  the  thraldom  of  slavery,  and  allowed  him  to 
learn  the  pathway  to  Heaven  in  the  light  of  that  volume  which  had  to 


276  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

him,  been  a  sealed  book.  This  is  a  fame  worthy  the  aspirations  of  the 
noblest  nature.  But  the  soul  recoils  from  the  accursed  and  bloody  fame 
to  which  the  gentleman  would  consign  the  President  as  the  champion 
of  human  bondage,  and  the  preserver  and  perpetuator  of  American 
slavery." 

Dark  would  his  fame  be !  darker  still 
His  immortality  of  ill. 

These  two  speeches,  from  the  champions  of  slavery  and 
freedom,  were  read  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  library  at  the 
White  House,  a  room  to  which  he  sometimes  retired.  He 
was  moved  by  the  picture  which  Lovejoy  drew.  The  tre- 
mendous responsibilities  growing  out  of  the  slavery  question; 
how  he  ought  to  treat  those  sons  of  "  unrequited  toil,"  were 
questions,  sinking  deeper  and  deeper  into  his  heart.  With 
a  purpose  firmly  to  follow  the  path  of  duty,  as  God  gave 
him  to  see  his  duty,  he  earnestly  sought  the  divine  guidance. 

The  Select  Committee,  to  which  the  subject  was  referred, 
by  Mr.  Elliott,  reported  two  bills :  "  a  bill  to  confiscate  the  pro- 
perty of  rebels,"  etc.,  and  "a  bill  to  free  from  servitude,  the 
slaves  of  rebels  engaged  in  abetting  the  existing  rebellion 
against  the  United  States."  The  latter  bill  declares  a  forfeiture 
of  all  claims  to  service  by  an  armed  rebel  to  the  persons  known 
as  slaves,  and  makes  them  free.  It  declares  that  the  fact  that 
a  claimant  had  been  in  arms  against  the  United  States  in  the 
rebellion,  should  be  a  good  defence  to  any  claim  of  service 
set  up  by  him.  It  required  every  claimant  to  establish 
affirmatively,  not  only  his  claim  to  the  service,  but  his  own 
loyalty. 

The  passage  of  this  bill  was  earnestly  and  ably  pressed  by 
Elliott,  of  Massachusetts,  and  N"oell,  of  Missouri.  This  earn- 
est patriot  from  the  slave  State  of  Missouri,  urged  the  passage 
of  the  bill  in  the  following  terms: 

"  But  it  is  the  weakness  of  cowards,  or  sympathy  for  murderous 
traitors,  that  now  while  they  confront  us  at  all  points  with  arms  in 
their  hands,  and  shoot  down  our  fathers,  sons,  husbands,  lovers  and 
friends,  that  now  lifts  up  weak  hands  in  helpless  horror  and  raise 
querulous  voices  in  feeble  wails  and  cries  for  mercy  to  the  rebels. 
Mercy  now,  is  treason,  rape,  arson,  an  infraction  of  the  whole  deca- 
logue ;  and  I  suspect  the  brain  or  heart  of  him  who  now  speaks  of 


CONFISCATION  AND  EMANCIPATION.  277 

forbearance  towards  them.  But  the  legislation  which  we  are  now  to 
enact,  is  to  he  enforced  when  the  rebel  is  disarmed,  and  lies  bound  and 
helpless  in  our  prison,  to  receive,  in  unquestioning  silence,  the  blow  we 
now  lift  over  him.  Do  not  talk  to  me  of  the  danger  of  stimulating  hia 
hatred,  or  of  aggravating  his  hostility  by  threatened  severity ;  he  has 
been  at  his  murderous  work  for  a  twelvemonth.  Do  not  talk  to  me  of 
making  him  desperate ;  but  we  may  with  profit  contemplate  his  changed 
fortune  and  temper,  when  subdued  and  abject,  he  awaits  in  chains,  our 
utterance  of  his  doom.  We  can  deal  with  the  rebels  in  only  two  ways ; 
collectively  in  States,  and  severally  as  individuals. 

"  I  would  free  the  slave  of  every  man  and  woman  engaged  in  this 
rebellion.  The  guilt  of  the  master  should  inure  at  least  to  the  benefit 
of  the  slave,  and  from  this  huge  crime  should  spring  a  greater 
beneficence." 

Mr.  Sedgwick,  of  New  York,  said : 

"  As  the  purpose  of  this  war  is  to  perpetuate  slavery,  and  as  this  in- 
stitution is  the  cause  of  the  war,  we  will  break  it  down,  destroy  and 
overthrow  the  institution.  I  am  for  destroying  this  hostile  institution 
in  every  State  that  has  made  war  upon  the  Government,  and  if  we  have 
military  strength  enough  to  reduce  them  to  possession,  I  propose  to 
leave  not  one  slave  in  the  wake  of  our  advancing  armies  —  not  one  !" 

The  bills  passed  the  House  on  the  26th  of  May,  and  on 
the  23d  of  June,  were  taken  up  for  consideration  in  the 
Senate.  Finally,  the  Senate  adopted  its  own  bill  as  a  substi- 
tute, and  passed  it.  On  the  3d  of  July,  the  House  took  up 
the  confiscation  bill  as  amended  by  the  Senate,  and  refused 
to  concur  in  the  Senate  amendment,  and  a  conference  com- 
mittee was  appointed.  This  committee  reported  a  bill  com- 
bining confiscation  and  emancipation  in  one  bill.  It  provided 
that  all  slaves  of  persons  who  should  give  aid  and  comfort  to 
the  rebellion,  who  should  take  refuge  within  the  lines  of  the 
army;  all  slaves  captured  from  rebels,  or  deserted  by  rebels 
and  being  under  the  control  of  the  Government,  and  all 
slaves  of  rebels  found  or  being  within  places  occupied  by 
rebel  forces,  and  afterwards  occupied  by  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  deemed  captives  .of  war,  and  shall  be 
forever  free  and  not  again  held  as  slaves;  that  fugitive  slaves 
should  not  be  surrendered  to  persons  who  had  given  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  rebellion ;  that  no  person  engaged  in  the  mill- 


278  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

tary  or  naval  service  should  surrender  fugitive  slaves  on  pain 
of  being  dismissed  from  the  service,  and  that  the  President 
should  be  authorized  to  employ  persons  of  African  descent 
to  suppress  the  rebellion,  and  that  he  might  organize  and 
use  them  in  such  manner  as  he  might  deem  best  for  the  pub- 
lic welfare.  The  report  was  accepted,  and  the  bill,  on  the 
17th  of  July,  1862,  received  the  approval  of  the  President, 
and  became  a  law.  This  approval  of  the  President,  however, 
was  not  obtained  until  a  joint  resolution  had  been  adopted 
by  Congress,  as  follows  : 

"  That  the  provisions  of  the  third  clause  of  the  fifth  section  of  'An 
Act  to  suppress  insurrection,  to  punish  treason  and  rebellion,  to  seize 
and  confiscate  the  property  of  rebels,  and  for  other  purposes,'  shall  be 
so  construed  as  not  to  apply  to  any  act  or  acts  done  prior  to  the  pas- 
sage thereof;  nor  to  include  any  member  of  a  State  Legislature,  or 
judge  of  any  State  court  who  has  not,  in  accepting  or  entering  upon 
his  office  taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  so-called 
Confederate  States  of  America ;  nor  shall  any  punishment  or  proceed- 
ings under  said  act  be  so  construed  as  to  work  a  forfeiture  of  the  real 
estate  of  the  offender,  beyond  his  natural  life." 

This  law  has  been  justly  characterized  as  the  first  great 
act  of  emancipation.  Its  importance  has  not  been  fully  ap- 
preciated. How  comprehensive  its  terms.  It  declares  that 
every  slave  claimed  or  held  by  a  rebel  should  be  freed.  There 
were  comparatively  few  slaves  other  than  those  claimed  by 
rebels.  It  declares  that  every  slave  who  should  flee  to,  or 
take  refuge  within  the  army,  should  be  free.  The  army 
was  to  carry  liberty  to  every  man  who  came  under  the  flag. 

The  President,  on  the  day  of  the  approval  of  this  bill,  sent 
to  Congress  a  message,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  considered 
the  confiscation  act,  and  the  joint  resolution  explanatory  of 
said  act,  as  being  substantially  one,  and  he  therefore  approved 
and  signed  both.  He  also  communicated  to  Congress  the 
draft  of  a  message  stating  his  objections  to  the  bill,  without 
the  explanatory  resolutions.  This  act,  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  was  one  of  the  same  frank  and  open  character 
which  always  marked  his  intercourse  with  Congress.  It  is 
known,  however,  that  he  subsequently  modified  his  views  of 
the  Dowers  of  Congress  upon  the  subject  of  confiscation,  and 


EMANCIPATION.  279 

it  is  believed  that  a  year  later  he  would  have  signed  the  bill 
without  the  joint  resolution  explanatory  thereof. 

While  Congress  had  been  discussing  the  great  questions  of 
emancipation  and  confiscation,  the  President  had  been  most 
carefully  considering  the  same  subjects. 

The  following  resolution  and  action  of  the  popular  branch 
of  the  National  Legislature,  as  well  as  the  debates  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  exhibit  the  rapid  progress  of  public 
sentiment  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  On  the  2d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1861,  Mr.  Elliott  offered  a  resolution : 

"Resolved,  1.  That  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  these  States,  we  do 
again  solemnly  declare  that  the  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  against 
the  insurgent  bodies  now  in  arms  against  the  Government,  has  for  its 
object  the  suppression  of  such  rebellion,  and  the  reestablishment  of  the 
rightful  authority  of  the  National  Constitution  and  laws  over  the 
entire  extent  of  our  common  country.  2.  That  while  we  disclaim  all 
power  under  the  Constitution  to  interfere  by  ordinary  legislation  with 
the  institutions  of  the  several  States,  yet  the  war.  now  existing  must  be 
conducted  according  to  the  usages  and  rights  of  military  service,  and 
that  during  its  continuance,  the  recognized  authority  of  the  maxim 
that  the  safety  of  the  State  is  the  highest  law,  subordinates  rights  of 
property,  and  dominates  over  civil  relations.  3.  That,  therefore,  we 
do  hereby  declare  that,  in  our  judgment,  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  as  the  commander-in-chief  of  our  army,  and  the  officers  in  com- 
mand under  him,  have  the  right  to  emancipate  all  persons  held  as 
slaves  in  any  military  district  in  a  state  of  insurrection  against  the 
National  Government,  and  that  we  respectfully  advise  that  such  order 
of  emancipation  be  issued  wherever  the  same  will  avail  to  weaken  the 
power  of  the  rebels  in  arma,  or  to  strengthen  the  military  power  of  the 
loyal  forces." 

Which  resolution,  after  being  amended  so  as  to  insert 
after  the  word  "slaves,"  the  words  "held  by  rebels,"  was, 
on  the  17th,  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary. 
The  varied  and  excited  discussions,  bills,  and  numerous  re- 
solutions on  the  subject  of  emancipation,  have  been  already 
alluded  to.  It  was  obvious  that  as  the  war  was  being  waged 
by  the  insurgent  States  to  maintain  slavery,  and  secure  for 
it  security,  if  slavery  could  be  destroyed,  and  emancipation 


280     LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

accomplished,  the  object  and  end  of  the  war  would  be 
defeated,  and  the  war  itself  cease.  Besides,  so  long  as 
slavery  was  unassailed,  it  was  a  source  of  strength  to  the 
rebels,  but  with  emancipation  and  freedom,  the  black  popu- 
lation would  flock  to  the  National  standard,  and  render 
it  efficient  aid. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  trace  the  gradual  advance  of  opin- 
ion on  the  part  of  President  Lincoln,  which  finally  resulted 
in  the  settled  conviction  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  emanci- 
pation. He  entered  upon  the  Presidency,  a.  thorough,  radi- 
cal, anti-slavery  man.  He  believed  in  the  irreconcilable 
antagonism  between  free  and  slave  labor.  But  with 
these  convictions,  no  man  had  a  higher  reverence  for 
law;  and  he  was  by  nature  cautious,  and  a  conservative 
reformer.  He  did  not  understand  that  the  Presidency 
conferred  upon  him  an  unrestricted  right  to  act  upon 
his  anti-slavery  feelings.  No  man  ever  entered  upon  the 
Presidency  with  a  more  firm  determination  that  his  adminis- 
tration should  be"  strictly  constitutional.  .  He  deprecated 
violent  or  sudden  changes.  Inspired  by  these  views,  on  the 
6th  day  of  March,  1862,  he  sent  the  following  message  to  Con- 
gress, recommending  compensated  and  gradual  emancipation. 
Said  he : 

"  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution  by  your  honorable 
bodies,  which  shall  be  substantially  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  State  which  may 
adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giving  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be 
used  by  such  State  In  its  discretion,  to  compensate  for  the  inconvenience,  public 
and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of  system." 

"  If,  said  he,  the  proposition  contained  in  the  resolution  does  not 
meet  the  approval  of  Congress  and  the  country,  there  is  the  end ;  but  if  it 
does  command  such  approval,  I  deem  it  of  importance,  that  the  States  and 
people  immediately  interested,  should  be  at  once  distinctly  notified  of 
the  fact,  so  that  they  may  begin  to  consider  whether  to  accept  or  reject 
it.  The  Federal  Government  would  find  its  highest  interest  in  such 
a  measure,  as  one  of  the  most  efficient  means  of  self-preservation.  The 
leaders  of  the  existing  insurrection  entertain  the  hope  that  this  Gov- 
ernment will  ultimately  be  forced  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of 
some  part  of  the  disaffected  region,  and  that  all  the  slave  States 
north  of  such  part  will  then  say,  '  the  Union  for  which  we  have 


EMANCIPATION  MESSAGE.  281 

struggled  being  already  gone,  we  now  choose  to  go  with  the  Southern 
section.'  To  deprive  them  of  this  hope,  substantially  ends  the  rebel- 
lion ;  and  the  initiation  of  emancipation  completely  deprives  them  of  it, 
as  to  all  the  States  initiating  it.  The  point  is  not  that  all  the  States 
tolerating  slavery  would  very  soon,  if  at  all,  initiate  emancipation; 
but  that,  while  the  offer  is  equally  made  to  all,  the  more  North- 
ern shall,  by  such  initiation,  make  it  certain  to  the  more  Southern,  that 
in  no  event  will  the  former  ever  join  the  latter  in  their  proposed  Con- 
federacy. I  say  '  initiation,'  because,  in  my  judgment,  gradual,  and 
not  sudden  emancipation  is  better  for  all.  In  the  mere  financial  or 
pecuniary  view,  any  member  of  Congress,  with  the  census  tables  and 
treasury  reports  before  him,  can  readily  see  for  himself,  how  very  soon 
the  current  expenditures  of  this  war  would  purchase,  at  fair  valuation, 
all  the  slaves  in  any  named  State.  Such  a  proposition,  on  the  part  of 
the  General  Government,  sets  up  no  claim  of  a  right  by  Federal  au- 
thority to  interfere  with  slavery  within  State  limits,  referring,  as  it 
does,  the  absolute  control  of  the  subject  in  each  case,  to  the  State  and 
its  people  immediately  interested.  It  is  proposed  as  a  matter  of 
perfectly  free  choice  with  them. 

"  In  the  annual  message  last  December,  I  thought  fit  to  say  '  the 
Union  must  be  preserved ;  and  hence  all  indispensable  means  must  be 
employed.'  I  said  this,  not  hastily,  but  deliberately.  War  has  been 
made,  and  continues  to  be  an  indispensable  means  to  this  end.  A  prac- 
tical re-acknowledgment  of  the  National  authority  would  render  the  war 
unnecessary,  and  it  would  at  once  cease.  If,  however,  resistance  con- 
tinues, the  war  must  continue ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  all  the 
incidents  which  may  attend,  and  all  the  juin  which  may  follow  it. 
Such  as  may  seem  indispensable  or  may  obviously  promise  great 
efficiency  towards  ending  the  struggle,  must,  and  will  come. 

"  The  proposition  now  made,  though  an  offer  only,  I  hope  it  may  be 
esteemed  no  offence  to  ask  whether  the  pecuniary  consideration  tender- 
ed would  not  be  of  more  value  to  the  States,  and  private  persons  con- 
cerned than  are  the  institution  and  property  in  it,  in  the  present  aspect 
of  affairs  ? 

"  While  it  is  true  that  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  resolution  would 
be  merely  initiatory,  and  not,  within  itself  a  practical  measure,  it  is  re- 
commended in  the  hope,  that  it  would  soon  lead  to  important  practical 
results.  In  full  view  of  my  great  responsibility  to  my  God,  and  to  my 
country,  I  earnestly  beg  the  attention  of  Congress  and  the  people  to 
the  subject. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


282  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  agitating  the  alternative  of  immediate 
and  unconditional  emancipation,  by  his  own  proclamation, 
or  gradual  and  compensated  emancipation  as  proposed  in  the 
foregoing  message.  He  determined  to  submit  the  subject  to 
Congress  and  the  border  slave  States,  with  the  sincere  hope, 
that  the  latter  would  be  accepted. 


CHAPTEE   XIII. 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION. 

EMANCIPATION  DEMANDED  BY  THE  LOYAL  STATES — LETTER  OP  MB. 
GREELEY — LINCOLN'S  REPLY — INTERVIEW  WITH  CHICAGO  CLERGY 
— APPEAL  OF  THE  FRIENDS  OF  FREEDOM — MR.  LINCOLN  READS 
THE  PROCLAMATION  TO  HIS  CABINET — ISSUED  ON  THE  22o  SEPTEM- 
BER— AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM — INCIDENTS  CONNECTED 
WITH  IT — How  RECEIVED. 

IT  is  clear,  from  several  paragraphs  in  the  President's  mes- 
sage, and  it  is  known  from  other  sources,  that  the  slavery 
question  occupied  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  anxious  thoughts,  and 
that  he  was  considering  the  subject  of  emancipation  under 
military  authority,  and  as  a  military  necessity.  He  alludes  to 
a  paragraph  in  his  annual  message  which  declared  "  that  the 
Union  must  be  preserved,  and  hence  all  indispensable  means 
must  be  employed.  I  said  this  not  hastily  but  deliberately. 
If  resistance  continues,  the  war  must  continue;  and  it  is 
impossible  to  foresee  all  the  incidents  which  may  attend  it. 
Such  as  may  seem  indispensable  or  may  obviously  promise 
great  efficiency  toward  ending  the  struggle  must  and  will  come." 
In  these  somewhat  ambiguous  paragraphs  we  now  know 
that  he  alluded  to  the  great  proclamation  of  emancipation. 
It  is  clear  that  he  considered  this  great  question  primarily, 
as  it  affected  the  success  of  the  struggle  in  which  the  Nation 
was  engaged  to  suppress  the  rebellion.  If  it  was  a  proper 
and  apt  measure  to  effect  that  end,  he  might  rightfully  adopt 
it,  not  otherwise,  however  much  he  might  desire  universal 
freedom.  He  himself  says,  "when,  in  March,  May  and 
July,  1862,  I  made  earnest  and  successive  appeals  to  the 
border  States  to  favor  compensated  emancipation,  I  believed 

283 


284  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  indispensable  necessity  for  military  emancipation  and 
"arming  the  blacks  would  come,  unless  averted  by  that  meas- 
ure. They  declined  the  proposition,  and  I  was,  in  my  best 
judgment,  driven  to  the  alternative  of  either  surrendering 
the  Union,  or  issuing  the  emancipation  proclamation." 

He  honestly  believed  "gradual  and  not  immediate  emanci- 
pation would  be  better  for  all." 

The  message  proposing  compensated  emancipation  was 
promptly  followed  by  a  resolution  of  Congress,  declaring 
"  That  the  United  States  ought  to  cooperate  with  any  State 
which  may  adopt  gradual  emancipation  of  slavery,  giving  to 
such  State  pecuniary  aid."  On  the  9th  of  May,  1862,  Gen- 
eral David  Hunter,  whose  zealous  efforts  to  organize  negro 
soldiers  has  already  been  noticed,  issued  an  order  declaring 
all  the  slaves  within  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia 
and  Florida,  which  composed  his  district,  "forever free" 

This  order  came  while  Mr.  Lincoln  was  himself  consider- 
ing the  subject  of  emancipation  by  his  own  proclamation, 
and  in  the  midst  of  his  efforts  to  bring  about  gradual,  and 
compensated  emancipation  in  the  border  States,  and  without 
any  knowledge  on  his  part  of  the  General's  intention  to  issue 
it.  He,  therefore,  immediately  issued  a  proclamation  de- 
claring that  such  order  was  unauthorized.  He  recites  the 
resolution  of  Congress,  proposing  cooperation  and  pecuniary 
aid  to  any  State  which  might  adopt  gradual  emancipation, 
and  declared  that  he  reserved  to  himself,  under  his  responsi- 
bility, the  exercise  of  the  power  of  emancipating  slaves  as  a 
war  measure,  and  which  he  could  not  feel  justified  in  leaving 
to  any  subordinate  in  the  field.  He  goes  on  to  say,  the  re- 
solution here  referred  to  was  adopted  by  a  large  majority  in 
both  branches  of  Congress,  and  now  stands  an  authentic, 
definite  and  solemn  proposal  of  the  Nation  to  the  States 
and  people  most  interested  in  the  subject  matter.  He  then 
made  this  solemn  and  earnest  appeal : 

"To  the  people  of  these  States,  now,  I  earnestly  appeal.  I  do  not 
argue ;  I  beseech  you  to  make  the  argument  for  yourselves.  You  can- 
not, if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the  signs  of  the  times.  I  beg  of  you  a 
solemn  and  enlarged  consideration  of  them,  ranging,  if  it  may  be,  far 
above  partisan  and  personal  politics. 


LINCOLN'S  APPEAL  TO  THE  BORDER  STATES.  285 

"  This  proposal  makes  common  cause  for  a  common  object,  casting 
no  reproaches  upon  any  one.  It  acts  not  the  Pharisee.  The  change 
it  contemplates  would  come  gently,  as  the  dews  of  Heaven,  not  rending 
or  wrecking  anything.  Will  you  not  embrace  it  ?  So  much  good  has 
not  been  done  by  any  one  effort  in  all  past  time,  as,  in  the  Providence 
of  God,  it  is  now  your  high  privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not 
have  to  lament  that  you  have  neglected  it." 

In  addition  to  the  message  sent  to  Congress,  Mr.  Lincoln        / 
invited  an  interview  with  the  Congressional  delegations  of  .     ' 
Kentucky,  Missouri,  Maryland,  Virginia  and  Delaware.     In 
this  interview,  the  President  urged  the  adoption  of  the  plan 
of  compensated  emancipation,  but  received  little  encourage- 
ment from  the  representatives  of  the  border  slave  States. 

It  is  well  known  to  the  President's  immediate  friends  that 
he  had  nearly  reached  the  conclusion,  that  if  the  proposition 
for  gradual  or  compensated  emancipation  should  be  rejected 
by  the  border  States,  that  military  necessity  would  require 
him  to  proclaim  emancipation.  "I  believed,"  said  he  after- 
wards, "  the  indispensable  necessity  for  military  emancipa- 
tion and  arming  the  blacks  would  come,  unless  averted  by 
gradual  and  compensated  emancipation."  How  urgently  he 
pressed  the  subject>  appears  from  his  proclamation  in  regard 
to  General  Hunter's  order,  and  in  his  interview  with  the 
border  State  members. 

In  July,  1862,  the  President  called  the  delegates  from  the 
border  slave  States  again  together,  and  again  made  to  them 
his  earnest  and  solemn  appeal  to  accept  gradual  compensated 
emancipation.  This  appeal,  submitted  to  them  in  writing,  is 
full  of  earnest  expostulation,  argument  and  entreaty.  Viewed 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  it  is  full  of  sagacity,  and 
the  most  wise  statesmanship.  Compare  this  great  State 
paper  with  the  reply  and  conduct  of  the  distinguished  men 
whom  he  addressed,  and  learn  to  appreciate  the  statesman. 
After  advising  them  that,  in  his  best  judgment,  the  represent- 
atives of  the  border  States  held  more  power  for  good  than 
any  other  equal  number  of  members,  he  said  that  he  intend- 
ed no  reproach,  but  he  assured  them,  that  in  his  opinion, 
if  they  had  all  voted  for  the  resolution  in  the  gradual 
emancipation  message  of  March,  the  war  would  have  been 
substantially  ended.  He  went  on  to  say  that — 


I 

286  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"The  plan  proposed  is  one  of  the  most  potent  and  swift  measures  of 
ending  the  war.  Let  the  States  which  are  in  rebellion  see  definitely 
and  certainly  that  in  no  event  will  the  States  you  represent  ever  join 
their  proposed  Confederacy,  and  they  cannot  much  longer  maintain 
the  contest.  But  you  cannot  divest  them  of  their  hope  to  ultimately 
have  you  with  them,  so  long  as  you  show  a  determination  to  perpetuate 
the  institution  within  your  own  State.  Beat  them  at  elections  as  you 
have  overwhelmingly  done,  and,  nothing  daunted,  they  still  claim  you 
as  their  own.  You  and  I  know  what  the  lever  of  their  power  is. 
Break  that  lever  before  their  faces,  and  they  can  shake  you  no  more 
forever. 

"Most  of  you  have  treated  me  with  kindness  and  consideration,  and 
I  trust  you  will  not  now  think  I  improperly  touch  what  is  exclusively 
your  own,  when,  for  the  sake  of  the  whole  country,  I  ask,  'Can 
you,  for  your  States,  do  better  than  to  take  the  course  I  urge  ?' 
Discarding  punctilio  and  maxims  adapted  to  more  manageable  times, 
and  looking  only  to  the  unprecedentedly  stern  facts  of  our  case,  can 
you  do  better  in  any  possible  event  ?  You  prefer  that  the  constitu- 
tional relations  of  the  States  to  the  Nation  shall  be  practically  restored, 
without  disturbance  of  the  institution  ;  and  if  this  were  done,  my 
whole  duty  in  this  respect  under  the  Constitution,  and  my  oath  of  office 
would  be  performed.  But  it  is  not  done,  and  we  are  trying  to  accomp- 
lish it  by  war.  The  incidents  of  the  war  cannot  be  avoided.  If  the 
war  continues  long,  as  it  must,  if  the  object  be  not  sooner  attained,  the 
institution  in  your  States  will  be  extinguished  by  mere  friction  and 
abrasion — by  the  mere  incidents  of  the  war.  It  will  be  gone  and  you 
will  have  nothing  valuable  in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value  is  gone 
already.  How  much  better  for  you  and  for  your  people  to  take  the 
step  which  at  once  shortens  the  war,  and  secures  substantial  compensa- 
tion for  that  which  is  sure  to  be  wholly  lost  in  any  other  event !  How 
much  better  to  thus  save  the  money  which  else  we  sink  forever  in  the 
war  !  How  much  better  to  do  it  while  we  can,  lest  the  war  ere  long 
render  us  pecuniarily  unable  to  do  it !  How  much  better  for  you  as 
seller,  and  the  Nation  as  buyer,  to  sell  out  and  buy  out  that  without 
which  the  war  could  never  have  been,  than  to  sink  both  the  thing  to 
be  sold  and  the  price  of  it  in  cutting  one  another's  throats  ! 

"I  do  not  speak  of  emancipation  at  once,  but  of  a  decision,  at  once,  to 
emancipate  gradually.  Room  in  South  America  for  colonization  can 
be  obtained  cheaply  and  in  abundance,  and  where  numbers  shall  be 
large  enough  to  be  company  and  encouragement  for  one  another,  the 
freed  people  will  not  be  so  reluctant  to  go. 


LINCOLN'S  APPEAL  TO  THE  BORDER  STATES.  287 

"  I  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty  not  yet  mentioned,  one  which 
threatens  division  among  those,  who,  united,  are  none  too  strong.  An 
instance  of  it  is  known  to  you.  General  Hunter  is  an  honest  man.  He 
was,  and  I  hope  is  still  my  friend.  I  valued  him  none  the  less  for  his 
agreeing  with  me  in  the  general  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be 
freed.  He  proclaimed  all  men  free  within  certain  States,  and  I  repudi- 
ated the  proclamation.  He  expected  more  good  and  less  harm  from 
the  measure  than  I  could  believe  would  follow.  Yet,  in  repudiating  it, 
I  gave  dissatisfaction,  if  not  offence,  to  many,  whose  support  the  country 
cannot  afford  to  lose.  And  this  is  not  the  end  of  it.  The  pressure  in 
this  direction  is  still  upon  me  and  is  increasing.  By  conceding  what  I 
now  ask,  you  can  relieve  me,  and  much  more,  can  relieve  the  country 
in  this  important  point. 

"  Upon  these  considerations,  I  have  again  begged  your  attention  to 
the  Message  of  March  last.  Before  leaving  the  Capitol,  consider  and 
discuss  it  among  yourselves.  You  are  patriots  and  statesmen,  and  as 
such  I  pray  you  consider  this  proposition ;  and  at  the  least,  commend 
it  to  the  consideration  of  your  States  and  people.  As  you  would  per- 
petuate popular  government  for  the  best  people  in  the  world,  I  beseech 
you  that  you  do  in  nowise  omit  this.  Our  common  country  is  in  great 
peril,  demanding  the  loftiest  views  and  boldest  action,  to  bring  a  speedy 
relief.  Once  relieved,  its  form  of  government  is  saved  to  the  world,  its 
beloved  history  and  cherished  memories  are  vindicated,  and  its  happy 
future  fully  assured,  and  rendered  inconceivably  grand.  To  you  mere 
than  to  any  others,  the  privilege  is  given  to  assure  that  happiness  and 
swell  that  grandeur,  and  to  link  your  own  names  therewith  forever." 

This  appeal  was  received  by  some  with,  apathy,  caviling 
and  opposition;  by  a  few  with  sympathy.  But  no  action — 
no  efficient  action ;  nothing  practical  was  done,  on  the  part 
of  the  border  slave  States.  "No  !  slavery  had  so  entwined 
itself  in  the  social  fabric  that  nothing  but  the  violence,  force, 
and  fire  of  war  could  tear  it  away.  The  communities  would 
not  yet  voluntarily  relinquish  it. 

The  intense  feeling  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  this  subject  was 
expressed  by  him  to  two  members  of  Congress,  old  friends, 
from  Illinois,  (Owen  Lovejoy  and  the  Author,)  who  called 
upon  him  Sunday  evening,  July  13th,  at  his  Summer  resid- 
ence at  the  "Soldiers'  Home."  He  conversed  freely  with 
them  of  his  late  interview  with  the  border  State  members. 
"Oh,"  said  he  in  conclusion,  "if  the  border  States  would 


288       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

accept  my  proposition  !  Then,"  said  he,  "you  Lovejoy  and 
Arnold,  and  all  of  us,  would  not  have  lived  in  vain  !  The 
labor  of  your  life,  Lovejoy,  would  be  crowned  with  success 
— you  would  live  to  see  the  end  of  slavery."  Such  was  his 
passionate  desire  that  slavery  might  end.  The  President, 
in  his  message,  again  pressed  the  subject  upon  the  considera- 
tion of  Congress;  but  his  closing  remarks  indicate  the 
advance  of  his  mind  towards  the  necessity  of  universal  and 
immediate  emancipation.  He  says,  "In  giving  freedom  to 
the  slave,  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free,  honorable  alike  in 
what  we  give  and  what  we  preserve.  *  *  *  Other  means 
may  succeed ;  this  could  not  fail.  The  way  is  plain,  peace- 
ful, generous,  just;  a  way  which,  if  followed,  the  world  will 
forever  applaud,  and  God  must  forever  bless." 

Meanwhile,  the  public  sentiment  in  the  North  was  growirfg 
stronger  and  more  intense,  demanding  of  the  President,  im- 
mediate, and  unconditional  emancipation.  A  large  party  in 
the  loyal  States  had  all  along  insisted  that  the  most  direct 
way  of  crushing  the  rebellion,  was  to  crush  slavery.  They 
insisted  that  the  commander-in-chief,  by  proclaiming  liberty, 
would  bring  hundreds  and  thousands  of  colored  men  to  the 
ranks  of  the  Union  armies.  It  was  insisted  that  to  accept 
the  distinct  issue  tendered  by  the  slaveholders  between 
liberty  and  slavery,  would  bring  a  moral  power  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  Government,  which  would  be  felt  both  at  home 
and  abroad.  The  Republican  press  of  the  loyal  States,  with 
some  exceptions,  earnestly  and  importunately  demanded 
that  the  President,  availing  himself  of  the  occasion  and  pro- 
visions of  the  confiscation  act,  should  proclaim  instant  libera- 
tion to  every  slave  belonging  to  a  rebel  master.  The  more 
violent  of  the  press  and  of  the  Republican  partisans  de- 
nounced the  President  for  his  remissness.  The  distinguished 
editor  of  the  New  York  Ti'ibum,  whose  writings  had  con- 
tributed as  much,  if  not  more  than  those  of  any  other  man 
towards  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party,  and  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Lincoln,  addressed  the  President  under  his  own 
name  in  the  Tribune,  urging  emancipation,  and  remonstrating 
severely  for  the  failure  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  adopt  a  more 
vigorous  and  determined  policy. 


LINCOLN'S  REPLY  TO  GREELEY.  289 

This  letter  was  published  on  the  19th  of  August,  and  on 
the  22d,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  from  the  Executive  Mansion  a 
reply.  This  answer,  frank,  open,  generous  and  conscientious, 
unfolded  to  the  people  the  motives  which  controlled  his  con- 
duct. Mr.  Lincoln  was  criticised  for  replying  to  the  latter, 
as  an  act  wanting  in  dignity.  But  this  being  a  government 
of  the  people,  he  as  their  President,  wished  them  fully  to 
understand  his  motives.  He  said : 

"  My  paramount  object  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  not  either  to  save 
or  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any 
slave,  I  would  do  it ;  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I 
would  do  it,  and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  some,  and  leaving  others 
alone,  I  would  do  it." 

He  was  not  yet  quite  prepared  to  issue  a  proclamation 
fraught  with  such  momentous  consequences ;  yet  his  mind 
was  anxiously  revolving  the  subject ;  he  discussed  it  with  all 
from  whom  he  supposed  he  could  obtain  new  suggestions  or 
arguments,  or  from  whom  he  could  learn  the  drift  of  public 
opinion.  He  would  often  make  suggestions,  and  argue  the 
case  against  emancipation  to  obtain  the  views  of  others. 

To  personal  friends  of  the  Illinois  delegation  in  Congress, 
who  conferred  with  him  on  the  subject,  he  said  that,  in  his 
letter  to  Mr.  Greeley,  he  meant  that  he  would  proclaim  free- 
dom to  the  slave  just  as  soon  as  he  felt  assured  he  could  do 
it  effectively;  that  the  people  would  stand  by  him,  and  that, 
by  doing  so,  he  could  strengthen  the  Union  cause.  He  was 
assured  by  them  in  reply,  that  the  people  would  stand  by 
him,  and  that  they  were  impatient  for  it. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  1862,  he  received  a  delegation 
of  the  clergy  of  nearly  all  the  religious  denominations  of 
Chicago,  who  waited  upon  him  with  a  memorial,  urging 
immediate  emancipation. 

For  the  purpose  of  fully  eliciting  their  views,  he  started 
objections  to  the  policy  they  urged,  and  in  accordance  with 
his  old  practice  at  the  bar,  he  made  an  argument  against  his 
own  views,  and  against  the  policy  he  had  nearly  or  quite 
concluded  to  pursue.  After  a  full  conference  and  free  dis- 
cussion, the  President  said,  "  I  have  not  decided  against  a 
19 


290       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

proclamation  of  liberty  to  the  slaves,  but  hold  the  matter 
under  advisement;  and  I  can  assure  you  the  matter  is  on  my 
mind  by  day  and  by  night,  more  than  any  other.  Whatever 
shall  appear  to  be  God's  will,  I  will  do." 

While  this  momentous  question  was  thus  agitating  the 
mind  of  the  President,  involving  the  existence  of  slavery  in 
North  America,  while  the  civilized  world  was  watching  with 
interest  the  result,  the  intense  feeling  and  anxiety  on  the 
subject,  found  expression  in  daily  prayers,  sent  up  from 
church,  cottage,  and  cabin,  all  through  the  loyal  North,  be- 
seeching the  great  God  to  guide  the  President  to  the  right 
conclusion.  Thousands  believed  that  the  fate  not  only  of 
African  slavery,  but  also  of  the  Republic  hung  upon  the 
issue.  The  friends  of  freedom  from  Europe,  from  France, 
Italy,  Germany  and  Great  Britain,  sent  messages  to  their 
friends  on  this  side  of  the  water,  saying  that  recognition  and 
intervention  were  imminent,  and  that  the  best  and  most  effi- 
cient means  of  prevention,  was  to  make  the  distinct  issue 
with  slavery.  Some  of  our  representatives  at  foreign  Courts, 
advised  the  Secretary  of  State,  that  there  was  danger  of  in- 
tervention by  foreign  Governments,  and  that  such  danger 
could  be  best  averted  by  emancipation. 

The  friends  of  the  Union  abroad  had  become  somewhat 
indifferent.  The  organs  of  the  rebellion  in  Europe,  repre- 
sented everywhere,  that  it  was  a  mere  struggle  for  empire, 
involving,  no  great  principle.  The  policy  of  several  of  the 
military  commanders  towards  the  slaves,  the  concessions 
constantly  made  to  the  border  slave  States,  disgusted  many 
ardent  friends  of  liberty  at  home  and  abroad :  as  a  remedy 
for  this,  the  friends  of  the  Union  and  liberty  urged  that  the 
President  should  proclaim  "  freedom  throughout  the  land  to 
all  the  inhabitants  thereof." 

What,  meanwhile,  was  the  action  and  feelings  of  the 
negroes?  They  had  long  prayed  for,  hoped  for  freedom. 
The  North  star  had  often  guided  the  panting  fugitive  to 
liberty.  Armies  had  come  to  the  slave  from  the  free  States, 
fighting  their  masters.  The  s,tarry  flag  they  now  believed  was 
to  be  the  emblem  of  their  liberty,  as  well  as  that  of  the  white 
man.  The  Union  soldiers  had  been  always  welcomed  by  the 


EMANCIPATION.  291 

negro.  Food,  guidance,  information,  succor  and  aid,  to  the 
extent  of  his  limited  and  humble  means  were  never  sought 
from  him  in  vain. 

The  millions  of  slaves  from  the  Shenandoah  to  the  rice 
swamps  of  Carolina,  and  the  cane-brakes  of  Louisiana,  be- 
lieved that  their  day  of  Jubilee  approached.  In  the  fast- 
nesses of  swamps  and  forests,  the  long  enslaved  and  down- 
trodden negro  prayed  for  "  Massa  Linkum,"  and  liberty.  Their 
hopes  and  prayers  for  freedom  have  been  happily  expressed 
by  the  poet  Whittier  from  whom  I  quote: 

We  pray  de  Lord;  he  gib  us  signs 

Dat  some  day  we  be  free ; 
De  Norf  wind  tell  it  to  de  pines, 

De  wild  duck  to  de  sea; 

We  tink  it  when  de  church  bell  ring, 

We  dream  it  in  de  dream ; 
De  rice  bird  mean  it  when  he  sing, 

De  Eagle  when  he  scream. 

De  yam  will  grow,  de  cotton  blow, 

We'll  hab  de  rice  an'  corn : 
Oh  nebber  you  fear  if  nebber  you  hear 

De  driver  blow  his  horn ! 

Sing  on,  poor  hearts !  your  chant  shall  be 

Our  sign  of  blight  or  bloom  — 
The  vala-song  of  liberty, 

Or  death-rune  of  our  doom  I 

Mr.  Lincoln  still  seemed  to  hesitate;  and  the  friends  of 
emancipation  renewed  their  eiforts.  They  reminded  the  Pres- 
ident of  his  own  enunciation  of  the  great  truth,  that  free- 
dom and  slavery  could  not  permanently  exist  together,  and 
that  our  country  would  become  "all  free  or  all  slave;"  a 
truth  that  had  been  verified  by  the  war  which  slavery  was 
now  waging.  "  Immortalize  your  Presidency,"  said  they,  "  by 
yourself  speaking  the  word  which  shall  make  it  all  free;  slav- 
ery having  brought  on  the  war,  it  is  fit  it  should  die  by  the 
laws  of  war."  It  was  urged  that  slavery  before  God  and  the 
world,  stood  responsible  for  all  the  calamities  which  the  Re- 
public was  now  suffering;  every  dollar  expended,  every  suf- 
fering endured,  every  drop  of  blood  spilled,  every  wound, 
and  every  death  on  the  battle-field,  and  in  hospital,  is  the 
penalty,  the  American  people  are  paying  for  the  existence 
and  toleration  of  slavery.  As  slavery  now  stood  before  the 


292       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

world  as  a  rebel  and  a  traitor,  the  President  was  urged  to  de- 
clare it  an  outlaw  under  the  Constitution  and  laws.  He  was 
reminded  that  there  never  had  been  a  day  since  the  existence 
of  the  Republic,  when  slavery  was  loyal  to  the  Constitution 
and  the  Union.  To  day  an  open  enemy  striking  at  the  heart 
of  the  Nation,  as  it  had  always  heretofore  been  a  secret, 
stealthy  traitor,  undermining  the  Constitution,  and  sapping 
the  foundation  of  our  liberties.  His  attention  was  called  to 
the  moral  and  material  desolation  caused  by  this  institution ; 
the  extent  to  which  it  had  retarded  National  growth,  and 
retained  in  brutal  ignorance,  and  reduced  toward  barbarism, 
the  people  of  some  of  the  fairest  sections  of  our  country,  and 
a  once  noble  race  of  men.  The  aggressions  of  the  slave 
power  were  recalled  to  his  mind.  Before  the  war  it  had 
caused  in  one  half  of  the  Union,  the  destruction  of  liberty 
of  speech  and  freedom  of  the  press;  its  attempts  to  suppress 
the  right  of  petition,  its  perfidious  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  the  story  of  its  barbarous  outrages  in  Kansas 
were  recounted;  he  was  reminded  that  slavery  had,  previous 
to  1860,  revolutionized  the  Government,  nullifying  the  great 
principles  of  magna  charta  and  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, on  which  the  Republic  was  based.  Slavery  was  charged 
with  all  the  treasure  and  blood-shed  of  the  terrible  war  then 
pending.  It  had  already  dug  the  graves  of  the  half  million 
citizens,  patriots,  and  rebels  sacrificed  in  the  struggle.  "  Pity 
and  relieve,"  urged  they,  "  the  victims  of  unrequited  toil." 
In  the  name  of  the  dead,  which  slavery  had  caused  to  be 
slaughtered,  in  the  name  of  the  country  which  it  had  deso- 
lated, in  the  name  of  the  Constitution,  which  it  had  sought 
to  overthrow,  in  the  name  of  liberty  with  which  it  was  in- 
compatible, in  the  name  of  God,  whose  justice  it  defied,  he 
was  urged  to  decree  the  final  abolition  of  slavery.  "  Seize 
the  thunderbolt  of  liberty,"  cried  the  advocates  of  emancipa- 
tion, "  and  shatter  slavery  to  atoms." 

!t  was  thus  that  the  friends  of  freedom  impeached  slavery 
before  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  demanded  that  he  should  pass 
sentence  of  death  upon  it.  It  was  affirmed  that  there  could 
be  no  permanent  peace  while  slavery  lived.  A  trucejtliere 
might  be,  but  peace,  never.  "  The  implacable  enemy  of  mP~ 


EMANCIPATION.  293 

erty  and  the  Republic,"  they  said  to  him,  "  now  reels  and 
staggers  to  its  fall.  It  has  by  its  own  crime,  placed  itself 
in  your  power  as  military  Commander-in-Chief.  You  cannot, 
if  you  would,  and  you  ought  not  if  you  could,  make  any 
terms  of  permanent  compromise  with  slavery.  You  have 
abolished  it  at  the  National  Capital.  You  have  prohibited  it 
in  all  the  territories.  You  will  cause  to  be  hung  as  a  pirate, 
any  man  participating  in  the  slave  trade.  You  have  carved 
off  and  made  free  West  Virginia,  from  the  elaveholding  Old 
Dominion.  You  have  enlisted  and  are  enlisting  negro  sol- 
diers, and  they  have  carried  your  banner  bravely  in  many  a 
hard  fought  battle-field.  You  have  pledged  your  faith  to 
God,  and  to  them,  that  they  aiid  their  families  shall  be  for- 
ever free.  That  promise  having  been  made,  none  doubt  you 
will  sacredly  keep.  Here  then  we  stand  on  the  threshold  of 
universal  emancipation  !  You  cannot  retreat,  and  should  not 
halt.  Let  slavery  die!" 

Why  withhold  the  blow  that  shall  strike  down  the  cause 
of  all  this  desolation,  suffering  and  bloodshed?  Why  not  let 
the  suicide  of  slavery  be  consummated?  "Annihilate,"  said 
they,  "  all  rebel  slaveholders  by  the  emancipation  of  all 


Air.  Lincoln  listened,  not  unmoved  to  such  appeals,  and 
seeking  prayerfully  the  guidance  of  Almighty  God,  the 
proclamation  of  emancipation  was  prepared;  it  had  been  in 
fact,  prepared  in^Julv^  1862.  Late  in  that  month,  or  early 
in  August,  Mr.  Lmcom7in  his  own  mind,  and  without  con- 
sulting his  Cabinet,  resolved  to  issue  the  emancipation  edict. 
and  prepared  a  draft  of  the  proclamation.  He  then  called  a 
meeting  of  his  Cabinet,  which  at  that  time  consisted  of  Sewafct, 
Stan  ton,  Chase,  Welles,  Blair,  Smith,  and  Bates.  The  Presi- 
dent said  to  them,  he  had  resolved  upon  his  course,  and  he 
had  called  them  together,  not  to  ask  their  advice  on  this  sub- 
ject, but  to  lay  the  Proclamation  before  them.  After  it  had 
been  read,  there  was  some  discussion  in  the  Cabinet.  Mr. 
Blair  expressed  the  fear  that  it  would  cause  the  loss  of  the 
fall  elections.  This  did  not  at  all  shake  the  President's 
determination  to  issue  it.  Mr.  Seward  said: 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"  Mr.  President,  I  approve  of  the  Proclamation,  but  I  question  the 
expediency  of  its  issue  at  this  juncture.  The  depression  of  the  public 
mind,  consequent  upon  our  repeated  reverses  is  so  great,  that  I  fear  the 
•fleet  of  so  important  a  step.  It  may  be  viewed  as  the  last  measure  of 
an  exhausted  Government — a  cry  for  help;  the  Government  stretching 
forth  its  hands  to  Ethiopia,  instead  of  Ethiopia,  stretching  forth  her 
hands  to  the  Government.  Now,  while  I  approve  the  measure,  I  sug- 
gest, sir,  that  you  postpone  its  issue  nntil  you  can  give  it  to  the  country 
supported  by  military  success,  instead  of  issuing  it,  as  would  be  the 
case  now,  upon  the  greatest  disasters  of  the  war!" 

1 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  impressed  by  these  considerations,  and 

resolved  to  delay  the  issuing  of  the  proclamation  for  the  time. 
These  events  had  been  occurring  in  the  darkest  days  of  the 
Summer  of  1862,  made  gloomy  by  the  disastrous  campaigns 
of  McClellan  and  Pope. 

We  know  that  Mr.  Lincoln  now  only  waijted  for  success  to 
the  National  arms,  pledging  his  vows  to  God,  that  with  the 
next  shouts  of  victory,  should  go  forth  the  edict  of  liberty  to 
the  captive! 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Antietam,  and  just  before  the 
issuing  of  the  proclamation,  the  President  said  to  his  Cabi- 
net: "The  time  for  the  annunciation  of  the  emancipation 
policy  can  no  longer  be  delayed.  Public  sentiment  will  sus- 
tain it.  Many  of  my  warmest  friends  and  supporters  demand 
it;  and  I  have  made  a  solemn  vow  to  God  that  1  will  do  it."  He 
said  to  a  friend,  "  I  made  a  solemn  vow  before  God,  that  if 
General  Lee  was  driven  back  from  Pennsylvania,  I  would 
crown  the  result  by  the  proclamation  of  freedom  to  the 
slaves."  The  concluding  words  of  the  paper:  "and  upon 
this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted 
by  the  Constitution,  (and  upon  military  necessity,)  I  invoke 
the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor 
of  Almighty  God,"  were  written  by  Secretary  Chase,  except 
the  words  "  upon  military  necessity,"  which  were  added  by 
Mr.  Lincoln.  We  know  that  Mr.  Lincoln  regarded  the  pro- 
clamation as  the  central  pivot  act  of  his  administration,  and 
the  world  has  characterized  it,  as  the  great  event  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 


PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION.  295 

Thus  as  an  act,  of  almost  divine  inspiration,  was  sent  forth 
this  great  State  paper — an  act  which  will  live  forever  in  his- 
tory as  one  of  those  great  events  which  measure  the  advance 
of  the  world.  The  historian  will  rank  it  alongside  with  the 
acquisition  of  magna  charta  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence.* 

*The  following  statement  of  the  history  of  the  Issuing  of  the  proclamation  Is  made 
by  F.  B.  Carpenter,  Esq.,  the  artist  who  perpetuated  upon  canvass,  the  scene  of  the 
first  reading  of  the  proclamation  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  his  Cabinet.  Mr.  Carpenter 
spent  several  weeks  a£  the  White  House,  and  became  a  favorite  of  the  President. 
I  will  only  add,  what  is  not  at  all  necessary  by  way  of  corroboration,  that  the  same 
statement  in  substance,  was  made  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  other  friends. 

Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "  It  had  got  to  be  midsummer,  1862.  Things  had  gone  on  from 
bad  to  worse,  until  I  felt  that  we  had  reached  the  end  of  our  rope  on  the  plan  of 
operations  we  had  been  pursuing ;  that  we  had  about  played  our  last  card,  and 
must  change  our  tactics  or  lose  the  game.  I  now  determined  upon  the  adoption 
of  the  emancipation  policy ;  and  without  consultation  with,  or  the  knowledge  of, 
the  Cabinet,  I  prepared  the  original  draft  of  the  proclamation,  and,  after  much 
anxious  thought,  called  a  Cabinet  meeting  upon  the  subject.  This  was  the  last  of 
July,  or  the  first  part  of  August,  1862,  [the  exact  date  he  did  not  remember.]  This 
Cabinet  meeting  took  place,  I  think,  upon  a  Saturday.  All  were  present,  excepting 
Mr.  Blair,  the  Postmaster  General,  who  was  absent  at  the  opening  of  the  discussion, 
but  came  in  subsequently.  I  said  to  the  Cabinet,  that  I  had  resolved  upon  this 
step,  and  had  not  called  them  together  to  ask  their  advice,  but  to  lay  the  subject 
matter  of  a  proclamation  before  them ;  suggestions  as  to  which  would  be  in  order, 
after  they  had  heard  it  read.  *  *  *  Various  suggestions  were  offered.  Secretary 
Chase  wished  the  language  stronger  in  reference  to  the  arming  of  the  blacks.  Mr. 
Blair,  after  he  came  in,  deprecated  the  policy,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  cost 
the  administration  the  Fall  elections.  Nothing,  however,  was  offered  that  I 
had  not  already  fully  anticipated  in  my  own  mind,  until  Secretary  S«ward 
spoke.  Said  he, '  Mr.  President,  I  approve  of  the  proclamation,  but  I  question  the 
expediency  of  its  issue  at  this  juncture.  The  depression  of  the  public  mind,  con- 
sequent upon  our  repeated  reverses,  is  so  great,  that  I  fear  the  effect  of  so  important 
a  step.  It  may  be  viewed  as  the  last  measure  of  an  exhausted  Government — a 
cry  for  help ;  the  Government  stretching  forth  its  hands  to  Ethiopia,  instead  of 
Ethiopia  stretching  forth  her  hands  to  the  Government.'  His  idea  was,  that  it 
would  be  considered  one  last  shriek  on  the  retreat.  '  Now,'  continued  Mr.  Seward, 
'  while  I  approve  the  measure;  I  suggest,  sir,  that  you  postpone  its  issue  until  you 
can  give  it  to  the  country  supported  by  military  success,  instead  of  issuing  it,  as 
would  be  the  case  now,  upon  the  greatest  disasters  of  the  war.'  The  wisdom  of  the 
view  of  the  Secretary  of  State  struck  me  with  very  great  force.  It  was  an  aspect 
of  the  case  that,  in  all  my  thought  upon  the  subject,  I  had  entirely  overlooked.  The 
result  was,  that  I  put  the  draft  of  the  proclamation  aside,  as  you  do  your  sketch  for 
a  picture,  waiting  for  a  victory.  From  time  to  time,  I  added  or  enlarged  a  line, 
touching  it  up  here  and  there,  waiting  the  progress  of  events.  Well,  the  next  news 
we  had,  was  of  Pope's  disaster  at  Bull  Run.  Things  looked  darker  than  ever.  Finally 
came  the  week  of  the  battle  of  Antietam,  and  I  determined  to  wait  no  longer.  The 
news  came,  I  think,  on  Wednesday,  that  the  advantage  was  on  our  side.  I  was  then 
staying  at  the  Soldiers'  Home,  (three  miles  out  of  Washington.)  Here  I  finished 
writing  the  second  draft  of  the  preliminary  proclamation;  came  up  one  Saturday, 
called  the  Cabinet  together  to  hear  it,  and  it  was  published  the  following  Monday." 

But  Mr.  Lincoln,  always  reticent,  as  to  his  deepest  sources  of  feeling,  did  not  tell 
the  young  artist  that  which  he  learnt  from  a  member  of  the  Cabinet. 

"Mr.  Chase  told  me,  that  at  the  Cabinet  meeting  immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Antietam,  and  just  prior  to  the  issue  of  the  September  proclamation,  the  President 
entered  upon  the  business  before  them,  by  saying  that  the  time  for  the  annuncia- 
tion of  the  emancipation  policy  could  no  longer  be  delayed.  Public  sentiment,  he 
thought,  would  sustain  it,  many  of  his  warmest  friends  and  supporters  demanded 


296  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

It  is  indeed  the  magna  charta  of  tJie  negro  race.  Just  men 
everywhere  recognized  it  as  a  great  act  of  humanity  and 
justice.  As  a  matter  of  State  policy,  its  wisdom  was  speedily 
vindicated. 

The  following  is  the  Proclamation  of  September  22d,  186%: 

"  I,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  President  of  the  United  States  of  Amerioa, 
and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  and  navy  thereof,  do  hereby  pro- 
claim and  declare,  that  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  the  war  will  be  prose- 
cuted for  the  object  of  practically  restoring  the  Constitutional  relation 
between  the  United  States,  and  each  of  the  States,  and  the  people 
thereof,  in  which  States  that  relation  is  or  may  be  suspended  or 
disturbed. 

"  That  it  is  my  purpose,  upon  the  next  meeting  of  Congress,  to  again 
recommend  the  adoption  of  a  practical  measure  tendering  pecuniary  aid 
to  the  free  acceptance  or  rejection  of  all  Slave  States  so-called,  the  peo- 
ple whereof  may  not  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and 
which  States  may  then  have  voluntarily  adopted,  or  thereafter  may  volun- 
tarily adopt,  immediate  or  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery  within  their 
respective  limits;  and  that  the  effort  to  colonize  persons  of  African 
descent,  with  their  consent,  upon  this  continent  or  elsewhere,  with  the 
previously  obtained  consent  of  the  Governments  existing  there,  will  be 
continued. 

"  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thous- 
and eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves,  within 
any  State,  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof,  shall  then 
be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be  tJien,  thenceforward, 
AND  FOREVER  FREE;  and  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United 
States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize 
and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for 
their  actual  freedom. 

"  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  aforesaid,  by 
proclamation,  designate  the  States,  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which 
the  people  thereof,  respectively,  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States;  and  the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall 
on  that  day,  be,  in  good  faith,  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  by  members  chosen  thereto  at  elections,  wherein  a  majority  of  the 
qualified  voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence 

it, '  and  he  had  promised  his  God  that  he  would  do  U.'  The  last  part  of  this  was  uttered 
in  a  low  tone,  and  appeared  to  be  heard  by  no  one  but  Secretary  Chase,  who  was 
Bitting  near  him.  He  asked  the  President  if  he  correctly  understood  him?  Mr. 
Lincoln  replied, '  I  made  a  solemn  vow  before  God,  that  if  General  Lee  was  driven 
back  from  Pennsylvania,  I  would  crown  the  result  by  the  declaration  of  freedom 
to  the  slaves.' " 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION.  297 

of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence, 
that  such  State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  States." 

"  That  attention  is  hereby  called  to  an  act  of  Congress  entitled  '  An 
Act  to  make  an  additional  Article  of  War,'  approved  March  13th,  1862, 
and  which  act  is  in  the  words  and  figures  following : 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica in  Congress  assembled,  That  hereafter  the  following  shall  be  promulgated  as  an 
additional  article  of  war  for  the  government  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and 
shall  be  obeyed  and  observed  as  such : 

ABTiciiE. — All  officers  or  persons  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United 
States  are  prohibited  from  employing  any  of  the  forces  under  their  respective  com- 
mands for  the  purpose  of  returning  fugitives  from  service  or  labor  who  may  have 
escaped  from  any  persons  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is  claimed  to  be  due ;  and 
any  officer  who  shall  be  found  guilty  by  court-martial  of  violating  this  article  shall 
be  dismissd  from  the  service. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  from  and  after  Its 
passage. 

"  Also,  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  sections  of  an  act  entitled  '  An  Act  to 
Suppress  Insurrection,  to  Punish  Treason  and  Rebellion,  to  seize  and 
Confiscate  Property  of  Rebels,  and  for  other  Purposes/  approved  July 
16,  1862,  and  which  sections  are  in  the  words  and  figures  following: 

SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  slaves  of  persons  who  shall  hereafter  be 
engaged  in  rebellion  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  who  shall  in 
any  way  give  aid  or  comfort  thereto,  escaping  from  such  persons  and  taking  refuge 
within  the  lines  of  the  army ;  and  all  slaves  captured  from  such  persons,  or  deserted 
by  them  and  coming  under  the  control  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States; 
and  all  slaves  of  such  persons  found  on  [or]  being  within  any  place  occupied  by 
rebel  forces  and  afterward  occupied  by  forces  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  deemed 
captives  of  war,  and  shall  be  forever  free  of  their  servitude,  and  not  again  held  as 
slaves. 

SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  slave  escaping  into  any  State,  Territory, 
or  the  District  of  Columbia,  from  any  other  State,  shall  be  delivered  up,  or  in  any 
way  impeded  or  hindered  of  his  liberty,  except  for  crime,  or  some  offence  against 
the  laws,  unless  the  person  claiming  said  fugitive  shall  first  make  oath  that  the 
person  to  whom  the  labor  or  service  of  such  fugitive  is  alleged  to  be  due  is  his  law- 
ful owner,  and  has  not  borne  arms  against  the  United  States  in  the  present  rebel- 
lion, nor  in  any  way  given  aid  and  comfort  thereto;  and  no  person  engaged  in  the 
military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States  shall,  under  any  pretence  whatever, 
assume  to  decide  on  the  validity  of  the  claim  of  any  person  to  the  service  or  labor 
of  any  other  person,  or  surrender  up  any  such  person  to  the  claimant,  on  pain  of 
being  dismissed  from  the  service. 

"  And  I  do  hereby  enjoin  upon  and  order  all  persons  engaged  in  the 
military  and  naval  service  of  the  United  States  to  observe,  obey,  and  en- 
force, within  their  respective  spheres  of  service,  the  act  and  sections 
above  recited. 

"  And  the  Executive  will  in  due  time  recommend  that  all  citizens  of 
the  United  States  who  shall  have  remained  loyal  thereto  throughout  the 
rebellion,  shall  (upon  the  restoration  of  the  Constitutional  relation  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  their  respective  States  and  people, 


298       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

if  that  relation  shall  have  been  suspended  or  disturbed)  be  compensated 
for  all  losses  by  acts  of  the  United  States,  including  the  loss  of  slaves. 

"  In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the 
seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

'  Don*  at   the  city  of  Washington,  this  twenty-second  day  of  Sep- 
tember, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
[L  8.]  and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States 
the  eighty-seventh. 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 
"  By  the  President: 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State." 

On  the  1st  of  January  thereafter,  the  final  proclamation 
was  issued  in  these  words : 

"  WHEREAS,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a  proclamation, 
was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  containing  among 
other  things,  the  following,  to  wit: 

"  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves 
within  any  State,  or '  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof, 
shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then, 
thenceforward  and  forever  free ;  and  the  Executive  Government  of  the 
United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will 
recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act 
or  acts  to  repress  such  persons  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may 
make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

"  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  aforesaid,  by 
proclamation,  designate  the  States,  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which 
the  people  thereof,  respectively,  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States;  and  the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall 
on  that  day  be,  in  good  faith,  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  by  members  chosen  thereto,  at  elections,  wherein  a  majority  of 
the  qualified  voters  of  such  States  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the 
absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  such  State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not  then  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States. 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebel- 
lion against  the  authority  of,  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  and 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION.  299 

as  a  fit  and  necessary  war  measure,  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do  on 
this  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do, 
publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the 
day  first  above  mentioned,  order  and  designate  as  the  States,  and  parts 
of  States,  wherein  the  people  thereof,  respectively,  are  this  day  in  re- 
bellion against  the  United  States,  the  following,  to  wit :  Arkansas,  Texas, 
Louisiana,  (except  the  parishes  of  St.  Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson, 
St.  John,  St,  Charles,  St.  James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne, 
Lafourche,  St.  Marie,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  city  of 
New  Orleans,)  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina, 
North  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  (except  the  forty-eight  counties  desig- 
nated as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley,  Accomac, 
Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Anne,  and  Norfolk,  in- 
cluding the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth,)  and  which  excepted 
parts  are  for  the  present  left  precisely,  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not 
issued. 

"  And  by  virtue  of  the  power,  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  do 
order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves,  within  said  designated 
States,  and  parts  of  States,  ARE,  AND  HENCEFORWARD  SHALL  BE  FREE; 
and  that  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and  MAINTAIN  the 
freedom  of  said  person*. 

"  And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free,  to  ab- 
stain from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self  defence;  and  I  recom- 
mend to  them  that,  in  all  cases  when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for 
reasonable  wages. 

"  And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons,  of  suita- 
ble condition,  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of  the  United 
States,  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other  places,  and  to  man 
vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

"  And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted 
by  the  Constitution  upon  military  necessity,  1  iuvoke  the  considerate 
judgment  of  mankind,  and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God." 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name,  and  caused  the 
seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the 

[L.  8.]  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three 

and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States,  the  eighty -seventh. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
"  By  the  President, 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State." 


300  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  States  enumerated  are  ten,  and  the  number  of  slaves 
made  free  by  this  ejJict,  exceed  three  millions !  Is  there  any 
act  in  history,  which  in  its  grandeur  and  sublimity  can  be 
ranked  above,  or  compared  with  this?  * 

This  immortal  State  paper  gave  effect  to  the  deepest, 
strongest  desire  of  the  soul  of  its  author — that  slavery 
should  be  no  more. 

From  its  promulgation  will  be  forever  dated,  the  overthrow 
of  slavery  in  the  Republic,  and  Lincoln's  name  must  justly 
go  upon  the  record  as  the  author  of  that  overthrow. 

The  proclamation  expressed  the  intense,  enthusiastic,  sub- 
lime devotion  to  liberty,  which  then  pervaded  the  public 
mind.  In  it,  Lincoln  gave  practical  application  to  the 
great  principle  of  right,  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence. 

Before  the  sun  went  down  on  the  memorable  22d  of  Sep- 
tember, the  proclamation  had  been  flashed  by  the  telegraph,  to 

*  The  original  draft  of  the  proclamation  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Thomas  B> 
Bryan,  Esq.,  a  citizen  of  Chicago.  It  was  purchased  by  him,  at  the  Northwestern 
Fair  for  the  Sanitary  Commission,  held  at  Chicago,  in  the  Autumn  of  1863.  The 
following  notes  will  show  how  it  came  to  the  Fair : 

WASHINGTON,  October  13, 1863. 
To  the  PRESIDENT, 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  take  the  liberty  of  enclosing  to  you  the  circular  of  the  North- 
western Fatr  for  the  Sanitary  Commission,  for  the  benefit  and  aid  of  the  brave  and 
patriotic  soldiers  of  the  Northwest.  The  ladies  engaged  in  this  enterprise,  will  feel 
honored  by  your  countenance,  and  grateful  for  any  aid  it  may  be  convenient  for 
you  to  give  them. 

At  their  suggestion,  I  ask,  that  you  would  send  them,  the  original  of  your  procla- 
mation of  freedom,  to  be  disposed  of,  for  the  benefit  of  the  soldiers,  and  then  de- 
posited in  the  Historical  Society  of  Chicago,  where  it  would  ever  be  regarded  as  a 
relic  Of  great  interest.  This,  or  any  other  aid  it  may  be  convenient  for  you  to  ren- 
der, would  have  peculiar  interest  as  coming  from  one  whom  the  Northwest  holds 
in  the  highest  honor  and  respect. 

Very  respectfully,  yours, 

ISAAC  N.  ARNOLD. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  October  26, 1863. 
LADIES  HAVING  IN  CHARGE  THE  NORTHWESTERN 

FAIR  FOJR  THE  SANITARY  COMMISSION,  Chicago,  lUinois, 

According  to  the  request  made  in  Tyour  behalf,  the  original  draft  of  the 
emancipation  proclamation,  is  herewith  enclosed.  The  formal  words  at  the  top, 
and  the  conclusion,  except  the  signature  you  perceive,  are  not  in  my  handwriting. 
They  were  written  at  the  State  Department,  by  whom,  I  know  not.  The  printed 
part  was  cut  from  a  copy  of  the  preliminary  proclamation,  and  pasted  on  merely 
to  save  writing.  I  had  some  desire  to  retain  the  paper;  but  if  it  shall  contribute  to  the 
rettef  or  comfort  of  the  soldiers,  that  witt  be  better. 

Your  ob't  serv't. 

A.  LINCOLN 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION.  301 

every  portion  of  the  Republic.  It  was  hailed  by  a  large  ma- 
jority of  the  loyal  men  of  the  Ration,  with  gratitude  to  God; 
bells  rang  out  their  joyous  peals  from  all  New  England,  New 
York,  along  the  mountains  of  Pennsylvania,  over  the  broad 
prairies  of  the  West,  and  to  the  infant  settlements  skirting 
the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Public  meetings  were 
held;  resolutions  of  approval  adopted,  and  in  thousands  of 
churches,  public  thanksgiving  was  rendered  for  the  great 
event.  In  many  portions  of  the  army,  the  proclamation  was 
received  with  cheers,  and  salvos  of  artillery;  in  others,  and 
especially  that  commanded  by  General  McClellan,  some  mur- 
murs of  dissatisfaction  were  heard;  but  the  effect  generally, 
was  inspiriting.  Elevated  by  its  sublime  sentiments,  new 
vows  were  pledged  to  the  country  and  to  liberty;  and  the  en~ 
thusiasm  of  a  very  large  portion  of  the  people  was  stimulated 
to  the  highest  point. 

The  war  now  assumed  an  energy,  vitality,  and  earnestness 
unknown  before.  From  this  time  on,  it  meant  universal 
liberty. 

On  the  24th  of  September,  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  Gov- 
ernors of  the  loyal  States,  held  at  Altoona,  Pennsylvania, 
and  in  an  address  to  the  President,  they  said,  u  "We  hail  with 
heartfelt  gratitude  and  encouraged  hope,  the  proclamation  of 
the  President,  issued  on  the  22d  inst,  declaring  emancipa- 
ted from  their  bondage,  all  persons  held  to  service  or  labor, 
as  slaves  in  the  rebel  States,  where  rebellion  shall  last  until 
the  first  of  January  next  ensuing."  * 

"  Now,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  we  have  got  the  harpoon  fairly 
into  the  monster  slavery,  we  must  take  care  that  in  his 
extremity,  he  does  not  shipwreck  the  country." 

The  soldiers  who  now  flocked  to  the  Union  standard,  were 
like  the  Roundheads  of  Cromwell,  strong  in  a  great  princi- 
ple ;  and  they  never  doubted  success.  When  the  words  lib- 
erty and  emancipation  were  thus  sounded  through  the  land, 
they  aroused  the  manhood  of  the  long  enslaved  African,  and 
thousands  upon  thousands  joined  the  Union  cause,  until  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  war,  nearly  two  hundred  thousand,  as 
has  been  already  stated,  were  mustered  into  tl  e  Union  army 

*  Vide  McPherson,  p.  232. 


302  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  black  man  from  this  time,  became  not  only  a  soldier,  but 
a  fellow  soldier. 

Congress,  not  less  emphatically  than  the  people,  endorsed 
the  proclamation. 

On  the  15th  of  December,  1862,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Fes- 
senden,  of  Maine,  the  House,  by  a  very  large  majority  of 
votes, 

"  Resofoed,  That  the  proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  of  the  date  of  the  22d  of  September,  1862,  is  warranted  by  the 
Constitution;  that  the  policy  of  emancipation,  as  indicated  in  that 
proclamation,  is  well  adapted  to  hasten  the  restoration  of  peace,  was 
well  chosen  as  a  war  measure,  and  is  an  exercise  of  power,  with 
proper  regard  for  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  the  prosperity  of  free 
Government." 

The  principle  of  justice  to  the  colored  man,  and  liberty  to 
all,  theretofore  advocated  by  a  party  long  stigmatized  as 
abolitionists,  a  name  which  had  ceased  to  be  a  term  of  re- 
proach, had  advanced  until  the  proclamation  was  justly 
regarded  as  heralding  its  final  and  complete  triumph. 

Along  the  pathway  of  the  once  feeble,  obscure,  and  con- 
temned abolitionist,  to  final  victory,  can  be  traced  the 
wrecks  of  many  parties,  many  ecclesiastical  organizations, 
and  many  great  names  of  those  who  had  fallen  by  placing 
themselves  in  the  way  of  its  progress.  Truth  and  justice, 
right  and  liberty  be  mighty  things  to  conjure  with,  and  vain 
is  the  power  of  man  when  he  tries  to  stop  their  advance. 
The  timid  and  over  cautious  were  startled  by  the  boldness 
of  the  measure,  and  the  opponents  of  the  administration  and 
those  who  sympathized  with  secession,  hoped  to  make  this 
act  the  means  of  the  political  defeat  of  the  administration. 
They  under-estimated  the  strength  of  a  great  cause,  and  the 
power  of  boldness  in  behalf  of  a  great  principle.  From 
this  day  down  to  its  final  triumph,  the  Union  was  crowned 
with  victory  and  success.  Meanwhile,  addresses  of  congrat- 
ulation and  sympathy  poured  in  from  the  peoples  of  Euro- 
pean Kingdoms.  By  presenting  the  National  struggle  as  a 
clearly  defined  contest  between  liberty  and  slavery,  the  attitude 
of  Europe  towards  the  United  States  was  changed.  The  Gov- 
ernment of  no  intelligent  people,  could  now  afford  to  intervene 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION.  303 

in  behalf  of  slavery.  And  yet,  when  this  proclamation 
reached  England,  Lord  Russell,  in  a  dispatch  to  Lord  Lyons, 
the  British  Minister  at  Washington,  sneered  at  the  paper, 
"  as  a  measure  of  a  very  questionable  kind;"  an  act  of  veng- 
eance on  the  slave  owner;  "  It  professes  "  said  he,  "  to  eman- 
cipate slaves,  where  the  United  States  cannot  make  emanci- 
pation a  reality,  but  emancipates  no  one  where  the  decree 
can  be  carried  into  effect." 

But  perhaps  to  his  Lordships'  regret,  the  United  States 
did  make  emancipation  a  reality,  and  did  carry  the  procla- 
mation into  effect,  to  the  extent  of  freeing  every  slave  in  the 
Republic. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  proclamation  did  not  include 
the  great  State  of  Tennessee.  It  is  known  that  it  was  omitted 
in  deference  to  the  judgment  of  Andrew  Johnson,  and  other 
distinguished  Union  men  of  that  State.*  A  year  had  not 
elapsed  before  many  of  them  regretted  the  omission,  and  the 
Unionists  of  Tennessee,  ere  long  vindicated  the  wisdom  of 
President  Lincoln,  by  providing  a  remedy  for  the  omission 
in  adopting  a  new  Constitution  abolishing  and  prohibiting 
slavery,  f 

*  Such  was  the  statement  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  author. 

t  A  letter,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy,  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Johnson,  early  in  August,  1866: 

CHICAGO,  August  1, 1866. 
To  the  Honorable  ANDREW  JOHNSON,  President  of  the  United  Slates: 

Sir :  I  am  preparing  a  History  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Overthrow  of  Slavery 
in  the  United  States.  There  are  some  circumstances  connected  with  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation  of  President  Lincoln,  about  which,  before  the  book  comes 
from  the  press,  I  should  be  glad  to  be  advised  by  you. 

I  understood  Mr.  Lincoln  to  say,  that  Tennessee  was  not  included  in  the  procla- 
mation, because  you  and  other  earnest  Union  men  of  Tennessee,  in  whose  patriot- 
ism, loyalty  and  devotion  to  freedom,  he  had  the  greatest  confidence,  thought  it 
•would,  at  the  time,  embarrass  the  Union  cause  in  that  State;  but  that  before  a 
year  had  gone  by,  such  was  the  change  in  public  sentiment,  that  you,  and  other 
Union  men  in  Tennessee,  expressed  regret  that  Tennessee  had  not  been  included 
in  the  proclamation  ;  but,  he  added,  they  have  remedied  the  mistake,  if  it  was 
one,  by  abolishing  and  prohibiting  slavery  in  their  new  State  Constitution  of  Ten- 
nessee. This  was  the  substance  of  what  1  understood  Mr.  Lincoln  to  say.  I  do  not 
feel  at  liberty,  however,  to  make  the  statement  as  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  great 
event  without  submitting  it  to  you,  and  respectfully  asking  your  recollection 
upon  the  subject. 

Congratulating  you  upon  the  restoration  of  Tennessee  to  the  Union,  as  a  free 
State,  and  expressing  the  hope,  that  during  your  administration,  National  unity, 
based  on  liberty  and  justice  to  all,  may  be  completely  restored, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

I.  N.  ARNOLD. 

No  reply  having  been  received  to  this  letter,  the  author  concludes  that  Mr. 
Johnson  does  not  suggest  any  alteration  in  the  statement. 


304       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Facts  have  already  been  stated,  indicating  the  deep  religi- 
ous solemnity  of  feeling  under  which  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  this 
proclamation.  Another  circumstance  may  be  stated,  illus- 
trating alike  a  religious  feeling  approaching  superstition,  as 
well  as  the  characteristic  playfulness  of  the  President.  A 
friend  on  one  occasion,  reminded  him  that  he  had  given  the 
pen  with  which  the  proclamation  was  signed,  to  Senator 
Sumner.  "  Yes,"  said  the  President,  "  I  had  promised  Sum- 
nei-  the  pen.  On  New  Years'  day,  (the  1st  of  January,  1863,) 
the  final  proclamation  was  all  ready  to  be  signed  and  sent  to 
the  press,  except  that  some  blanks  of  portions  of  the  State 
of  Louisiana,  which  were  to  be  excepted  were  to  be  filled  up. 
I  went  down  to  the  parlor  and  held  a  very  crowded  recep- 
tion. During  the  time  I  was  receiving  calls,  the  information 
which  would  enable  me  to  fill  up  these  blanks  was  furnished 
me,  and  I  left  the  drawing  room  and  "hastened  up  stairs  to 
sign  and  send  to  the  associated  press,  the  proclamation.  As 
I  took  up  a  pen  to  sign  the  paper,  my  hand  and  arm  trem- 
bled and  shook  so  violently,  that  I  could  not  write.  I  could 
not  for  a  moment,  control  my  arm.  I  paused,  and  a  super- 
stitious feeling  came  over  me  which  made  me  hesitate.  (No 
wonder  the  hand  of  the  President  shook  when  about  to  seize 
and  hurl  this  thunderbolt  of  war!)  In  a  moment  I  remem- 
bered that  I  had  been  shaking  hands  for  hours,  with  several 
hundred  people,  and  hence  a  very  simple  explanation  of  the 
trembling  and  shaking  of  my  arm.  With  a  laugh  at  my  own 
superstitious  thought,  I  signed  and  sent  off  the  paper.  Sum- 
ner soon  after  calling  for  the  pen,  out  of  half  a  dozen  on  my 
table,  I  gave  him  the  one  I  had  most  probably  used."* 

In  this  connection,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  add,  that 
it  was  during  this  year  that  Edward  Bates,  the  Attorney 
General,  gave  an  elaborate  opinion,  establishing  the  conclu- 
sion, that  free  colored  persons  born  in  the  United  States, 
were  citizens.  After  a  very  learned  examination,  he  came 

*  Mr.  Carpenter,  in  his  "  Six  Months  at  the  White  House,"  says ,  "  Mr.  Lincoln  said 
to  Mr.  Seward,  who  was  present, '  I  have  been  shaking  hands  all  day,  and  my  right 
arm  is  nearly  paralyzed.  If  my  name  ever  gets  into  history,  it  will  be  for  this 
act,  and  my  whole  soul  is  in  H.  If  my  hand  trembles,  when  I  sign  the  proclama- 
tion, all  who  examine  the  document  hereafter,  will  say, '  He  hesitated.'  He  then 
turned  to  the  table,  took  up  the  pen,  and  slowly  and  firmly  wrote  ABRAHAM 
LINCOLN.  He  looked  up,  smiled,  and  said,  "That  will  do." 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION. 


305 


to  the  conclusion  that  "  all  free  persons,  without  distinction 
of  race  .or  color,  if  native  born,  are  citizens."  This  conclu- 
sion was  a  very  great  revolution  from  the  dogmas  of  the 
Dred  Scott  opinions.  He  made  the  distinction  between  in- 
herent civil  rights  of  citizens,  and  political  privileges  of  cer- 
tain classes.  All  citizens,  male  or  female,  white  -or  black, 
are  entitled  to  equal  protection  by  the  law;  but  only  those 
designated  enjoy  the  political  privilege  of  voting. 
20 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

MILITARY  OPERATIONS  OF  1862. 

INACTIVITY  OF  MCCLELLAN — PRESIDENT'S  ORDER  FOR  A  GENERAL 
ADVANCE — ACTIVE  OPERATIONS  IN  THE  WEST  —  BATTLE  OF 
MIDDLE  CREEK — MILL  SPRING — CAPTURE  OF  FORTS  HENRY  AND 
DONELSON — MITCHELL'S  MARCH  TO  BOWLING  GREEN  —  UNION 
TROOPS  OCCUPY  NASHVILLE — CAPTURE  OF  ROANOKE  ISLAND  AND 
NEWBERN — PEA  RIDGE — NEW  MADRID — ISLAND  NUMBER  TEN 
—  SHILOH — CORINTH — CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS. 

IN  order  that  a  consecutive  narration  of  the  series  of  meas- 
ures adopted  by  Congress  and  the  Executive,  upon  the 
all-important  question  of  slavery,  might  be  given,  down  to 
the  period  of  emancipation,  military  movements  in  their 
chronological  order  have  been  omitted.  We  now  return  to 
take  up  the  history  of  these  events,  which,  though  more  at- 
tractive perhaps  to  the  general  reader,  are  less  important 
than  a  clear  and  accurate  understanding  of  the  progress  of 
ideas  and  their  embodiment  in  the  forms  of  law. 

It  was  not  until  late  in  1861,  that  the  country  fully  appre- 
ciated, or  was  at  all  prepared  for  the  stupendous  war 
impending. 

The  work  of  1861  was  that  of  preparation.  By  the  1st  of 
December,  the  whole  number  of  men  mustered  into  the 
army  had  reached  nearly  or  quite  640,000.*  The  leading 
features  of  the  plan  of  the  war  seemed  to  be — First,  To 
blockade  the  entire  coast  of  the  insurgent  States.  Second, 
The  military  occupation  of  the  border  slave  States.  Third, 
The  recovery  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Gulf,  by  which 
the  Confederacy  would  be  divided,  and  the  great  outlet  of 
the  Northwest  be  secured.  Fourth,  The  destruction  of  the 
rebel  army  .in  Virginia,  and  the  conquest  of  Richmond,  the 
rebel  Capital.  To  accomplish  these  great  purposes,  and  to 

•  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  December,  1861. 

306 


THE  INACTIVITY  OP  M<CLELLAN.  307 

resist  such  accomplishment,  the  most  stupendous  military 
preparations  were  made  on  both  sides.  General  McClellan  had, 
in  the  Autumn  of  1861,  under  his  immediate  command 
at  Washington  and  vicinity,  and  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  and  at  Fortress  Monroe,  more  than  200,000  well 
appointed,  well  armed  and  well  disciplined  men.  This  army 
was  called  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  General  Buell  had, 
in  Kentucky,  more  than  100,000  men.  The  rebel  force 
opposed  to  General  McClellan,  was  estimated  at  175,000 
men,  Jmt  it  is  now  known  to  have  been  less,  and  occupied 
positions  at  Yorktown  and  Fredericksburg ;  the  main  body 
fortified  at  Centreville,  the  left  wing  extending  to  Leesburg, 
with  detachments  at  Winchester  and  Martinsburg. 

General  McClellan  had,  as  commander-in-chief,  control 
over  Halleck,  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  West, 
Buell,  commanding  in  Kentucky,  Burnside,  in  North  Caro- 
lina, and  W.  T.  Sherman,  in  South  Carolina. 

The  inactivity  of  General  McClellan  in  the  Autumn  and 
Winter  of  1861-2,  was  a  source  of  dissatisfaction  and  com- 
plaint on  the  part  of  the  people  and  Congress,  and  uneasi- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  President.  He  had  under  his  immediate 
command,  the  largest  and  best  equipped  and  appointed  army 
of  the  United  States.  The  weather  during  all  that  Autumn 
and  Winter,  into  February,  was  the 'finest  possible;  clear 
and  dry,  and  the  roads  in  good  order,  and  yet  with  his  vast 
army,  he  permitted  the  Potomac  to  be  blockaded  by  shore 
batteries  at  Acquia  Creek  and  elsewhere ;  and  the  rebel  flag 
to  be  raised  and  flaunted  in  his  face  and  that  of  the  Nation, 
from  the  hills  which  overlook  Washington,  and  within  sight 
of  the  dome  of  the  Capitol.  But  even  this  did  not  provoke 
the  extremely  cautious,  "Young  Napoleon,"  as  General  Mc- 
Clellan was  called,  to  make  any  vigorous  efforts  to  dislodge 
the  rebels  and  drive  them  away.  This  was  the  era  of  mag- 
nificent reviews,  brilliant  parades,  showy  uniforms  and  festive 
parties. 

Impatient  of  the  inactivity  of  the  army  under  General 
McClellan,  the  President,  after  seeing  the  Summer  and  the 
Autumn  pass  slowly  away,  on  the  27th  of  January,  issued 
the  following  order : 


308  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  January  27,  1862. 
"PRESIDENT'S  GENERAL  WAR  ORDER,  No.  1. 

"  Ordered  that  the  22d  day  of  February,  1862,  be  the  day  for  a  gen- 
eral movement  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  against 
the  insurgent  forces.  That  especially — 

"  The  Army  at  and  about  Fortress  Monroe. 

"  The  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

"The  Army  of  Western  Virginia. 

"The  Army  near  Mumfordsville,  Kentucky. 

"  The  Army  and  Flotilla  at  Cairo. 

"  And  a  Naval  force  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  be  ready  for  a  movement 
on  that  day. 

"That  all  other  forces,  both  land  and  naval,  with  their  respective 
commanders,  obey  existing  orders  for  the  time,  and  be  ready  to  obey 
additional  orders,  when  duly  given. 

"  That  the  Heads  of  Departments,  and  especially  the  Secretaries  of 
War  and  of  the  Nary,  with  all  their  subordinates,  and  the  General-in- 
Chief,  with  all  other  commanders  and  subordinates  of  land  and  naval 
forces,  will  severally  be  held  to  their  strict  and  full  responsibilities  for 
the  prompt  execution  of  this  order. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

While  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  chafing  under  its 
constrained  idleness,  the  Western  troops,  far  less  perfectly 
armed  and  appointed,  and  which  had  been  compelled  to  take 
the  refuse  arms  from  the  East,  were  constantly  marching  and 
fighting.  On  the  6th  of  November,  General  Grant,  moving 
from  Cairo,  attacked  and  took  possession  of  Belmont,  and 
destroyed  the  military  stores,  belonging  to  the  enemy,  at 
that  place.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  brilliant  military 
career  of  the  Lieutenant  General. 

Colonel  Garfield,  of  Ohio,  on  the  10th  of  January,  defeated 
Humphrey  Marshall  at  Middle  Creek,  near  Paintsville, 
Kentucky. 

On  the  19th  of  January,  General  George  H.  Thomas,  the 
loyal  Virginia  soldier,  gained  the  brilliant  victory  over  the 
rebel  General  Zollikoffer,  at  Mill  Spring.  Zollikoffer  was 
killed  in  this  battle,  fighting  with  a  valor  worthy  of  a  better 
cause.  These  inspiriting  successes  did  not  entirely  dissipate 
the  gloom  which  prevailed,  growing  out  of  the  mysterious 
inaction  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


CAPTURE  OF  FORTS  HENRY  AND  DONELSON.  309 

The  rebel  lines  in  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  were  penetrat- 
ed by  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee  rivers.  These  rivers 
running  northerly  empty  into  the  Ohio.  To  secure  these 
rivers  against  the  approach  of  gun-boats,  which  the  sagacity 
of  Fremont  had  early  caused  to  be  constructed  for  the  Missis- 
sippi and  its  tributaries,  the  insurgents  had  constructed 
Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee,  and  Fort  Donelson  on  the 
Cumberland. 

Flag  officer  Foote,  one  of  the  most  brave,  energetic,  skill- 
ful Christian  officers  who  ever  trod  the  deck  of  a  gunboat, 
commanded  the  fleet  on  the  Western  rivers.  General  Grant 
and  the  Commodore  cooperating,  in  January,  planned  an  at- 
tack on  Fort  Henry.  Foote,  on  the  6th  of  February,  with 
his  gunboats,  attacked  and  captured  Fort  Henry,  before  the 
land  force  under  Grant  reached  the  fort. 

General  Grant  immediately  moved  to  the  attack  of  Fort 
Donelson,  and  with  the  gunboats  of  Commodore  Foote,  in- 
vested the  fort  on  the  16th  of  February.  After  several  days 
of  hard  fighting,  a  flag  of  truce  was  sent  to  General  Grant, 
by  General  Buckner,  in  command  of  the  fort,  asking  for  an 
armistice  for  the  purpose  of  settling  terms  of  surrender. 
General  Grant  replied:  "  No  terms  except  unconditional  and 
immediate  surrender  can  be  accepted.  I  propose  to  move 
immediately  on  your  works."  The  garrison  did  not  wait  the 
attack,  but  surrendered  at  discretion.  General  Buckner,  and 
about  15,000  troops,  and  20,000  stand  of  arms,  were  surren- 
dered to  General  Grant.  This  victory,  and  the  note  of  Gene- 
ral Grant  to  Buckner,  gave  to  "  U.  S.  Grant,"  the  popular 
name  of  "  unconditional  surrender  Grant." 

This  magnificent  success,  electrified  the  country,  and  Mr. 
Lincoln,  whose  face  had  become  care-worn  -and  anxious, 
looked  ten  years  younger,  the  evening  of  the  reception  of  the 
news.  Congress  was  jubilant. 

On  the  next  day,  the  17th,  a  member  of  Congress  opened 
his  speech,  with  the  expression,  "  twenty  millions  of  people, 
are  to  day  rejoicing  over  a  great  victory,  the  most  brilliant 
of  the  war." 

General  Floyd,  who  had  command,  and  who  was  the 
treacherous  Secretary  of  "War,  under  President  Buchanan, 


310  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

conscious  of  his  extreme  guilt,  did  not  dare  to  surrender 
but  escaped  during  the  night  before  the  surrender. 

The  capture  of  Henry  and  Donelson,  were  important  and 
substantial  successes,  both  as  it  respects  the  men  and  mate- 
rial of  war  taken,  and  positions  secured.  They  inspired  the 
drooping  spirits  of  the  people.  These  brilliant  successes,  ac- 
complished over  physical  obstacles,  far  greater  than  any 
which  would  have  impeded  the  march  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac,  induced  comparisons  between  the  Western  officers 
and  those  of  the  East. 

The  successes  of  Thomas,  Foote,  and  Grant,  compelled 
the  evacuation  of  Kentucky  by  the  rebels,  and  opened  Ten- 
nessee to  the  Union  forces.  Columbus  was  necessarily  evac- 
uated by  the  insurgents. 

The  fall  of  Fort  Donelson  was  followed  by  the  immediate 
evacuation  of  Bowling  Green,  by  the  rebels.  General 
Mitchell,  of  General  Buell's  army,  by  a  forced  march,  reached 
that  place  on  the  15th  of  February.  An  extract  from  the 
address  which  he  issued  to  his  soldiers,  will  illustrate  the  res- 
olution, vigor,  activity  and  heroism  of  the  Western  soldiers 
in  their  winter  campaigns  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  cannot  but  force  a  contrast  with  the  continued  idleness, 
(excused  by  McClellan,  on  account  of  bad  roads,)  of  the  brave 
army  of  the  Potomac  : 

"  Soldiers  of  the  Third  Division  !  You  have  executed  a  inarch  of  forty 
miles  in  twenty-eight  hours  and  a  half.  The  fallen  timber  and  other 
obstructions,  opposed  by  the  enemy  to  your  movements,  have  been  swept 
from  your  path.  The  fire  of  your  artillery  and  the  bursting  of  your 
shells  announced  your  arrival.  Surprised,  and  ignorant  of  the  force 
that  had  thus  precipitated  itself  upon  them,  they  fled  in  consternation. 

"  In  the  night-time,  over  a  frozen,  rocky,  precipitous  pathway,  down 
rude  steps  for  fifty  feet,  you  have  passed  the  advanced  guard,  cavalry 
and  infantry,  and  before  the  dawn  of  day,  you  have  entered  in  triumph 
a  position  of  extraordinary  strength,  which  by  your  enemy,  was 
proudly  denominated  the  Gribralter  of  Kentucky. 

"  With  your  own  hands,  through  deep  mud  and  in  drenching  rains,  and 
up  rocky  pathways  next  to  impassable,  and  across  a  footpath  of  your  own 
constructing,  built  upon  the  ruins  of  the  railway  bridge,  destroyed  for  their 


NASHVILLE  OCCUPIED  BY  UNION  TROOPS.  311 

protection,  by  a  retreating  and  panic  stricken  foe,  you  have  transported 
upon  your  own  shoulders,  your  luggage  and  camp  equipage." 

On  the  24th  of  February,  the  Union  troops,  without  oppo- 
sition, took  possession  of  Nashville,  the  Capital  of  the  great 
State  of  Tennessee.  With  the  Capital,  there  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Union  troops,  an  immense  amount  of  stores  and 
provisions. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  Senator  Andrew  Johnson,  having 
been  appointed  provisional  Governor  of  Tennessee,  arrived 
at  Nashville,  and  entered  upon  his  duties. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Union  sentiment  in  Ten- 
nessee, was  always  strong.  In  the  mountains  of  East  Ten- 
nessee, there  were  few  slaves,  and  loyalty  to  the  Union  was 
general,  and  fidelity  strong.  The  Union  soldiers  were  received 
with  acclamations  of  joy  and  gratitude 

On  the  8th  of  February,  Roanoke  Island,  on  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina,  with  all  its  defences,  was  captured  by  an  ex- 
pedition under  command  of  General  Burnside,  and  Admiral 
Goldsborough;  2,000  prisoners,  40  guns,  and  3,000  small  arms 
were  the  results  of  this  victory. 

On  the  14th  of  March,  General  Burnside  captured  New- 
bern,  with  46  heavy  guns,  and  a  large  amount  of  stores. 

On  the  llth  of  April  General  David  Hunter  captured  Fort 
Pulaski  with  47  guns,  and  a  large  quantity  of  military  stores. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  the  army  and  the  naval  forces  cap- 
tured Fort  Macon,  which  commanded  Beaufort  Harbor, 
with  the  fort,  the  army  capturing  four  hundred  prisoners. 

One  of  the  most  important  results  of  these  captures,  was 
depriving  the  rebels  of  a  large  number  of  negroes,  who 
everywhere,  whenever  the  Union  flag  made  its  appearance, 
flocked  to  it,  as  the  slave  flees  from  bondage  to  liberty. 

On  the  6th,  7th  and  8th  of  March,  was  fought  the  battle 
of  Pea  Ridge,  in  Arkansas,  Generals  Curtis  and  Sigel, 
commanding. 

Curtis  and  Sigel  having  driven  Price  out  of  Missouri,  and 
pursued  him  into  Arkansas,  General  Halleck,  with  some  ex- 
ultation, on  the  18th  of  February,  telegraphed  to  Secretary 
Stanton,  "  that  the  Union  flag  is  floating  in  Arkansas." 


312       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

General  Van  Dora  reenforced  Price,  and  concentrated  the 
rebel  forces,  consisting  of  the  Missouri  troops  under  Price, 
the  Arkansas  and  Louisiana  troops,  under  General  Ben- 
McCullough,  and  a  body  of  Choctaw,  Cherokee,  and  Chick- 
asaw  Indians,  under  Generals  Pike  and  Mclntosh.  General 
Sigel  was  in  advance,  and  was  first  attacked  by  the  Confed- 
erates, in  overwhelming  numbers.  "With  great  ability  and 
success,  he  brought  off  his  command  and  formed  a  junction 
with  General  Davis,  fighting  and  retreating  with  admirable 
skill. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  the  rebels  attacked  the  Union  forces; 
the  battle  raged  furiously  during  the  whole  day,  with  severe 
loss  on  both  sides.  On  this  day,  McCullough  and  Mclntosh, 
and  other  prominent  rebel  officers  were  killed;  but  the  rebels 
had  the  advantage  over  the  right  wing  of  General  Curtis, 
while  his  left  wing  was  victorious.  On  the  8th,  the  third  day, 
General  Sigel  displayed  consummate  ability  in  massing  his 
men,  and  in  the  use  of  artillery,  and  after  terrible  slaughter, 
the  rebels  were  completely  routed,  and  .left  the  field  in  dis- 
order. On  this  battle-field,  after  the  battle,  were  found 
many  Union  soldiers  tomahawked,  scalped,  and  shamefully 
mutilated. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  General  John  Pope,  moving  down 
the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  succeeded  in  compelling  the 
evacuation  of  New  Madrid,  and  with  the  town,  there  fell  into 
his  hands  33  pieces  of  artillery,  and  an  immense  amount  of 
military  stores.  General  Pope,  aided  by  the  gunboats,  then 
vigorously  prosecuted  the  siege  of  Island  No.  10. 

On  the  night  of  the  1st  of  April,  an  exploit,  with  scarcely 
a  parallel  for  its  audacity  and  success,  was  performed  by 
Colonel  Roberts,  of  the  Forty-second  Illinois.  Under  cover 
of  darkness,  he  landed  on  the  Kentucky  side,  and  spiked  the 
guns  of  the  upper  fort,  commanding  the  river,  and  retired 
without  injury. 

Island  No.  10,  was  taken  by  General  Pope  on  the  7th  of 
April.  With  it,  he  captured  5,000  prisoners,  over  100  beavy 
siege  guns,  24  field  pieces,  small  arms,  military  stores,  mate- 
rial and  provisions  in  large  quantities.  The  position  was  one 
of  great  strength,  and  with  its  fall,  the  insurgents  lost  the 
control  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  in  that  vicinity. 


OPERATIONS  IN  THE  WEST SHILOH.  313 

These  successes  produced  astonishment  among  the  insur- 
gents of  the  Southwest.  They  saw  Missouri,  Kentucky, 
Arkansas,  and  Tennessee  wrested  from  them.  They  began  to 
realize  the  gigantic  contest  in  which  they  were  engaged. 

BuelPs  army  was  concentrated  at  Nashville,  and  the  rebel 
lines  of  defence  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  mountains,  was 
broken  through  and  swept  away. 

The  rebels  now  made  the  most  vigorous  efforts  to  raise 
troops  to  repel  the  armies  of  Grant  and  Buel. 

Beauregard  was  detached  from  the  insurgent  army  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  sent  to  the  West,  and  the  whole  of  the  forces  placed 
under  command  of  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnson.  The  de- 
feat of  this  army  of  Johnson,  would  open  the  whole  Southwest 
to  the  Union  flag.  The  Confederates  appreciated  the  import- 
ance of  the  impending  conflict,  and  used  every  effort  to 
gather  a  force  adequate  to  repel  the  approaching  and  victo- 
rious legions  of  the  Northwest.  The  address  of  General 
Johnson,  to  his  soldiers  issued  from  his  fortified  camp,  at 
Corinth,  April  3d,  indicates  that  he  regarded  the  contest  as 
little  less  than  decisive : 

"  Remember,  soldiers,"  said  he,  "  the  precious  stake  involved — 
remember  the  dependence  of  your  mothers,  your  wives,  your  sisters, 
your  children,  on  the  result — remember  the  fair,  broad,  abounding 
lands,  the  happy  homes  that  will  be  desolated  by  your  defeat.  The 
eyes  and  hopes  of  eight  millions  of  people  rest  upon  you." 

The  great  armies  met  on  the  6th  of  April,  and  fought  the 
battle  of  Shiloh,  or  Pittsburg  Landing.  The  rebel  army  was 
commanded  by  Generals  Johnson  and  Beauregard,  and  the 
Union  army  was  under  Grant  and  Buell.  It  was  the  purpose 
of  Beauregard  to  attack  and  defeat  Grant,  before  Buell,  who 
had  been  ordered  by  Halleck  to  join  Grant,  should  come  up. 
Hence  Beauregard  advanced  toward  Grant  with  great  rapid- 
ity, while  Buell  was  somewhat  tardy  in  marching  to  Grant. 
Before  six  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  April,  the 
rebel  columns  were  in  motion  and  attacked  Grant's  left,  and 
coming  on  like  a  whirlwind,  before  8  o'clock,  captured  Gen- 
eral Prentiss,  and  2,000  prisoners.  This  division  was  very 


314       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

nearly  surprised;  and  before  they  made  any  considerable 
resistance,  were  taken  prisoners.  The  battle  was  sternly  con- 
tested by  Hurlbut's,  McClernand's,  and  Sherman's  divisions. 
The  division  of  General  W.  H.  L.  "Wallace  occupied  an  ex- 
posed position,  and  upon  this  was  hurled  the  weight  of  the 
rebel  attack.  Four  different  charges  were  made  upon  this 
gallant  division,  but  each  time,  under  their  cool  and  brave 
leader,  they  repelled  the  enemy.  But  the  gallant  Wallace 
was  mortally  wounded,  and  the  whole  of  the  Union  army 
was  forced  reluctantly,  doggedly  fighting,  back  into  a  com- 
paratively small  space  near  the  river.  They  had  lost  many 
guns,  and  thousands  had  been  taken  prisoners.  At  this 
juncture,  there  was  a  pause  on  the  part  of  the  assailants, 
a  pause  at  a  moment  when  a  vigorous  and  determined  attack 
possibly  might  have  driven  the  Union  soldiers  in  confusion, 
into  the  river;  but  this  pause  of  the  rebels,  allowed  the  Union 
soldiers  time  to  rally,  and  perhaps  saved  them  from  destruc- 
tion. Colonel  "Webster,  General  Grant's  Chief  of  artillery, 
by  his  direction,  collected  the  field  batteries,  and  skillfully 
massed  them  in  a  commanding  position  to  receive  the  assault 
the  rebels  were  preparing  to  make. 

This  artillery,  with  such  infantry  as  could  be  gathered,  re- 
ceived the  expected  assault  with  a  terrific  and  destructive 
fire.  Besides  this,  as  the  rebel  column  advanced,  two  gun- 
boats raked  the  rebel  column  with  the  tremendous  guns  they 
carried.  This  fire  staggered  the  enemy,  and  prolonged  the 
contest  until  night  brought  relief,  and  towards  evening,  the 
long  expected  column  of  Buell  began  to  appear. 

Beauregard,  at  the  close  of  the  day's  fight,  however,  an- 
nounced a  complete  victory,  with  the  death  of  General  Albert 
Sydney  Johnson.  But  on  the  following  morning,  Grant 
early  assumed  the  offensive,  and  the  enemy  were  forced  back, 
until,  after  fighting  until  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  they 
were  routed  and  put  to  flight. 

The  first  long  dreary  day  of  this  battle  closed  with  the 
advantages  all  with  the  rebels.  Night  brought  Buell  and 
his  gallant  army,  and  the  morrow,  victory.  Here  was  most 
strikingly  exhibited  the  stubborn,  persistent,  resolute  charac- 
ter of  Grant,  which  never  knew  defeat,  but  which  often 


SHILOH.  315 

brought  success  out  of  apparent  defeat.  The  shattered  rebel 
army  retreated  into  their  strong  works  at  Corinth. 

Sad  incidents  illustrating  the  character  of  civil  war  occurred 
on  this  field. 

Two  regiments  from  Kentucky,  fighting  on  opposite  sides, 
met  on  this  bloody  field.  A  Union  soldier  wounded  and 
captured  a  rebel  soldier — his  own  brother.  Resuming  his 
fire,  at  a  man  hiding  behind  a  tree,  the  wounded  prisoner 
exclaimed,  "Don't  fire  there,  Bob,  that  is  Father  !" 

Into  a  Union  field  hospital,  was  brought  a  rebel  soldier, 
mortally  wounded.  He  found  there,  in  his  attendant,  a 
Union  soldier — a  brother,  detailed  as  a  nurse,  and  died  in 
his  arms.  Such  is  rebellion  and  civil  war!  . 

This  battle  was  fought  on  the  Union  side  by  troops  com- 
paratively new.  There  was  a  lack  of  concert  and  mutual  sup- 
port, but  it  effectually  tested  the  stamina  and  manliness  of 
the  belligerents.  It  was  a  long,  terrible,  hand- to  hand,  two 
day's  fight ;  beginning  at  early  dawn,  and  continuing  until 
night;  but  when  the  sun  went  down  on  Shiloh  on  the  second 
day,  it  went  down  on  an  army  of  fleeing  rebels,  the  arrogance 
of  which  had  been  tamed,  and  their  dream  of  invincibility, 
and  contempt  of  Northern  soldiers  so  long  instilled  into  the 
people  of  the  South,  gone  forever !  From  that  bloody  day, 
no  rebel  soldier  despised  the  courage,  the  persistence,  the 
manliness  or  the  marksmanship  of  his  adversary. 

The  Union  army,  when  attacked,  was  not  protected  in  its 
front  by  earthworks.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  one 
year  later  in  the  war,  no  army  of  Grant  or  Sherman  could 
have  been  found  by  the  enemy  in  the  condition  their  army 
was  in  on  the  first  day  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 

Meanwhile,  General  Halleck,  who  had,  as  has  been  stated, 
succeeded  General  Hunter,  in  command  of  the  West,  left 
St.  Louis,  and  assumed  command  in  the  field.  On  the  22d 
of  April,  General  Pope,  with  his  division  of  almost  25,000 
men,  arrived  at  Pittsburg  Landing  from  New  Madrid.  The 
army  of  Halleck  now  consisted  of  the  army  of  General 
Grant,  forming  the  right  wing,  General  Buell's  the  left,  and 
General  Pope's  the  centre.  On  the  3d  of  May,  this  army  of 
General  Halleck  numbered  108,000  men,  and  was  within 


316  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

eight  miles  of  Corinth.  This  place  is  in  the  northeast  corner 
of  Mississippi,  ninety  miles  east  of  Memphis,  on  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  on  the  line  of  the  great  railroad  between 
Memphis  and  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  where  the  Mobile 
and  Ohio  Railroad,  running  north  and  south,  crosses  the 
great  east  and  west  line  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Atlantic. 

General  Grant  was  given  the  position  of  second  in  com- 
mand, and  General  Thomas  was  assigned  to  the  command  of 
the  right  wing.  The  forces  of  Beauregard  had  been  increas- 
ed by  the  concentration  of  troops  from  Mississippi  and  Loui- 
siana, including  General  Lovell,  from  near  New  Orleans. 

He  had  fled  from  the  metropolis  of  the  Southwest  previous 
to  its  capture  by  the  gallant  Farragut  and  General  Butler. 
By  these  additions,  the  Confederate  force  was  largely  in- 
creased, although  it  did  not  equal  the  army  under  General 
Halleck. 

General  Halleck  now  proceeded,  by  gradual  advances,  to  the 
investment  and  siege  of  Corinth.  Although  he  commanded 
a  victorious  army,  elated  and  confident  from  a  career  of 
almost  uninterrupted  success,  he  took  the  utmost  care  to  pre- 
vent a  general  engagement.  For  more  than  a  month,  he 
issued  his  daily  order  to  crowd  up  to  the  enemy,  "  but  to 
avoid  a  general  engagement."  His  ardent  and  eager  subordi- 
nates, anxious  to  reach  the  enemy,  begged  permission  to  at- 
tack, but  were  refused.  By  this  course,  Corinth  was  taken, 
but  the  rebel  army  escaped. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  the  heavy  batteries  of  Halleck  opened 
upon  Corinth,  and  the  Confederates  were  driven  out.  The 
enemy  fled  hastily,  destroying  immense  quantities  of  stores, 
provisions  and  materiel  of  war.  The  line  of  fortifications 
thus  abandoned,  was  fifteen  miles  long,  with  batteries  com- 
manding every  road  and  assailable  point.  The  Union  troops 
pursued  for  some  distance  the  retreating  rebels,  and  made 
some  captures,  but  they  had  all  the  territory  which  they 
could  hold.  The  failure  on  the  part  of  Halleck  to  attack 
and  assault  the  enemy,  enabled  Beauregard  to  escape,  and 
transfer  his  forces  to  positions  of  need  at  the  East. 


CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.  317 

While  the  armies  of  the  West  had  fought  all  the  way  from 
Illinois,  down  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  from  Cairo  to 
Corinth,  capturing  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  New  Madrid, 
Island  No.  10,  and  Nashville;  while  they  had  fought 
the  battles  of  Belmont,  Mill  Spring,  Pea  Ridge,  and  the 
great  battle  of  Shiloh  ;  had  rescued  and  reclaimed  from  the 
enemy  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Northern  Arkan- 
sas, and  were  holding  points  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama, 
where  was  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  what  had  it  done  ? 
Where  were  its  trophies,  where  the  prisoners,  guns,  forts  it 
had  captured,  and  the  States  it  had  subjugated  ?  Is  it  not 
now  clear,  that  if  General  McClellan  had  been  equally  active, 
and  had  done  as  much  fighting  and  with  equal  success  as  the 
armies  which  operated  at  the  West,  the  rebellion  would  have 
been  crushed  and  the  Confederate  States  subjugated  in  1862  ? 
But  General  McClellan  never  adopted  the  tactics  of  Grant, 
of  attacking  every  assailable  point  of  the  rebellion  at  the 
same  time ;  but  he  so  managed,  while  in  supreme  command, 
that  the  rebels,  being  on  the  inner  and  shorter  line  of  defense, 
could  transfer  their  troops  from  point  to  point  wherever 
most  needed. 

The  city  of  New  Orleans,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
was  early  the  object  of  the  anxious  consideration  oT  President 
Lincoln.  Having  passed  his  life  in  the  great  Valley  of  the 
West — knowing  it  as  one  who  had  in  early  life,  as  a  flat- 
boatman,  urged  his  boat  over  its  majestic  waters — he  had 
lived  to  see  it,  and  its  thousands  of  miles  of  tributary  streams, 
covered  with  steamers,  carrying  to  tidewater,  the  vast  agri- 
cultural products  of  a  delta  more  productive  than  that  of  the 
Nile.  He  fully  sympathized  with  the  declaration  of  the  gal- 
lant Illinois  soldier  who  declared  that  the  hardy  Western 
settler,  turning  his  plough-share  into  the  sword,  would  "Hew 
his  way  to  the  sea  /"  No  place  in  the  Union  had  been  more 
associated  with  National  pride  than  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 
The  victory  of  General  Jackson  at  that  place  had  always  been 
justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  military  achieve- 
ments on  record.  This  city,  over  which  the  lilies  of  France 
had  floated,  was  the  metropolis  of  the  vast  Southwest.  By 


318  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  treason  of  Twiggs,  it  had  fallen  an  unresisting  victim 
into  the  toils  of  the  traitors.  Lincoln  early  determined  to 
restore  this  city  to  the  National  government. 

In  the  Autumn  of  1861,  a  great  expedition,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Farragut  and  General  B.  F.  Butler, 
was  organized.  To  Captain  Farragut  has  been  assigned, 
by  the  common  consent  of  his  gallant  and  able  comrades, 
the  first  position  among  the  naval  heroes  of  the  war.  A 
native  of  Tennessee,  he  is  a  hearty,  bluff,  honest,  downright 
sailor,  who  knows  no  such  word  as  fail.  Full  of  resources, 
confident  in  himself  and  in  those  he  knew  how  to  command, 
he  is  one  of  those  men  who  command  success.  General 
Butler's  forces  landed  at  Ship  Island  in  December,  1861,  and 
January,  1862. 

Captain  Farragut  sailed  with  his  fleet  to  attack  the  forts 
on  the  3d  of  February.  After  bombarding  Forts  St.  Philip 
and  Jackson,  which  guarded  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
for  six  days  without  reducing  them,  with  the  inspiration  of 
genius,  he  determined  to  pass  these  forts,  and  sail  up  the 
Mississippi.  The  difficulty,  and  the  apparent  temerity  of  this 
will  appear,  when  it  is  recollected  that  the  Forts  St.  Philip 
and  Jackson  mounted  126  guns,  many  of  them  of  very  heavy 
caliber ;  th*at  the  river  was  obstructed  by  sunken  hulks  and 
an  iron  chain  of  immense  strength  was  stretched  across  the 
channel ;  that  he  would  encounter  thirteen  gun-boats,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  powerful  iron-clad  battery  Louisiana.  The  au- 
thorities of  New  Orleans  were  perfectly  confident.  "  Our 
only  fear,"  said  the  city  press,  "  is  that  the  Northern  invaders 
may  not  appear."  If  they  had  known  Farragut,  they  would 
not  have  expressed  any  such  apprehension.  If  they  did  in 
fact  entertain  such  fears,  he  soon  relieved  them.  On  the  24th 
of  April,  amidst  a  storm  of  shot  and  shell,  the  night  illumin- 
ated by  the  mingled  fires  of  ships,  and  forts,  and  burning 
vessels,  he  passed  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip ;  he  crushed 
through  the  boom,  he  destroyed  the  rams  and  gun-boats  sent 
down  to  oppose  him,  and  steaming  past  the  batteries,  he 
ascended  the  majestic  Mississippi,  and  squared  his  yards,  and 
opened  his  broadsides  upon  the  proud  city  of  the  Southwest 


CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.  319 

The  city  of  150,000  surrendered,  and  the  stars  and  stripes 
once  more  floated  over  the  Custom-House,  Post-Office  and 
other  public  buildings  of  the  crescent  city.  The  flag  never 
again  to  be  hauled  down  from  that  position,  for,  as  it  was 
grimly  said  by  a  Confederate  General  on  the  fall  of  Rich- 
mond, "  it  had  never  been  the  policy  of  the  rebels  to  retake 
the  cities  and  posts  captured  by  the  Union  forces." 


CHAPTEE   XV. 


THE  PRESIDENT  AND  GENERAL  McCLELLAN— THE  CAMPAIGN 
AGAINST  RICHMOND 

THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC  —  MCCLELLAN'S  INACTION  —  PLAN  OP 
THE  CAMPAIGN — THE  MONITOR  AND  THE  MERRIMAC — YORKTOWN 

— WlLLIAMSBURO THE  CfllCKAHOMINY — THE  PRESIDENT  URGES 

ACTION — NORFOLK  TAKEN  —  MCDOWELL  AT  FREDERICKSBURG — 
STONEWALL  JACKSON'S  CAMPAIGN  DOWN  THE  VALLEY — BATTLE 
OF  FAIR  OAKS: — LEE  IN  COMMAND — MECHANICSVILLE — GAINE'S 
MILLS,  ETC. — To  THE  JAMES  —  MALVERN  HILL  —  HARRISON'S 
LANDING. 

IT  will  be  remembered,  that  the  President,  on  the  27th  of 
January,  1862,  had  issued  an  order  that  active  operations, 
and  a  general  advance  of  all  the  armiee  should  begin  on  the 
22d  of  February.  That  order  contemplated  active  move- 
ments, and  in  concert,  by  all  the  forces  in  the  field.  Lincoln 
appreciated  and  anticipated  the  common-sense  views  subse- 
quently acted  upon  by  Grant,  of  attacking  the  enemy  at  all 
points  at  the  same  time. 

On  the  31st  of  January,  he  had  ordered  that  all  the  dispos>- 
able  forces  should  be  organized  into  an  expedition  for  the 
immediate  object  of  seizing  and  occupying  a  point  on  the 
railroad  southwest  of  Manassas  Junction. 

Early  in  March,  McClellan,  with  his  splendid  army, 
marched  on  Centerville,  to  find  it  evacuated,  and  wooden 
guns  in  position  on  the  works,  behind  which  the  rebels  had 
so  long  remained  unassailed.  Addressing  his  vast  army  at 
Fairfax  Court  House,  the  young  general  said :  "  The  Army 
of  the  Potomac  is  now  a  real  army.  Magnificent  in  material, 
admirable  in  discipline  and  instruction,  excellently  equipped 
and  armed,  your  commanders  are  all  that  I  could  wish."  The 

320 


MC  CLELLAN.  321 

last  division  of  the  Confederates  left  Centreville  on  the  9th 
of  March.  On  the  10th,  McClellan  started  for  the  already 
abandoned  position.  The  army  of  McClellau  was  over  100,- 
000  strong,  with  350  pieces  of  artillery.  Great  dissatisfaction 
had  prevailed  throughout  the  country  at  the  long  continued 
inactivity  and  tardy  movements  of  this  General.  President 
Lincoln  was  very  slow  to  withdraw  his  confidence  when  it 
had  been  once  given,  and  was  noted  for  the  unflinching 
fidelity  with  which  he  stood  by  those  in  whom  he  trusted. 
He  had  long  stood  by  McClellan,  and  sustained  him  against 
a  very  large  majority  of  the  most  earnest  Union  men  of  the 
Nation.  The  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  the 
stern  and  fiery  War  Secretary,  Mr.  Stanton,  and  many 
others  chafed  and  struggled  during  the  long  Winter  of  1862, 
against  McClellan's  inactivity.  They  were  not  satisfied,  and 
the  confidence  of  the  President  began  to  be  seriously  shaken. 
It  is  clear  that  McClellau  was  a  good  organizer.  He  was  an 
admirable  engineer,  and  he  had  performed  the  great  work 
of  organizing  and  drilling  a  magnificent  army — an  army 
equal  to  any  which  had  ever  met  an  enemy.  Could  that 
magnificent  army,  at  the  moment  it  struck  its  tents  around 
Washington,  have  been  transferred  to  the  command  of  the 
impetuous,  rapid,  indefatigable,  elastic  Sheridan,  or  to  the 
brilliant  hero  of  Atlanta  and  "the  grand  march,"  or  the  im- 
perturbable, unflinching,  iron  will  of  Grant,  it  would  have 
marched  into  Kichmond  long  before  McClellan  reached  the 
Chickahominy.  It  is  now  but  too  clear  that  McClellan 
lacked  the  energy,  decision  and  boldness  for  aggressive 
movements.  It  is  not  clear  but  that  his  inactivity  was,  to 
some  extent  attributable  to  an  indisposition  to  inflict  great 
injury  upon  the  rebels ;  and  it  is  believed  that  he  indulged 
the  hope  of  a  restoration  of  the  Union  by  a  show  of  power, 
rather  than  by  the  exercise  of  it  in  inflicting  hard  blows. 

Celerity  formed  no  part  in  the  military  movements  of 
McClellan.  The  Prince  de  Joinville,  attached  to  his  staff 
during  his  campaign,  has  made  a  criticism  upon  the  Ameri- 
can character,  which  was  as  true  of  General  McClellan,  as  it 
was  mistaken  in  regard  to  the  American  people.  "I  here 
21 


322       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

point  out,"  says  he,  "a  characteristic  trait  of  the  American 
people — delay." 

General  McClellan  and  his  army  were  always  encumbered 
with  the  most  enormous  quantity  of  luggage.  In  the  Winter 
of  1862,  members  of  Congress  and  others  were  astonished  to 
see  drawn  up  before  the  door  of  the  young  general,  six  im- 
mense four-horse  wagons,  marked  "Head -quarters  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,"  They  knew  little  of  military  affairs, 
but  were  curious  to  learn  what  was  the  camp  equipage  which 
required  twenty -four  horses  to  draw,  and  subsequently, 
observed  the  difference,  and  drew  comparisons,  when  they 
learned  that  Grant  started  on  his  wonderful  campaign  against 
Vicksburg  with  a  clean  shirt  and  a  tooth-brush. 

During  the  long  Winter  of  inactivy  of  1862,  the  impatience 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  at  McClellan's  inactivity  became  at  times  un- 
endurable. On  one  occasion,  he  said  to  one  of  his  military 
friends,  who  was  also  a  friend  of  McClellan,  "  If  General 
McClellan  does  not  want  to  use  the  army  for  some  days,  I 
should  like  to  borrow  it,  and  see  if  it  cannot  be  made  to  do 
something." 

The  political  and  personal  associations  of  the  General  were 
with  those  who,  in  political  stations,  and  in  the  army,  had 
been  most  friendly  with  the  South,  and  some  of  whom 
professed  to  believe  that  the  Union  could  not  be  preserved 
by  coercion. 

General  McClellan  had  estimated  the  number  of  troops 
necessary  to  be  left  to  defend  the  Capital  at  35,000,  and  23,000 
for  the  Potomac,  Baltimore  and  Annapolis.  The  President 
had  long  before  urged  upon  the  General  the  raising  of  the 
blockade  of  the  Potomac,  and  an  early  movement  on  land 
towards  Richmond. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  the  President  directed  that  Wash- 
ington should  be  left  entirely  secure,  and  that  any  movement 
to  be  made  should  begin  as  early  as  the  18th  of  March,  and 
that  the  General-in-Chief  should  be  held  responsible  that  it 
was  as  early  as  that  day.  It  was  also  ordered  that  the  army 
and  navy  cooperate  in  an  immediate  effort  to  capture  the  ene- 
my's batteries  upon  the  Potomac,  between  Washington  and 
the  Chesapeake  Bay. 


THE  MERRTMAC  AND  MONITOR.  323 

A  council  of  war  was  held  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  March 
12th,  at  which  it  was  decided  to  proceed  against  Richmond  by 
Fortress  Monroe.  The  President  expressed  his  acquiescence 
in  this  plan,  although  his  opinion  had  been  very  decidedly  in 
favor  of  a  direct  march  upon  Richmond;  this  acquiescence, 
however,  was  upon  the  condition  "that Washington  should  be 
left  entirely  secure,  and  the  remainder  of  the  force  should 
move  down  the  Potomac  to  Fortress  Monroe,  or  anywhere 
between  Washington  and  Fortress  Monroe,  or  at  all  events  to 
move  at  once  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy  by  some  route."  Such  was 
the  impatient  language  of  the  President,  inspired  by  the  long 
delay  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  had  directed  a  divi- 
sion of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  into  four  army  corps. 

On,  the  9th  of  March,  the  heart  of  the  Nation  was  thrilled 
by  the  intelligence  of  the  encounter  between  the  iron-clad 
Merrimac,  and  the  United  States  vessels  of  war,  lying  near 
Fortress  Monroe.  The  rebels  had  taken  possession  of  the 
Merrimac  at  Norfolk,  when  that  post  was  shamefully  aband- 
oned in  the  Spring  of  1861.  They  had  covered  her  sides 
with  iron  armor,  and  naming  her  the  Virginia,  she  now  steamed 
down  the  James  River,  and  attacked  and  destroyed  the  frigates 
Cumberland  and  Congress.  The  Cumberland  was  most  bravely 
fought  at  anchor,  until  she  went  down,  with  her  flag  still 
flying,  and  for  days  it  could  be  seen  marking  the  spot 
where  was  sunk  as  brave  a  ship,  which  was  as  gallantly  fought 
as  ever  was  vessel  commanded  by  a  Nelson  or  a  Perry.  The 
Minnesota,  in  coming  to  the  aid  of  the  Cumberland  and  Con- 
gress, ran  aground,  and  lay  at  the  mercy  of  this  terrible  iron- 
clad battery.  But  just  at  this  time,  there  came  up  the  Bay, 
a  low  turtle-like  looking  nondescript,  which  was  soon  announc- 
ed as  the  iron-clad  Monitor,  an  experiment  built  by  the  dis- 
tinguished engineer,  Ericsson.  This  vessel  mounted  two 
11-inch  Dahlgren  guns,  carrying  168  pound  shot.  She  at- 
tacked successfully  the  iron -clad  Virginia,  and  saved  the 
fleet.  Whole  broadsides  were  fired  upon  the  little  Monitor, 
by  her  gigantic  competitor,  with  no  more  effect  than  a  volley 
of  stones.  The  result  of  this  contest  revolutionized  naval 
warfare.  The  wonderful  success  of  the  Monitor  caused  the 


324       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

construction  of  those  fleets  of  iron-clads,  which,  it  is  believed, 
render  the  American  navy,  for  defensive  purposes,  superior 
to  any  in  the  world. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War,  that  a  council  of  the  commanders  of  army 
corps  had  "unanimously  agreed  upon  a  plan  of  operations " 
which  General  McDowell  would  unfold  to  him.  The  im- 
patient Stanton  replied  characteristically  "  whatever  plan  has 
been  agreed  upon,  proceed  to  execute,  without  losing  an  hour  for 
my  approval." 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  plan  agreed  upon  by 
the  commanders  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  and  referred  to  by 
General  McClellan : 

•• 

"  I.  That  the  enemy  having  retreated  from  Manassas  to  Gordons- 
ville,  behind  the  Rappahannock  and  Rapidan,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the 
generals  commanding  army  corps,  that  the  operations  to  be  carried  on 
will  be  best  undertaken  from  Old  Point  Comfort,  between  the  York  and 
James  rivers ;  Provided, 

"  1st,  That  the  enemy's  vessel  Merrimac  can  be  neutralized. 

"  2d,  That  the  means  of  transportation  sufficient  for  an  immediate 
transfer  of  the  force  to  its  new  base  can  be  ready  at  Washington  and 
Alexandria  to  move  down  the  Potomac,  and 

"  3d,  That  a  naval  auxiliary  force  can  be  had  to  silence,  or  aid  in 
silencing,  the  enemy's  batteries  on  the  York  River. 

"  4th,  That  the  force  to  be  left  to  cover  Washington  shall  be  such 
as  to  give  an  entire  feeling  of  security  for  its  safety  from  menace. 
(Unanimous.) 

"  II.  If  the  foregoing  can  not  be,  the  army  should  then  be  moved 
against  the  enemy,  behind  the  Rappahannock,  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment,  and  the  means  for  reconstructing  bridges,  repairing  railroads 
and  stocking  them  with  materials,  sufficient  for  supplying  the  army, 
should  at  once  be  collected  for  both  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  and 
Acquia  and  Richmond  Railroads.  (Unanimous.) 

"  NOTE. — That  with  the  forts  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Potomac  fully 
garrisoned,  and  those  on  the  left  bank  occupied,  a  covering  force  in 
front  of  the  Virginia  line  of  25,000  men  would  suffice.  (Keys, 
Heintzelman  and  McDowell.)  A  total  of  40,000  men  for  the  defense 
of  the  city  would  suffice."  (SuMNER.) 


LINCOLN  ACQUIESCES  IN  MC  CLELLAN'S  PLAN.  325 

This  plan  was  submitted  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  acquiesced 
in  by  him,  and  the  following  despatch  sent  to  the  General : 

"  The  President  having  considered  the  plan  of  operations  agreed  upon 
by  yourself,  and  the  commanders  of  army  corps,  makes  no  objection  to 
the  same,  but  gives  the  following  directions  as  to  its  execution : 

"1st,  Leave  such  force  at  Manassas  Junction  as  shall  make  it  entirely 
certain  that  the  enemy  shall  not  re-possess  himself  of  that  position  and 
line  of  communication. 

"  2d,  Leave  Washington  entirely  secure. 

"'3d,  Move  the  remainder  of  the  force  down  the  Potomac,  choosing 
a  new  base  at  Fortress  Monroe,  or  anywhere  between  here  and  there, 
or  at  all  events,  move  such  remainder  of  the  army  at  once  in  pursuit 
of  the  enemy  by  some  route."* 

The  number  of  troops  composing  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
at  this  time  was  158,419.  f 

General  Wadsworth,  who  was  in  command  of  "Washington, 
reported  only  20,000  men  then  fit  for  duty  in  his  department ; 
and  a  council  of  military  officers  reported  this  number 
insufficient  for  the  defense  of  the  Capital. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  embarked  for  Fortress  Monroe, 
and  arrived  on  the  23d  of  March,  and  on  the  4th  of  April 
started  up  the  Peninsula,  between  the  York  and  the 
James  Rivers,  towards  Richmond.  At  Yorktown,  the  army 
of  McClellan  encountered  the  enemy  fortified,  with  a  force 
comparatively  small,  not  to  exceed  11,000,  as  we  now  know 
from  official  sources,  and  only  5,000  of  these  in  the  lines  in 
front  of  McClellan. f  Such  a  force,  a  vigorous  and  determined 
commander  would  not  have  permitted  to  delay  his  march ; 
but  this  handful  of  men  stopped  McClellan  from  the  1st  of 
April  to  the  4th  of  May.  He  sat  down  before  Yorktown  as 
to  a  regular  siege.  He  planted  batteries,  and  sought  by 
regular  approaches,  to  reduce  the  position.  While  here,  and 
preparing  for  a  regular  siege,  he  complained  that  he  had  not 
men  enough,  and  asked  for  reinforcements !  By  the  time 
he  was  ready  to  open  his  batteries,  the  very  day  his  great 
siege  guns  were  to  be  opened,  the  rebels  left.  They  remained 

*  Report  on  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  52. 

t  Report  on  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  315. 

t  See  report  of  Confederate  General  Magruder,  May  3, 1862. 


326      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

just  as  long  as  they  could  remain  with  impunity.  They 
knew  exactly  when  he  was  going  to  open  fire,  and  left.  The 
policy  of  the  rebels  was  to  delay  the  Union  army  as  long  as 
possible,  to  give  time  for  the  concentration  of  their  forces  at 
Richmond,  and  to  prepare  defenses.  The  retreating  troops 
made  a  stand  at  Williamsburg,  where  they  had  strong  works. 

Here  the  rebels  made  a  vigorous  attack  upon  the  advance 
of  the  Union  forces,  and  held  them  in  check ;  but  without 
waiting  for  McClellan  to  come  up,  or  even  for  orders,  Heintz- 
elman  and  Hooker  brought  up  their  troops  to  the  attack, 
and  Hancock  getting  possession  of  a  portion  of  the  rebel 
works,  they  were  forced  to  retreat,  leaving  their  dead  and 
wounded  in  the  hands  of  the  Union  army. 

The  delay  at  Yorktown  was  of  the  utmost  importauce  to 
the  insurgents.  Magruder,  in  his  general  orders  of  April 
4th,  said:  "Every  hour  we  hold  out,  brings  us  reenforce- 
ments."  Yet,  McClellan,  notwithstanding  his  overwhelming 
numbers,  would  not  permit  an  assault.  That  this  delay  was 
very  unsatisfactory  to  the  President,  appears  from  a  dispatch 
from  him  to  McClellan,  dated  April  6th : 

"  Yours  of  11,  A.  M.,  to-day,  received.  The  Secretary  of  War  in- 
forms me  that  the  forwarding  of  transportation,  ammunition,  and  Wood- 
bury's  brigade,  under  your  orders,  is  not,  and  will  not  be  interfered 
with.  You  now  have  over  100,000  troops  with  you,  independent  of 
General  Wool's  command.  I  think  you  had  better  break  the  enemy's 
line  from  Yorktown  to  Warwick  River  at  once.  They  will  probably 
use  time  as  advantageously  as  you  can."* 

The  dispatches  of  President  Lincoln  to  the  various  military 
commanders  exhibit  great  sagacity  and  natural  military  skill 
and  judgment. 

The  delay  at  Yorktown,  though  not  necessarily  fatal  to 
McClellan's  campaign,  rendered  success  more  difficult.  Jefl'er- 
son  Davis  was  rapidly  concentrating  forces  at  Richmond. 
McClellan  was  constantly  complaining,  and  asking  for  ree'n- 
forcements.  Finally  on  the  9th  of  April,  the  President  wrote 
to  him  the  following  frank,  kind  and  ingenuous  letter 

*  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  p.  319-2(X 


MC  CLELLAN'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  RICHMOND.  827 

"  Your  despatches,  complaining  that  you  are  not  properly  sustained, 
while  they  do  not  offend  me,  do  pain  me  very  much. 

"  Blenker's  division  was  withdrawn  from  you  before  you  left  here, 
and  you  know  the  pressure  under  which  I  did  it,  and,  as  I  thought,  ac- 
quiesced in  it — certainly  not  without  reluctance.  After  you  left,  I 
ascertained  that  less  than  twenty  thousand  unorganized  men,  without 
a  single  field  battery,  were  all  you  designed  to  be  left  for  the  defense  of 
Washington  and  Manassas  Junction,  and  part  of  this  even,  was  to  go 
to  General  Hooker's  old  position.  General  Bank's  corps,  once  designed 
for  Manassas  Junction,  was  diverted  and  tied  up  on  the  line  of  Win- 
chester and  Strasburg,  and  could  not  leave  it,  without  again  exposing 
the  Upper  Potomac,  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  This  pre- 
sented, or  would  present,  when  Sumner  and  McDowell  should  be  gone, 
a  great  temptation  to  the  enemy  to  turn  back  from  the  Rappahannock, 
and,  sack  Washington.  My  implicit  order  that  Washington  should,  by 
the  judgment  of  all  the  Commanders  of  army  corps,  be  left  entirely  se- 
cure, had  been  neglected.  It  was  precisely  this  that  drove  me  to  detain 
McDowell. 

"  I  do  not  forget  that  I  was  satisfied  with  your  arrangement  to  leave 
Banks  at  Manassas  Junction ;  but  when  that  arrangement  was  broken 
up,  and  nothing  was  substituted  for  it,  of  course  I  was  constrained  to 
to  substitute  something  for  it  myself.  And  allow  me  to  ask,  do  you 
really  think  I  should  permit  the  line  from  Richmond,  via  Manassas 
Junction  to  this  city  to  be  entirely  open,  except  what  resistance  could 
be  presented  by  less  than  twenty  thousand  unorganized  troops  ?  This 
is  a  question  which  the  country  will  not  allow  me  to  evade. 

"  There  is  a  curious  mystery  about  the  number  of  troops  now  with 
you.  When  I  telegraphed  you  on  the  6th,  saying  you  had  over  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men  with  you,  I  had  just  obtained  from  the  Secretary  of 
War,  a  statement  taken,  as  he  said,  from  your  own  returns,  making  one 
hundred  and  eight  thousand  then  with  you  and  en  route  to  you.  You 
now  say,  you  will  have  but  eighty-five  thousand,  when  all  en  route  to 
you  shall  have  reached  you.  How  can  the  discrepancy  of  twenty-three 
thousand  be  accounted  for? 

"  As  to  General  Wool's  command,  I  understand  it  is  doing  for  you 
precisely  what  a  like  number  of  your  own  would  have  to  do,  if  that 
command  was  away. 

"  I  suppose  the  whole  force  which  has  gone  forward  to  you,  is  with 
you  by  this  time;  and  if  so,  I  think  it  is  the  precise  time  for  you  to 
etrike  a  blow.  By  delay,  the  enemy  will  relatively  gain  upon  you — that 


328  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

i 

is,  he  will  gain  faster  by  fortifications  and  reinforcements  than  you  can 
by  reinforcements  alone.  And  once  more,  let  me  tell  you^tfisindispensa- 
ble  to  you  that  you  strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  You 
will  do  me  the  justice  to  remember,  I  always  insisted  that  going  down 
the  bay  in  search  of  a  field,  instead  of  fighting  at  or  near  Manassas, 
was  only  shifting  and  not  surmounting  a  difficulty;  that  we  would  find 
the  same  enemy,  and  the  same,  or  equal  intrenchments  at  either  place. 
The  country  will  not  fail  to  note — is  now  noting,  that  the  present  hesi- 
tation to  move  upon  an  intrenched  enemy,  is  but  the  story  of  Manassas 
repeated. 

"  I  beg  to  assure  you,  that  I  have  never  written  you,  or  spoken  to 
you,  in  greater  kindness  of  feeling  than  now,  nor  with  a  fuller  purpose 
to  sustain  you,  so  far  as,  in  my  most  anxious  judgment  I  consistently 
can.  But  you  must  act, 

"  Yours,  very  truly, 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN."* 

Meanwhile,  General  Franklin's  division  had,  at  the  special 
request  of  General  McClellan,  on  the  10th  of  April,  been 
sent  to  him,  and  on  the  30th  of  April,  General  McClellan's 
force  amounted  to  130,378,  of  which  112,392,  were  effective.! 

On  the  last  of  April,  there  came  from  McClellan,  while 
still  before  Yorktown,  a  call  for  ParrottGuns,  to  which  the 
President,  whose  patience  and  proverbial  good  nature  and 
indulgence  were  well  nigh  exhausted,  said,  on  the  first  of 
May,  "Your  call  for  Parrott  guns  from  Washington,  alarms 
me — chiefly  because  it  argues  indefinite  procrastination.  Is 
anything  to  be  done  ?"  J 

On  the  7th,  President  Lincoln  arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe, 
and  urged  a  movement  on  Norfolk,  which  was  successfully 
made.  The  celebrated  Merrimac  was  now  abandoned  by  the 
rebels,  and  blown  up;  all  the  forts  and  fortifications  defend- 
ing York  river,  were  also  abandoned.  The  blockade  of  the 
James  was  raised  as  far  as  Drury's  Bluff,  and  an  immense 
amount  of  heavy  ordnance  and  ammunition  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  National  forces.  These  works  and  this  material 


•Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  1,  p.  321-2. 

t  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  p.  18,  army  of  the  Potomac. 

J  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  p.  18  and  19. 


MC  CLELLAN'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  RICHMOND.  329 

were  abandoned  by  the  Confederates  to  enable  them  to  con- 
centrate all  their  forces  for  the  defense  of  Richmond.  The 
troops  in  and  about  Norfolk,  nearly  18,000  in  number,  under 
General  Huger,  were  hurried  to  the  defense  of  the  rebel 
Capital.  While  the  President  and  Secretary  of  "War  were 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  they  received  a  note  from  General  Mc- 
Clellan,  dated  May  9th,  asking  permission  to  reorganize  the 
army  corps,  and  for  authority  to  relieve  incompetent  com- 
manders of  army  corps,  and  complaining  of  his  Generals. 
To  this  Secretary  Stanton  replied,  "  You  may  temporarily 
suspend  that  organization  in  the  army  now  under  your  im- 
mediate command,  and  adopt  any  you  see  fit,  until  further 
orders."  The  President,  on  the  same  day  wrote  the  following 
kind  and  friendly  letter  to  General  McClellan: 

"  I  have  just  assisted  the  Secretary  of  War  in  framing  the  part  of  a 
despatch  to  you  relating  to  army  corps,  which  despatch,  of  course,  will 
have  reached  you  long  before  this  will.  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  to 
you  privately  on  this  subject.  I  ordered  the  army  corps  organization, 
not  only  on  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  twelve  Generals  whom  you 
had  selected  and  assigned  as  Generals  of  divisions,  but  also  on  the  una- 
nimous opinion  of  every  military  man  I  could  get  an  opinion  from,  your- 
self only  excepted,  and  every  modern  military  book.  Of  course,  I  did 
not,  on  my  own  judgment,  pretend  to  understand  the  subject.  I  now 
think  it  indispensable  for  you  to  know  how  your  struggle  against  it,  is 
received  in  quarters  which  we  cannot  entirely  disregard.  It  is  looked 
upon  as  merely  an  effort  to  pamper  one  or  two  pets,  and  to  persecute 
and  degrade  their  supposed  rivals.  I  have  had  no  word  from  Sumner, 
Heintzelman,  or  Keyes — the  Commanders  of  these  corps  are,  of  course, 
the  three  highest  officers  with  you ;  but  I  am  constantly  told  that  you 
have  no  consultation  or  communication  with  them;  that  you  consult 
and  communicate  with  nobody  but  General  Fitz  John  Porter,  and  perhaps 
General  Franklin.  I  do  not  say  these  complaints  are  true  or  just;  but  at 
all  events,  it  is  proper  you  should  know  of  their  existence.  Do  the 
Commanders  of  corps  disobey  your  orders  in  anything? 

"  When  you  relieved  General  Hamilton  of  his  command  the  other 
day,  you  thereby  lost  the  confidence  of  at  least,  one  of  your  best  friends 
in  the  Senate.  And  here  let  me  say,  not  as  applicable  to  you  personally, 
that  Senators  and  Representatives  speak  of  me  in  their  places  as  they 
please,  without  question,  and  that  officers  of  the  army  must  cease 


330       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

addressing  insulting  letters  to  them  for  taking  no  greater  liberty  with 
them,. 

"  But  to  return.  Are  you  strong  enough — are  you  strong  enough 
even  with  my  help — to  set  your  foot  upon  the  necks  of  Sumner,  Heinfc- 
zelman,  and  Keyes,  all  at  once?  This  is  a  practical,  and  very  serious 
question  to  you. 

"  The  success  of  your  army,  and  the  cause  of  the  country  are  the 
same,  and  of  course,  I  only  desire  the  good  of  the  cause." 

The  allusion  to  insulting  letters  addressed  to  Senators  by 
officers,  was  called  forth  by  the  fact,  that  officers,  under 
McClellan,  had  written,  insulting  and  threatening  letters  to 
Senators,  who  had,  in  their  places,  criticised  the  General  and 
and  his  army  movements.  Mr.  Lincoln  always  bore  such 
attacks  upon  himself  with  dignity  and  forbearance. 

On  the  17th  of  May,  General  McDowell  was  ordered,  on 
being  joined  by  General  Shields'  division,  while  he  continued 
to  cover  Washington,  to  move  uppn  Richmond  by  the  gene- 
ral route  of  the  Fredericksburg  and  Richmond  railroad,  and 
to  cooperate  with  the  forces  under  General  McClellan;  to 
establish  communication  between  his  left  and  McClellau's 
right,  who  was  then  threatening  the  rebel  Capital,  from  the 
line  of  the  Pamunky  and  York  rivers. 

There  were  then  three  bodies  of  Union  troops  in  Virginia, 
North  of  McClellan's.  McDowell's  at  Fredericksburg,  Fre- 
mont's in  the  Mountains,  and  Banks'  at  Strasburg.  Had  these 
forces  been  under  one  able,  sagacious  chief,  their  union  and 
cooperation  would  have  made  them  irresistible  against  any 
force  which  could  have  been  sent  against  them.  They  unfor- 
tunately were  under  different  heads,  and  each  received  orders 
from  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  daring  and  active  Stonewall 
Jackson  was  despatched  up  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  to 
prevent  McDowell  from  uniting  with  McClellan,  to  create,  if 
possible,  a  panic  at  Washington,  and  prevent  all  reinforce- 
ments being  forwarded  to  McClellan.  Stonewall  Jackson,  in  a 
series  of  brilliant  movements,  more  than  accomplished  his  pur- 
pose. First,  he  attacked  Banks,  and  drove  him ,  fighting  desper- 
ately, back  to  Winchester,  and  thence  across  the  Potomac. 
This,  and  the  retreat  of  some  troops  on  the  Manassas  Gap  Rail- 
road, did  create  a  panic  at  Washington.  Secretary  Stanton 


JACKSON  IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  SHENANDOAH.  331 

telegraphed  on  the  26th  of  May  to  the  Governors  of  Northern 
States,  in  language  indicating  apprehension.  To  the  Gover- 
nor of  Massachusetts,  he  said,  "  intelligence  from  various 
quarters,  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  enemy,  in  great  force,  are 
inarching  on  Washington.  You  will  please  organize  and  for- 
ward all  the  militia  and  volunteer  force  in  your  State."  To 
other  Governors  of  loyal  States,  he  sent  urgent  messages  for 
troops.  Stimulated  by  the  telegrams  of  the  War  Secretary, 
the  Governors  of  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Rhode  Island,  Ohio,  and  other  States,  isaued  stirring  appeals 
for  volunteers,  to  which  there  was  then,  as  at  all  times,  a 
ready  response  by  the  people. 

Thus  far,  the  movements  of  Jackson  had  been  successful, 
beyond  his  expectations.  He  had  caused  orders  to  be  issued 
to  McDowell,  countermanding  his  advance  on  Richmond, 
and  junction  with  McClellan.  He  had  driven  Banks  across 
the  Potomac,  and  created  such  apprehension  at  Washington, 
as  effectually  prevented  reinforcements  being  sent  to  the 
army  before  Richmond.  He  had  obtained  a  considerable 
amount  of  military  stores  and  supplies. 

Could  he  now  make  good  his  escape?  There  were  abund- 
ant troops  to  overwhelm  and  crush  him,  if  they  could  be  con- 
centrated, and  catch  him.  Fremont,  the  far  famed  "  Path- 
finder "  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  was  coming  down  upon 
him  from  the  North.  The  troops  of  McDowell  were  seeking 
to  strike  him  in  the  left  flank,  and  still  another  small  force  was 
in  his  front,  to  destroy  the  bridges  over  which  alone,  he  must 
escape.  The  nimble  footed  Jackson  knew  his  danger,  he  knew 
the  country,  arid  besides,  there  was  little  or  no  concert 
among  his  assailants. 

Jackson  passed  through  Strasburg  on  the  1st  of  June,  just 
in  time  to  escape  Fremont  on  one  side,  and  the  force  of 
McDowell  on  the  other.  The  columns  of  their  two  pursuing 
armies  met,  but  Jackson  had  got  through.  He  still  retreated, 
fighting  and  burning  bridges  after  him  until  he  reached  a 
strong  position  at  Cross  Keys;  here  he  halted  and  turned  at 
bay.  Here  he  fought  Fremont  on  the  8th  of  June.  In  the 
meantime,  Colonel  Carroll  and  General  Tyler,  had  been 


332       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

ordered  to  strike  the  line  of  Jackson's  retreat,  destroy  his  train 
which  was  in  advance,  and  burn  the  bridges  over  which  he 
must  pass.  They  came  up  in  time,  but  failed  to  destroy  the 
bridges,  and  Jackson  escaped.  The  failure  to  capture  and 
destroy  Jackson,  was  caused  by  want  of  cooperation  and  con- 
cert. This  brilliant  campaign  of  Jackson  was  of  immense  im- 
portance to  the  Confederates,  and  possibly  saved  Richmond. 
One  can  scarcely  fail  to  contrast  the  ineffectual  movements 
against  him  with  the  brilliant  campaign  of  Sheridan  against 
Early,  in  1864.  But  Sheridan  did  not  have  Stonewall 
Jackson  to  contend  with. 

Returning  to  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Richmond,  we  find  it  on  the  15th  of  May,  concen- 
trating at  the  White  House,  the  point  where  the  railroad 
from  West  Point,  on  York  river,  to  Richmond,  crosses  the 
Pamunky. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  Mr.  Lincoln  telegraphed  to  McClel- 
lan:  "  I  think  the  time  is  near  when  you  must  either  attack 
Richmond,  or  give  up  the  job  and  come  to.the  defence  of 
Washington."  * 

On  the  26th  of  May,  a  portion  of  the  corps  of  General 
Keyes,  was  ordered  across  the  Chickahominy,  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  corps  of  Heintzelman.  The  corps  of  Sumner, 
Porter,  and  Franklin,  remained  on  the  left  bank,  without 
the  means  of  crossing.  The  vigilant  rebel  commander  saw 
the  blunder,  and  instantly  profited  by  it.  The  Union  troops 
were  attacked  in  force  by  the. rebels,  with  the  hope  of  cutting 
them  off  before  they  could  be  supported  by  the  army  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  Although  Casey's  division  was  driven 
back  in  some  disorder,  yet  being  supported  by  Heintzelman, 
they  held  the  rebels  in  check  until  General  Sumner  suc- 
ceeded in  crossing  and  attacking  the  rebels  vigorously  in  flank, 
which  stopped  their  advance,  and  a  gallant  bayonet  charge, 
led  by  the  aged  but  stout  and  resolute  Sumner  in  person,  drove 
them  back  beyond  Fair  Oaks  station.  Sumner  saved  the  day. 
Had  the  remaining  troops  been  brought  over,  a  great  victory 
would  have  been  secured.  If,  instead  of  Sumner's  fifteen 
thousand,  fifty  thousand  had  been  thrown  across,  the  result 

*  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  330. 


MC  CLELLAN'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  RICHMOND.  333 

might  have  been  a  decisive  victory.  If  fifteen  thousand  re- 
pulsed the  enemy,  fifty  thousand  would  probably  have  se- 
cured Richmond.  Indeed,  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  on  the 
personal  staff  of  General  McClellan  said,  "  It  was  not  until 
7  P.  M.,  that  the  idea  of  securing  all  the  bridges  without 
delay,  and  causing  the  whole  army  to  cross  at  day-break  to 
the  right  bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  was  entertained.  It 
was  now  too  late;  four  hours  had  been  lost,  and  the  opportu- 
nity, that  moment  so  fleeting  in  war  as  in  other  circumstances, 
had  gone." 

It  was  on  this  field  that  Prince  de  Joinville,  admiring  a  bed 
of  beautiful  Virginia  roses,  and  plucking  one,  recoiled  with  his 
hand  covered  with  blood;  beneath  the  fragrant  flowers  had 
crept  a  wounded  soldier,  seeking  their  slight  shelter  from  the 
burning«sun,  to  bleed  and  die! 

The  river  rose  during  the  night  and  following  day,  and 
swept  away  the  bridges.  This  left  the  troops  of  Sumner, 
Heintzelman,  and  Keys,  on  one  side,  and  those  of  Porter  and 
Franklin,  on  the  other.  The  next  day,  the  rebels  renewed 
the  attack,  throwing  upon  that  portion  of  the  Union  army  all 
their  then  available  force ;  but  after  a  severe  battle,  were  re- 
pulsed with  great  slaughter  and  driven  back  upon  Richmond, 
to  which  they  fled,  carrying  consternation.  It  was  expected 
naturally,  that  the  victorious  troops  would  follow  up  their 
success,  and  attack  the  rebel  Capital. 

One  half  of  the  Union  army  had  beaten  the  rebels.  Jack- 
son was  returning  from  the  Valley  from  which,  as  we  have 
stated,  he  had  escaped  from  all  the  efforts  of  Fremont  and 
McDowell,  to  close  in  upon  him.  General  McClellan  had 
remained  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Chickahominy.  On  the 
next  day,  June  2d,  General  Heintzelman  sent  a  reconnoiter- 
ing  party  under  Hooker,  within  four  miles  of  Richmond,  and 
met  no  enemy;  but  though  informed  of  this  fact,  McClellan 
ordered  the  force  to  fall  back  to  its  old  position.  Then  followed 
weeks  of  inactivity  on  the  part  of  McClellan. 

Beauregard  and  Bragg  had  evacuated  Corinth  with  a 
large  force,  and  their  soldiers,  it  was  known  as  many  of 
them  as  could  be  spared,  would  fly  to  the  defense  of  Rich- 
mond. Mr.  Lincoln,  conscious  of  all  this,  telegraphs  to 


334  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

McClellan,  "  the  time  is  near  when  you  must  attack  Rich- 
mond, or  give  up  the  job."  But  there  was  no  attack.  On 
the  5th  of  June,  McClellan  calls  for  more  troops.  Five  new 
regiments,  and  McCall's  division  of  McDowell's  corps  are 
/sent  to  him.  And  yet,  on  the  12th  of  June,  induced  by  a 
simple  request  from  McDowell  that  McCall's  division,  which 
had  been  detached  from  his  corps,  might  be  so  placed  as  to 
be  in  a  position  to  join  his  other  forces  as  they  came  down 
from  Fredericksburg,  McClellan  said  to  the  President,  "  If 
I  cannot  fully  control  all  his  (McDowell's)  troops,  I  want 
none  of  them,  but  would  prefer  to  fight  the  battle  with  what 
I  have,  and  let  others  be  responsible  for  the  result."  Such 
was  the  querulous  impatience,  and  ill  temper  of  McClel- 
lan, when  the  President  was  doing  his  utmost  to  send  him 
troops.  On  the  llth,  he  says,  he  has  information  that 
Beauregard  had  arrived,  and  that  troops  were  to  follow  him. 

General  Johnston,  of  the  rebel  army,  having  been  wounded 
at  Fair  Oaks,  General  Robert  E.  Lee,  after  having  acted  for 
sometime  as  Chief  of  staff  to  Jefferson  Davis,  was  assigned 
to  the  command.  Meantime  McClellan  telegraphs  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  Secretary  of  War,  of  rain,  of  bad  roads,  of  mud — but 
of  no  advance.  On  the  21st  of  June,  from  his  camp  on  the 
Chickahominy,  General  McClellan  again  telegraphs  to  Pres- 
ident Lincoln,  that  he  should  like  to  have  permission  "  by 
letter  or  telegraph,  to  lay  before  your  Excellency,  my  views  as  to  the 
present  state  of  military  affairs  throughout  the  whole  country"  Lin- 
coln replies  with  much  good  nature,  and  a  little  irony,  "  If  it 
would  not  divert  too  much  of  your  time  and  attention  from 
the  army  under  your  immediate  command,  I  should  be  glad 
to  hear  your  views  on  the  present  state  of  military  affairs 
throughout  the  whole  country."  For  nearly  a  month,  Gene- 
ral McClellan  had  been  talking  of  a  great  battle,  but  he 
made  no  advance,  always  waiting  to  be  attacked.  He  had 
divided  his  army,  it  being  separated  by  the  Chickahominy. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  rebel  General  committed 
the  blunder  of  uncovering  Richmond  in  such  a  way,  that 
had  General  MeClellan  had  the  boldness  to  have  struck 
directly  for  that  city,  he  would  have  found  it  an  easy  con- 


MC  CLELLAN'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  RICHMOND.  335 

quest.  Jackson  was  returning  from  the  North  with  his 
victorious  forces,  and  Lee  supposed  McClellan  was  with  his 
main  army  North  of  the  Chickahominy.  The  rebel  Generals 
A.  P.  Hill,  D.  H.  Hill,  and  Longstreet,  were  ordered  with 
between  thirty  and  forty  thousand  men,  to  cross  the  Chicka- 
hominy above  the  right  of  the  Union  lines,  and  form  a  junc- 
tion with  Jackson.  This  left  between  McClellan's  army  and 
Richmond,  only  Huger's  and  Magruder's  divisions,  and  some 
detached  troops,  numbering  in  all,  not  to  exceed  twenty-five 
thousand  men.  Lee's  army,  after  crossing  the  river,  was  in 
a  position  that  it  could  not  again  unite;  and  if  McClellan, 
with  his  whole  force  had  marched  upon  Richmond,  he  would 
have  crushed  Huger  and  Magruder,  before  the  forces  sent 
across  could  have  come  to  their  rescue.* 

General  McClellan  seemed  to  believe  that  Jackson  was  in 
strong  force  at  Gordonsville,  but  about  the  25th  of  June,  he 
became  convinced  that  this  enterprising  leader  was  about  to 
assail  him.  Jackson  had  been  gathering  a  force  with  which  to 
attack  McClellan's  right  and  centre.  Why,  when  Jackson  was 
far  away  in  pursuit  of  Banks,  before  reinforcements  had  arrived 
at  Richmond,  did  not  McClellan  attack?  Why  wait  until 
Jackson  returned  and  attacked  him? 

The  President,  on  the  26th  of  June,  in  reply  to  a  complain- 
ing telegram  from  McClellan,  in  which  that  General  sought 
in  advance  to  throw  the  responsibility  of  apprehended  defeat 
on  others,  said :  f 

"  Your  three  despatches  of  yesterday  in  relation  to  the  affair,  ending 
with  the  statement  that  you  completely  succeeded  in  making  your  point, 
are  very  gratifying. 

"  The  later  one  of  6.15  P.  M.,  suggesting  the  probability  of  your 
being  overwhelmed  by  two  hundred  thousand,  and  talking  of  where  the 
responsibility  will  belong,  pains  me  very  much.  I  give  you  all  I  can, 
and  act  on  the  presumption  that  you  will  do  the  best  you  can  with  what 
you  have,  while  you  continue,  ungenerously  I  think,  to  assume,  that  I 
could  give  you  more  if  I  would.  I  have  omitted,  and  shall  omit  no 
opportunity  to  send  you  reinforcements,  whenever  I  possibly  can. 

3* 

*  Swinton,  In  his  "  Army  of  the  Potomac,"  the  apologist  for  McClellan,  while  he 
admits  that  this  movement  ought  to  have  been  made,  says  it  was  too  bold  for 
that  General. 

t  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  p.  33&-8. 


336  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"  P.  S.  General  Pope  thinks  if  you  fall  back,  it  would  be  much  better 
toward  York  River,  than  toward  the  James.  As  Pope  now  has  charge 
of  the  Capital,  please  confer  with  him  through  the  telegraph." 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

The  Hills,  and  Longstreet  marched  out  of  Richmond  to 
cooperate  with  Jackson,  and  McCall  was  vigorously  attacked 
at  Mechanicsville.  The  position  of  McCall  was  a  strong  one, 
with  a  deep  creek  in  the  Union  front.  Hill  not  waiting  for 
a  junction  with  Jackson,  attacked  with  great  vigor,  and  was 
defeated  with  severe  loss. 

It  seems  that  McClellan  before  this  attack,  had  been  anti- 
cipating a  retreat,  for  he  says  in  his  report,  that  "  more  than  a 
week  previous,"  that  is  on  the  18th,  he  had  prepared  for  a 
retreat  to  the  James,  and  sent  supplies  to  that  river.  The 
attack  at  Mechanicsville,  clearly  indicated  the  purpose  of  Lee 
to  crush  the  right  of  the  army,  of  the  Potomac.  It  has  been 
suggested  by  able  military  critics,  that  the  leader  of  that  army 
might  have  adopted  with  success,  either  of  two  expedi- 
ents; he  might  have  brought  over  his  left  wing,  and  thus 
strengthened  his  right  and  secured  a  victory ;  or  he  might 
have  withdrawn  his  right  across  the  Chickahominy.  He  did 
not,  however,  attempt  a  concentration  of  Ms  army,  but  left  his 
right,  consisting  of  about  thirty  thousand,  to  withstand  the 
whole  rebel  force,  and  to  fight  the  bloody  battle  of  Cold 
Harbor,  or  Games'  Mill,  on  the  27th  of  June,  when  Porter's 
command,  after  maintaining  its  position  for  a  long  day,  and 
repeatedly  repulsing  and  driving  back  the  enemy,  was  finally 
as  night  approached,  driven  back  by  superior  numbers  and 
fresh  troops.  But  what  threatened  to  be  a  rout  was  pre- 
vented by  the  gallantry  of  Meagher's  and  French's  brigades, 
which  came  up  at  evening  and  checked  the  rebel  advance. 
While  the  forces  of  Porter,  weary  and  exhausted  with  the 
long  struggle,  were  giving  way,  and  pressed  with  numbersl 
the  retreat  was  likely  soon  to  become  a  rout,  a  shout  an- 
nounced the  presence  of  the  gallant  Irishman,  and  his  fight- 
ing brigade,  the  General  leading  in  his  shirt  sleeves.  They 
came  on  with  a  rush  and  the  fugitives  stopped  and  re- 
formed; the  rebels  were  checked  and  driven  back.  The 
presence  of  these  troops  two  hours,  or  one  hour  earlier, 


MC  CLELLAN'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  RICHMOND.          337 

might  perhaps  have  given  Porter  a  victory.  As  it  was  lie  had 
inflicted  greater  loss  on  the  rebels  than  he  received.  Union 
loss  was  4,000,  rebel  9,500. 

On  the  evening  of  that  day,  McClellan  announced  to  his 
corps  commanders,  his  intention  to  retreat  to  James  river. 
It  was  no  longer  a  question  of  taking  Richmond,  but  of  sav- 
ing his  own  army  as  he  thought.  While  on  this  retreat,  and 
while  his  gallant  army  was  struggling  across  the  White  Oak 
swamp,  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  "  If 
I  save  this  army,  I  tell  you  plainly,  I  owe  no  thanks  to  you, 
nor  to  any  one  at  Washington.  You  have  done  your  best  to 
destroy  this  army." 

Such  a  message,  so  insolent  and  false,  so  mutinous  and 
insubordinate,  would,  if  addressed  to  any  other  Government 
than  that  of  which  the  forbearing  Lincoln  was  the  head,  have 
insured  his  arrest  and  trial. 

But  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  a  forbearance  which  many  thought 
had  long  "ceased  to  be  a  virtue,"  sent  the  following  reply:* 

"  Save  your  army  at  all  events.  Will  send  reinforcements  as  fast  as 
we  can.  Of  course  they  cannot  reach  you  to-day,  to-morrow,  or  next 
day.  I  have  not  said  you  were  ungenerous  for  saying  you  needed 
reenforcemonts.  I  thought  you  were  ungenerous  in  assuming  that  I 
did  not  send  them  as  fast  as  I  could.  I  feel  any  misfortune  to  you  and 
your  army  quite  as  keenly  as  you  feel  it  yourself.  If  you  have  had  a 
drawn  battle  or  a  repulse,  it  is  the  price  we  pay  for  the  enemy  not  being 
in  Washington.  We  protected  Washington,  and  the  enemy  concentrated 
on  you.  Had  we  stripped  Washington,  he  would  have  been  upon  us 
before  the  troops  sent  could  have  got  to  you.  Less  than  a  week  ago,  you 
notified  us  that  reinforcements  were  leaving  Richmond  to  come  in 
front  of  us.  It  is  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  neither  you  nor  the 
Government  is  to  blame.  Please  tell  at  once  the  present  condition  or 
aspect  of  things." 

The  great  army,  with  its  spirit  unbroken,  retreated 
doggedly — at  times  turning  at  bay,  and  repulsing  the 
attacking  columns  of  the  rebels. 

Lee  had  indeed  been  victorious,  but  at  a  heavy  loss.  Up 
to  the  retreat  of  McClellan,  the  rebels'  loss,  in  killed  and 
wounded,  exceeded  10,000,  while  the  Union  loss  did  not 

*Report  on  Conduct  of  War,  Part  I,  p.  340. 

22 


338  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

nearly  reach  that  number.  He  had  destroyed  McClellan's 
communications  with  York  River,  but  Lee  was  now,  on  the 
evening  of  the  retreat  of  the  Union  army,  in  a  position 
which,  if  known  to  McClellan,  and  he  had  possessed  the 
vigor  and  enterprise  necessary  for  the  required  move- 
ment would  have  made  the  capture  of  Richmond  morally 
certain.  Two-thirds  of  Lee's  army  was  north  of  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  and  McClellan's  army  was  between  it  and  Rich- 
mond. Had  McClellan  with  his  whole  army  struck  at 
Richmond,  it  could  not  have  resisted  for  a  day.  Magruder 
who  was  in  command  of  the  forces  left  at  Richmond,  says : 

"  I  considered  the  situation  of  our  army  as  extremely  critical  and 
perilous.  The  larger  portion  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  Chicka- 
hominy.  The  bridges  were  destroyed.  *  *  *  There  were  but 
25,000  men  between  his  (McClellan's)  army  of  100,000  and  Richmond. 
Had  McClellan  massed  his  whole  force  iu  column  and  advanced  against 
any  point  of  our  line,  its  momentum  would  have  insured  success  and 
the  occupation  of  our  works." 

But  retreat  was  ordered,  and  the  army  was  fighting  its 
way  to  the  James  under  Sumner.  On  the  29th,  the  rear 
guard,  under  the  brave  Sumner,  repulsed  a  rebel  attack 
in  the  bloody  battle  of  Savage  Station,  and  on  the  30th,  at 
Glendale.  The  stubborn  heroism  of  the  army,  under  Heintz- 
elman,  Hooker,  Kearney  and  Porter,  repelled  the  enemy 
whenever  it  turned  at  bay,  and  continually  suggests  the  in- 
quiry, that  with  such  an  army,  why  retreat  at  all  ?  Fighting 
and  marching  for  seven  weary  days  and  nights ;  stifled  with 
dust,  faint  with  hunger  and  thirst  and  heat,  yet  never  turn- 
ing its  face  to  the  foe  without  driving  him  back ;  alas,  how 
much  less  of  suffering  and  of  death,  if  that  proud  and  gallant 
army  had  been  led  directly  and  boldly  upon  Richmond  ! 

On  the  30th  of  June,  Heintzelman  met  a  large  force  of 
the  rebels,  under  command  of  Hill.  They  were  again  re- 
pulsed with  terrible  slaughter,  and  General  Lee  sent  all  his 
disposable  troops  to  reenforce  Hill.  They  were  driven  back, 
and  the  Union  forca  following  up  their  success,  raised  the 
cry  of  "  On  to  Richmond !"  A  rebel  officer  describing  the 


MC  CLELLAN'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  RICHMOND.  339 

scene  which  followed,  says,  "  everything  seemed  lost.  Regi- 
ments and  brigades  broke  and  fled ;  batteries  dashed  to  the 
rear  in  headlong  flight." 

Orders  were  given  to  Jackson  to  cover  the  retreat,  and 
directions  were  sent  to  Richmond  to  get  the  public  property 
ready  for  removal.  But  this  success  was  not  followed  up, 
and  the  Union  army  resumed  its  march  towards  the  James. 

The  troops  reached  the  vicinity  of  James  River  on  the  1st 
of  July,  and  were  massed  on  Malvern  Hill.  Here  was  high, 
open  table  land,  a  mile  and  a-half  long  by  three-quarters  of 
a  mile  wide,  crossed  by  several  roads.  Porter's  corps  held 
the  left,  Heintzelman  and  Sumner  the  center,  and  Keys  the 
right.  The  left  flank  was  protected  by  the  gun-boats  on 
James  River.  Here,  after  their  terrible  march  through  the 
White  Oak  Swamp,  the  gallant  Army  of  the  Potomac,  with 
spirit  yet  unbroken,  and  with  the  ability  yet  to  conquer,  pre- 
pared to  meet  the  whole  rebel  force.  As  the  weary  troops 
lay  down  to  rest  that  night  upon  Malvern  Hill,  after  five  days 
of  incessant  fighting  and  marching,  they  knew  the  strength 
of  their  position  and  felt  the  ability  yet  to  go  into  Richmond. 
They  looked  for  the  morning,  to  wipe  out  the  mortification 
of  their  retreat.  With  the  morning  came  most  fierce  and 
persistent  attacks  upon  this  position ;  charge  after  charge  was 
repulsed.  The  whole  field  was  strewn  with  rebel  dead  and 
wounded.  After  being  brought  up  again  and  again  to  the 
assault,  and  as  often  driven  back  with  fearful  slaughter,  the 
rebels  retired. 

The  next  morning,  the  rebel  army  was  in  no  condition  to 
withstand  an  attack.  General  Trimble,  of  the  rebel  army, 
says :  "  at  dawn  the  next  morning,  I  found  the  whole  army 
in  the  utmost  disorder."  An  attack  by  the  unbroken  Union 
forces  would  inevitably  have  defeated  it.  But  when  the  rebel 
army  awoke,  and  looked  up  that  hill  from  which  they  had 
been  so  often  repulsed,  the  grim  batteries  and  gleaming 
muskets,  and  glorious  banners  had  disappeared.  The  Union 
general  had  retreated  from  victory  which  seemed  to  invite 
his  approach.  McClellan  had  turned  his  back  on  victory 
and  Richmond. 


340       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Many  high-spirited  officers  like  Kearney,  and  gallant 
soldiers  begged  permission  to  follow  the  discomfited  Con- 
federates into  Richmond.  McClellan,  so  far  from  following 
up  this  success,  retired  to  Harrison's  Landing,  and  thus 
ingloriously  closed  the  Peninsular  Campaign. 

The  faults  of  this  campaign  have  been  settled  by  the  judg- 
ment of  the  brave  officers  and  soldiers  who  took  part  in  it, 
and  have  ceased  to  be  the  subject  of  partisan  controversy. 
No  troops  ever  fought  better  than  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
No  troops  were  ever  worse  handled  by  a  commanding 
general. 

The  fatal  errors  of  McClellan  were  —  First,  A  month  un- 
necessarily wasted  at  Yorktown.  Second,  A  tardy  pursuit 
after  the  success  at  Williamsburg,  in  a  battle  fought  without 
his  knowledge  and  against  his  wishes.  Third,  Long  delay 
and  hesitation  at  the  Chickahominy — failure  to  strike  when 
Jackson  was  away,  and  before  reinforcements  arrived.  And 
yet,  in  spite  of  these  faults,  victory,  and  the  capture  of  Rich- 
mond was  often  within  the  reach  of  a  bold,  decided  move- 
ment, and  especially  at  Fair  Oaks,  and  at  Malvern  Hill. 
Indeed  the  seven  days'  battles  show  that  the  rebels  could 
not,  at  any  time,  have  withstood  a  vigorous  and  persistent 
attack  by  the  entire  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  Union  loss 
in  the  campaign  was  15,249 ;  the  rebel  loss,  19,000. 

At  Harrison's  Landing,  McClellan  encamped,  and  began 
calling  for  reenforcenients.  He  wanted  50,000  men  ;  on  the 
3d  of  July,  "  100,000  men,  rather  more,  than  less."  To  these 
calls,  the  President  patiently  replied : 

"  I  understand  your  position  as  stated  in  your  letter,  and  by  General 
Marcy.  To  reenforce  you  so  as  to  enable  you  to  resume  the  offensive 
within  a  month  or  even  six  weeks,  is  impossible.  In  addition  to  that 
arrived  and  now  arriving  from  the  Potomac  (about  10,000  men,  I  sup- 
pose,) and  about  10,000  I  hope  you  will  have  from  Burnside  very 
soon,  and  about  5,000  from  Hunter  a  little  later,  I  do  not  see  how  I 
can  send  you  another  man  within  a  month.  Under  these  circumstances, 
the  defensive,  for  the  present,  must  be  your  only  care.  Save  the  army 
first,  where  you  are,  if  you  can;  and  secondly,  by  removal,  if  you  must. 
You,  on  the  ground,  must  be  the  judge  as  to  which  you  will  attempt, 
and  of  the  means  for  effecting  it.  I  but  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that 


MC  CLELLAN'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  RICHMOND.  341 

with  the  aid  of  the  gun-boats  and  the  reinforcements  mentioned  above, 
you  can  hold  your  present  position ;  provided,  and  so  long  as  you  can 
keep  the  James  Eiver  open  below  you.  If  you  are  not  tolerably  con- 
fident you  can  keep  the  James  River  open,  you  had  better  remove  as 
soon  as  possible.  I  do  not  remember  that  you  have  expressed  any  ap- 
prehension as  to  the  danger  of  having  your  communication  cut  on  the 
river  below  you,  yet  I  do  not  suppose  it  can  have  escaped  your 
attention. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

"P.  S. — If  at  any  time  you  feel  able  to  take  the  offensive,  you  are 
not  restrained  from  doing  so."* 

The  postscript  must  have  been  read  with  a  grim  smile 
by  those  war-worn  veterans,  Sumner,  Kearney,  Heintzelman 
and  others.  Lincoln's  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous  could 
not  have  overlooked  the  irony  of  the  words — "If  at  any 
time  you  feel  able  to  take  the  offensive,  you  are  not  restrained 
from  doing  so." 

This  whole  campaign  illustrates  Lincoln's  patience,  for- 
bearance, fidelity  to,  and  kindness  for,  McOlellan.  His  mis- 
fortunes, disastrous  as  they  were  to  the  country,  did  not  in- 
duce the  President  to  abandon  him.  Indeed  it  was  a  very 
difficult  and  painful  thing  for  him  ever  to  give  up  a  person. 
in  misfortune,  even  when  those  misfortunes  resulted  from  a 
man's  own  misconduct. 


*  Raymond's  life  and  State  papers  of  Lincoln,  p.  295-6. 


OHAPTEE   XVI. 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS   TO  THE   CLOSE  OF  1862— POPE— McCLEL- 
LAN— BURNSIDE. 

GENERAL  POPE  ASSUMES  COMMAND  OP  THE  ARMY  OF  VIRGINIA — 
His  ADDRESS — LEE  ATTEMPTS  TO  OVERWHELM  HIM — McCLEL- 
LAN  ORDERED  TO  JOIN  POPE — His  DELAY — ORDERED  TO  HAST- 
EN —  HE  LINGERS  —  POPE  OVERWHELMED  BY  NUMBERS  AND 
DRIVEN  BACK  TO  WASHINGTON  —  Is  RELIEVED — MCCLELLAN 
AGAIN  IN  COMMAND — LEE  CROSSES  INTO  MARYLAND — MCCLELLAN 
PURSUES — BATTLES  OF  SOUTH  MOUNTAIN — ANTIETAM  —  PRESI- 
DENT VISITS  THE  ARMY — URGES  MCCLELLAN  TO  ATTACK — 
MCCLELLAN  DELAYS — HE  is  RELIEVED  OF  COMMAND — FAILURE 
— BURNSIDE — FREDERICKSBURG — MOVEMENTS  IN  THE  WEST 
—  BATTLE  OF  PERRYVILLE  —  CORINTH  —  VICKSBURG  —  STONE 
RIVER. 

AT  this  period,  while  at  Harrison's  Landing,  Major  Gene- 
ral McClellan  found  time  to  write  and  dispatch  to 
President  Lincoln,  a  long  letter  of  advice  upon  the  general 
conduct  of  the  administration,  civil  and  military. 

The  President  seemed  to  think  there  was  plenty  of  practi- 
cal work  for  the  General  to  do  in  his  own  camp,  and  on  the 
8th  of  July,  he  visited  the  camp  on  the  James.  He  found 
there,  an  army  of  86,000  effective  men.  The  great  discrep- 
ancy between  the  sum  of  losses  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  its  present  and  aggregate  number,  was  accounted  for 
by  the  statement  of  McClellan  on  the  13th  of  July,  that 
38,000  were  absent  on  leave  by  authority! 

The  successes  at  the  "West,  as  contrasted  with  the  failures 
at  the  East,  failures  attributable  not  to  a  difference  in  the  sol- 
diers themselves,  but  to  a.difference  in  leadership,  suggested 
whether  by  transferring  to  the  East,  some  of  those  successful 

342 


POPE  ASSUMES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  VIRGINIA.       343 

"Western  Generals,  better  results  might  not  follow  the  unsur- 
passed fighting  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac.  Halleck,  on 
the  llth  of  July,  had  been  called  to  the  position  of  General- 
in-Chief,  and  returning  to  "Washington,  entered  upon  his 
duties  on  the  23d  of  July. 

General  John  Pope,  the  son  of  Judge  Nathaniel  Pope, 
District  Judge  of  Illinois  in  whose  courts  President  Lincoln 
had  long  practiced  law,  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and 
rising  young  officers  of  the  West.  He  had  evinced  great 
generalship  at  Island  No.  10,  and  at  New  Madrid.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln of  course  knew  Pope  well,  and  rejoiced  in  his  fame,  and 
he  was  also  a  favorite  of  General  Halleck.  He  was  called  to 
"Washington,  and  arrived  about  the  20th  of  June. 

The  President  having  seen  the  disastrous  consequences  of 
having  too  many  generals,  and  the  lack  of  unity  of  purpose 
and  of  concert  between  the  forces  of  Banks,  Fremont  and 
McDowell,  resolved  to  consolidate  the  Departments  of  the 
Shenandoah,  the  Mountain  Department  of  Fremont,  and  the 
Department  of  the  Rappahannock ;  and  in  pursuance  of  this 
determination,  on  the  27th  of  June,  he  issued  an  order 
creating  the  Army  of  Virginia,  under  command  of  General 
Pope ;  the  army  of  General  Fremont,  to  constitute  the  First 
Army  Corps,  the  army  of  General  Banks,  the  Second,  and 
v,hat  of  General  McDowell,  the  Third.  Thereupon  General 
Fremont  asked  to  be  relieved,  on  the  ground,  that  as  General 
Pope  was  his  junior  in  rank  he  could  not  consistently  with 
his  honor  serve  under  him,  and  his  request  was  granted. 

On  the*  14th  of  July,  General  Pope  assumed  command 
and  issued" an  address  to  his  army.  In  this  address  he  said: 

"  I  have  come  to  you  from  the  West,  where  we  have  always  seen  the 
backs  of  our  enemies — from  an  army  whose  business  it  has  been  to 
seek  an  adversary,  and  beat  him  when  found;  whose  policy  has  been 
attack  and  not  defense.  In  but  one  instance  has  the  enemy  been  able 
to  place  our  Western  armies  in  a  defensive  attitude.  I  presume  I 
have  been  called  here  to  pursue  the  same  system,  and  to  lead  you 
against  the  enemy.  It  is  my  purpose  to  do  so,  and  that  speedily.  I  am 
sure  you  long  for  an  opportunity  to  win  the  distinction  you  are  capable 
of  achieving;  that  opportunity  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  you.  In  the 
meantime,  I  desire  you  to  dismiss  certain  phrases  I  am  sorry  to  find 
much  in  voejue  amongst  you. 


344  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"  I  hear  constantly  of  taking  strong  positions  and  holding  them — of 
lines  of  retreat  and  bases  of  supplies.  Let  us  discard  such  ideas.  The 
strongest  position  a  soldier  should  desire  to  occupy,  is  one  from  which 
he  can  most  easily  advance  against  the  enemy.  Let  us  study  the  pro- 
bable line  of  retreat  of  our  opponents,  and  leave  our  own  to  take  care 
of  itself.  Let  us  look  before  us  and  not  behind.  Success  and  glory  are 
in  the  advance — disaster  and  shame  lurk  in  the  rear.  Let  us  act  on 
this  understanding,  and  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  your  banners  shall  be 
inscribed  with  many  a  glorious  deed,  and  that  your  names  will  be  dear 
to  your  countrymen  forever." 

This  address  was  spirited  and  full  of  the  ardor  of  a  young, 
successful  and  sanguine  soldier;  but  indiscreet,  very,  and 
when  we  remember  that  it  was  issued  on  his  assuming  com- 
mand of  the  troops  whose  leaders  he  thus  publicly  reproached, 
was  as  bad  in  taste,  as  it  was  mistaken  in  policy.  While  it 
gave  indications  of  a  more  vigorous  policy,  which  was 
exceedingly  gratifying  to  the  people,  it  was  calculated  to 
create,  and  did  create,  an  intense  feeling  against  him  among 
the  officers  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  and  to  some  extent 
of  the  army  of  Virginia.  It  intensified  the  feeling,  which 
finally  resulted  in  the  offense  by  McClellan  and  Fitz  John 
Porter  and  some  of  their  subordinates,  of  permitting  Pope  to 
be  sacrificed  without  rendering  him  effective  aid. 

The  failure  of  the  Peninsula  campaign  did  not  in  the  least 
dishearten  the  courage  of  the  North,  nor  shake  the  firm  deter- 
mination of  the  people  to  crush  the  rebellion.  The  Governors 
of  seventeen  States  on  the  28th  of  June,  united  in  an  address 
to  the  President,  announcing  the  readiness  of  the  people  of 
their  respective  States  to  respond  to  a  call  for  more  troops, 
and  their  wish  for  the  most  prompt  and  vigorous  measures. 
The  President  immediately  issued  a  call  for  300,000  additional 
soldiers.  Pope  desired,  if  McClellan  was  compelled  to  retreat, 
that  it  should  be  towards  the  North,  that  he  might  directly  co- 
operate with  him.  He  had  but  about  38,000  men ;  with  these, 
he  was  to  defend  Washington,  hold  the  Valley  of  the  Shenan- 
doah,  and  repel  the  expected  approach  of  Lee.  He  felt  the 
inadequacy  of  his  force,  and  asked  to  be  relieved,  unwilling 
to  risk  his  reputation  against  the  fearful  odds  he  perceived 
he  was  to  encounter;  and  being  early  made  conscious  that 
he  could  not  have  the  hearty  cooperation  of  McClellan  and 


POPE'S  CAMPAIGN.  345 

his  friends.  The  authorities  declined  to  relieve  him,  and 
he  set  out  to  do  the  best  he  could  with  the  force  at  his 
command. 

What  was  to  be  done  with  the  army  of  the  Potomac  ?  It 
had  been  visited  by  the  President,  and  was  visited  by  Gene- 
ral Ualleck.  General  Burnside  had  brought  his  successful 
force  to  Fortress  Monroe,  ready  to  cooperate  with  McClellan. 
It  was  determined  after  careful  consideration  to  withdraw  the 
arm}  of  the  Potomac  from  the  James,  and  concentrate  it 
with  the  command  of  General  Pope.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
follow  in  detail,  the  movements,  skirmishes,  and  battles  of 
General  Pope.  By  cavalry  raids,  he  undertook  to  destroy  the 
railroads  towards  Richmond,  and  to  hold  the  fords  of  the 
Rapidan  and  other  streams,  that  the  approaching  army  under 
Jackson  and  Lee  must  cross.  He  was  vigilant  and  active,  and 
did  as  much  with  the  force  under  his  command,  as  could  be 
done.  On  the  14th  of  August,  he  was  reenforced  by  General 
Reno's  division  of  General  Burnside's  command.  On  the 
16th,  General  Pope  captured  a  letter  from  General  Lee,  to 
General  Stuart,  showing  that  the  purpose  of  Lee  was  to  mass 
an  overwhelming  force  in  his  front,  and  crush  him  before 
he  could  be  reenforced  by  the  army  of  the  Potomac.  Know- 
ing by  the  tardy  movements  of  McClellan  that  he  would  re- 
ceive no  immediate  aid  from  him,  Pope  retired  on  the  night 
of  the  18th,  behind  the  Rappahannock.  The  presence  of  the 
army  of  the  Potomac  was  now  essential,  and  its  absence 
made  Pope's  position  critical.  Why  was  it  not  at  hand  ? 

On  the  30th  of  July,  McClellan  had  been  ordered  to  send 
away  his  sick  and  wounded  to  clear  his  hospitals  preparatory 
to  moving.  This  order  was  repeated  on  the  2d  of  August. 
On  the  3d  of  August,  he  was  directed  to  take  immediate 
measures  for  withdrawing  his  army  to  Acquia  Creek;  against 
this  he  remonstrated,  and  delayed,  until  on  the  6th  he  was 
advised  that  "  the  order  will  not  be  rescinded,"  and  it  was 
emphatically  said  to  him,  "you  will  be  expected  to  obey  it 
with  all  possible  promptness." 

Previous  to  the  4th  of  August,  he  had  been  ordered  to  pre- 
pare for  a  prompt  withdrawal  to  Acquia  Creek — a  stream 
which  empties  into  the  Potomac,  within  supporting  distance 
to  Pope.  On  the  6th,  he  was  ordered  to  send  a  regiment  of 


346  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY 

cavalry  and  several  batteries  of  artillery  to  Burn  side,  at  Ac- 
quia.  Instead  of  promptly  obeying,  he  sent  reasons  for  delay, 
and  said  he  would  "  obey  as  soon  as  circumstances  would 
permit."  On  the  9th,  General  Halleck  telegraphed  as  follows: 

"  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  enemy  is  massing  his  forces  in  front 
of  Generals  Pope  and  Burnside,  and  that  he  expects  to  crush  them, 
and  move  forward  to  the  Potomac. 

"  You  must  send  reinforcements  instantly  to  Acquia  Creek. 

"  Considering  the  amount  of  transportation  at  your  disposal,  your 
delay  is  not  satisfactory.  You  must  move  with  all  possible  celerity." 

This  was  August  9th,  and  yet  reinforcements  did  not  leave 
Fortress  Monroe  for  Acquia,  until  the  23d  of  August!  On 
the  10th,  a  week  after  the  order  was  first  given,  Halleck 
again  telegraphed: 

"  The  enemy  is  crossing  the  Rapidan  in  large  force.  They  are  fighting 
General  Pope  to-day.  There  must  be  no  further  delay  in  your  move- 
ments. That  which  has  already  occurred  Was  entirely  unexpected,  and 
must  be  satisfactorily  explained." 

Pope  was  gallantly  fighting  against  an  overwhelming  force. 
Lee  was  massing  troops  to  crush  him  and  reach  Washington, 
and  yet  McClellan  did  not  move.  On  the  12th  of  August, 
General  Halleck  telegraphed : 

"  The  Quartermaster  General  informs  me  that  nearly  every  available 
steam  vessel  in  the  country  is  now  under  your  control.  Burnside  moved 
nearly  13,000  troops  to  Aquia  Creek  in  less  than  two  days,  and  his 
transports  were  immediately  sent  back  to  you.  All  the  vessels  in  the 
James  River  and  the  Chesapeake  Bay  were  placed  at  your  disposal,  and 
it  was  supposed  that  eight  or  ten  thousand  of  your  men  could  be  trans- 
ported daily.  There  has  been  and  is  the  most  urgent  necessity  for 
dispatch,  and  not  a  single  moment  must  be  lost  in  getting  additional 
troops  in  front  of  Washington." 

On  the  21st,  Halleck  again  telegraphed  to  McClellan  at 
Fortress  Monroe: 

"  The  forces  of  Burnside  and  Pope  are  hard  pushed  and  require  aid 
as  rapidly  as  you  can  send  it.  Come  yourself  as  soon  as  you  can.  By 
all  means  see  that  the  troops  sent  have  plenty  of  ammunition,  etc." 


POPE'S  CAMPAIGN.  347 

On  the  evening  of  August  23d,  the  reluctant  and  tardy 
McClellan,  at  last  sailed  from  Fortress  Monroe,  arriving  at 
Acquia  Creek  on  the  morning  of  the  24th,  and  at  Alexandria 
on  the  27th  of  August! 

Meanwhile,  Pope  had  not  sufficient  force  to  hold  the  fords 
and  banks  of  the  Rappahannock.  His  line  was  so  extended 
that  it  was  necessarily  very  weak.  He  called  for  reenforce- 
ments  which  should  have  been  with  him  long  before  from 
the  army  of  the  Potomac;  but  McClellan  and  his  army,  had 
lingered  on  the  James.  The  Commander  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac  had  received  the  order  to  move  his  sick  and 
wounded  on  the  1st  of  August.  On  the  3d,  he  was  ordered 
to  prepare  to  move  his  army ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  23d, 
that  his  troops  began  to  leave  Fortress]  Monroe,  and  he  did 
not  reach  Alexandria  in  person  until  the  27th  of  August.  It 
is  scarcely  possible  for  a  candid  mind  to  read  the  correspond- 
ence between  the  President  and  General  Halleck  on  the  one 
side,  and  General  McClellan  on  the  other,  from  the  time  of 
the  President's  visit  to  Harrison's  Landing,  until  McClellan 
arrived  at  Alexandria,  without  coming  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  the  deliberate  purpose  of  McClellan  so  to  delay  his 
movements  that  Pope  should  be  left  to  his  fate.  It  is  clear 
that  he  did  not  obey  orders,  and  that  Pope's  defeat  was  the 
result. 

On  the  10th,  General  Halleck  informed  McClellan  that 
"  the  enemy  are  crossing  the  Rapidan.  They  are  fighting 
General  Pope  to-day.  Let  not  a  moment's  time  be  lost." 
When  McClellan  reached  Acquia  on  the  24th,  Pope  who  had 
been  defending  the  line  of  the  Rappahannock  for  nearly  a 
week  against  the  whole  rebel  army,  found  that  Lee  was  turn- 
ing his  right, and  his  rear  and  communications  were  threat- 
ened, and  thus  he  was  compelled  to  fall  back  from  the  Rappa- 
hannock. On  the  27th  of  August  as  we  have  seen  General  Mc- 
Clellan himself  arrived  at  Alexandria,  and  was  immediately 
ordered  "  to  take  entire  direction  of  the  sending  out  of  troops 
from  Alexandria."  Those  which  arrived  before  McClellan, 
under  the  leadership  of  Heintzelman  and  Hooker,  had  already 
marched  to  the  relief  of  Pope,  and  were  doing  good  service. 
After  the  arrival  of  McClellan,  no  troops  of  the  army  of  the 


348  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Potomac  did  join  General  Pope.  He  was  fighting  desperately 
against  superior  numbers  and  being  driven  towards  Wash- 
ington. McClellan  was  within  sound  of  the  enemy's  guns; 
he  knew  that  his  comrades  were  being  driven  towards  the 
Capital,  yet  not  a  soldier  reached  the  scene  of  conflict  from 
Alexandria  after  McClellan's  arrival.  "While  he .  was  thus 
loitering  at  Alexandria  within  sound  of  the  enemy's  guns, 
the  following  were  the  orders  he  disobeyed.  It  will  be  seen 
that  he  was  informed  of  Pope's  position,  of  the  emergency, 
and  that  Pope  wished  reinforcements  sent  to  Gainesville. 
He  was  ordered  to  move  out  Franklin's  Corps  by  forced 
marches.  This  order  was  given  on  the  27th.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  29th,  Franklin's  corps  was  at  Anandale,  seven  miles 
from  Alexandria,  and  Franklin  himself  at  the  latter  place ! 
In  the  meantime  Pope's  forces  were  fighting  bloody  battles 
on  the  27th,  28th,  and  29th,  and  were  to  fight  again  the  30th, 
without  the  aid  of  Franklin. 
At  12  M.  on  the  27th,  Halleck  telegraphed  to  McClellan:  * 

"  Telegrams  from  General  Porter  to  General  Burnside  just  received, 
say  that  Banks  is  at  Fayetteville,  McDowell,  Sigel  and  Ricketts  near 
Warrenton,  Reno  on  his  right,  Porter  is  marching  on  Warrenton,  to  re- 
enforce  Pope.  Nothing  said  of  Heintzelman.  Porter  reports  a  general 
battle  imminent.  Franklin's  corps  should  move  out  by  forced  marches, 
carrying  three  or  four  days  provisions,  and  to  be  supplied  as  far  as 
possible  by  railroad." 

At  1.50  P.  M.,  General  Halleck  telegraphed  to  McClellan: 

u  I  think  Sumner's  corps  sliould  come  to  Alexandria.  The  enemy 
has  appeared  at  Leesburg,  and  the  Commanding  officer  at  Edward's 
Ferry,  asks  for  cavalry.  Have  you  any  to  spare  him  ?  The  enemy  seems 
to  be  trying  to  turn  Pope's  right.  Is  there  no  way  of  communicating 
with  him? 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th  Halleck  telegraphed  to 
Franklin : 

"  On  parting  with  General  McClellan  about  2  o'clock  this  morning, 
it  was  understood  that  you  were  to  move  with  your  corps  to-day,  towards 
Manassas  Junction,  to  drive  the  enemy  from  the  railroad.  I  have  just 

*See  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  p.  32, 33, 34. 


POPE'S  CAMPAIGN.  349 

learned  that  the  General  has  not  returned  to  Alexandria.     If  you  have 
not  received  his  order,  act  on  this." 

At  3.30,  lie  telegraphed  to  McClellan : 

"  Not  a  moment  must  be  lost  in  pushing  as  large  a  force  as  possible 
towards  Manassas,  so  as  to  communicate  with  Pope  before  the  enemy  is 
reenforced."  * 

And  at  8.40  P.  M.,  he  telegraphed: 

"  There  must  be  no  further  delay  in  moving  Franklin's  corps  towards 
Manassas;  they  must  go  to-morrow  morning,  ready  or  not  ready.  If  we 
delay  too  long  to  get  ready,  there  will  be  no  necessity  to  go  at  all,  for 
Pope  will  either  be  defeated  or  victorious  without  our  aid.  If  there  is 
a  want  of  wagons,  the  men  must  carry  provisions  with  them  till  the 
wagons  can  come  to  their  relief." 

At  3  P.  M.  on  the  29th,  Halleck  telegraphed  to  McClellan, 
in  reply  to  his  despatch  of  12  M. : 

"  I  want  Franklin's  corps  to  go  far  enough  to  find  out  something 
about  the  enemy.  Perhaps  he  may  get  such  information  at  Anandale, 
as  to  prevent  his  going  further,  otherwise  he  will  push  on  towards  Fair- 
fax. Try  to  get  something  from  direction  of  Manassas,  either  by  tele- 
gram or  through  Franklin's  scouts.  Our  people  must  move  more  actively, 
and  find  out  where  the  enemy  is.  I  am  tired  of  guesses." 

At  2.40,  the  President,  in  his  intense  anxiety  to  know  the 
fate  of  the  army  fighting  against  odds,  telegraphed  to  McClel- 
lan to  know:  "What  news  from  direction  of  Manassas 
Junction?  "What  generally? 

At  2.45,  General  McClellan  replied : 

"  The  last  news  I  received  from  the  direction  of  Manassas  was  from 
stragglers,  to  the  effect  that  the  enemy  were  evacuating  Centreville,  and 
retiring  towards  Thoroughfare  Gap.  This  is  by  no  means  reliable.  I  am 
clear  that  one  of  two  courses  should  be  adopted:  First,  To  concentrate 
all  our  available  forces  to  open  communication  with  Pope.  Second,  To 
LEAVE  POPE  TO  GET  OUT  OP  HIS  SCRAPE,  and  at  once  use  all  means  to 
make  the  Capital  perfectly  safe.  No  middle  course  will  now  answer. 
Tell  me  what  you  wish  me  to  do,  and  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to 

*  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  459, 461. 


350  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

accomplish  it.  I  wish  to  know  what  my  orders  aud  authority  are.  I  ask 
for  nothing,  but  will  obey  whatever  orders  you  give.  I  only  ask  a 
prompt  decision,  that  I  may  at  once  give  the  necessary  orders.  It 
will  not  do  to  delay  longer." 

How  perfectly  clear  from  all  the  telegrams,  that  McClellan 
had  long  since  determined  "  to  leave  Pope  to  get  out  of  his 
scrape !"  The  President,  suppressing  his  indignation,  look- 
ing only  to  the  safety  of  the  Capital  and  the  army,  and  con- 
scious of  the  cabal  among  some  of  the  officers  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  sent  the  following  reply : 

"  Yours  of  to-day  just  received.  I  think  your  first  alternative,  to- 
wit :  '  to  concentrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  communication  with 
Pope/  is  the  right  one.  But  I  wish  not  to  control.  That  I  now  leave 
to  General  Halleck,  aided  by  your  counsels." 

General  Halleck  telegraphed  the  following  peremptory 
order,  at  7.50  P.  M.  on  the  29th. 

"  You  will  immediately  send  construction  train  and  guards  to  repair 
railroad  to  Manassas.  Let  there  be  no  delay  in  this.  I  have  just  been 
told  that  Franklin's  corps  stopped  at  Anandale,  and  that  he  was  this 
evening  in  Alexandria.  This  is  all  contrary  to  my  orders.  Investigate 
and  report  the  fact  of  this  disobedien.ee.  That  corps  must  push  for- 
ward, as  I  directed,  to  protect  the  railroad,  and  open  our  communication 
with  Manassas." 

McClellan  replied  that  he  was  responsible  for  the  failure 
of  Franklin  to  advance ;  that  it  was  not  safe  for  Franklin  to 
go  beyond  Anandale !  At  7.15,  Franklin  sends  a  dispatch 
to  McClellan,  dated  Anandale,  giving  rumors  of  a  battle  with 
Pope,  and  saying  that  "Pope  is  said  to  be  short  of  provisions." 

At  5  A.  M.,  on  the  30th,  from  a  hard  fought  battle-field, 
General  Pope  sent  the  following  telegram  to  Halleck  : 

"  I  think  you  had  best  send  Franklin's,  Cox's  and  Sturges'  regiments 
to  Centerville,  as  also  forage  and  subsistence.  I  received  a  note  this 
morning  from  General  Franklin,  written  by  order  of  General  McClellan, 
saying  that  wagons  and  cars  would  be  loaded  and  sent  to  Fairfax  Station, 
as  soon  as  I  would  send  a  cavalry  escort  to  Alexandria  to  bring  them 


POPE'S  CAMPAIGN.  351 

out.  Such  a  request,  when  Alexandria  is  full  of  troops  and  we  fight- 
ing the  enemy,  needs  no  comment.  Will  you  have  these  supplies  sent 
without  the  least  delay  to  Centerville  ?"* 

"General  Halleck,  on  the  30th,  at  9.40,  telegraphed  to 
McClellan : 

"  I  am  by  no  means  satisfied  with  General  Franklin's  march  of  yes- 
terday, considering  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  He  was  very  wrong 
in  stopping  at  Anandale.  Moreover,  I  learned  last  night  that  the 
quartermaster's  department  could  have  given  him  plenty  of  transporta- 
tion if  he  had  applied  for  it,  at  any  time  since  his  arrival  at  Alexan- 
dria. He  knew  the  importance  of  opening  communication  with  General 
Pope's  army,  and  should  have  acted  more  promptly ."f 

At  11  A.  M.  on  the  30th,  McClellan  telegraphed  that 
"Franklin  and  Sumner  are  instructed  to  join  Pope  as  soon 
as  possible."  How  long  had  Halleck  been  trying  in  vain  to 
get  them  forward  ?  At  12.20,  Halleck  said  to  McClellan, 
speaking  of  the  expected  arrival  at  Alexandria  of  General 
Couch,  "  send  the  troops  where  the  fighting  is."  At  2.15, 
Halleck  telegraphed  to  McClellan  that  "  Franklin  and  Sum- 
ner's  corps  should  be  pushed  forward  with  all  possible  dis- 
patch ;  they  must  use  their  legs  and  make  forced  marches. 
Time  now  is  everything."  Had  it  been  any  less  important 
during  the  27th,  28th  and  29th,  through  the  long  and  anxious 
hours  of  each  day,  the  most  urgent  dispatches  and  commands 
had  been  sent  to  McClellan  only  to  be  continually  disregard- 
ed, and  "to  leave  Pope  to  get  out  of  his  scrape."  On  the 
31st  of  August,  Pope  telegraphed  to  Halleck  from  Centre- 
ville,  that  his  troops  were  all  there  and  in  position, 
"  though  much  used  up  and  worn  out.  I  think  it  would 
have  been  greatly  better,  if  Sumner  and  Franklin  had  been 
here  three  or  four  days  ago."  But  for  McClellan,  they  would 
have  been  there.  "But,"  says  the  plucky  Pope,  "you  may 
rely  upon  my  giving  the  enemy  as  desperate  a  fight  as  I  can. 
I  shall  fight  this  army  as  long  as  a  man  will  stand  up  to  the 
work." 

On  the  2d  of  September,  General  Pope  received  orders 
to  fall  back  to  the  defences  of  Washington.  Thus,  the  Army 
of  Virginia  with  that  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 

*  See  Report  on  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  35. 
t  See  Report  on  Conduct  of  the  War.  Part  I,  p.  85-6. 


362  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

which  came  up  the  river  in  advance  of  McClellan,  and  were 
permitted  to  join  Pope,  was  defeated,  and  compelled  to  re- 
treat to  the  fortifications  of  Washington.  These  battles  cost 
much  patriotic  blood;  among  those  who  fell,  was  the  gallant, 
impetuous  Phil.  Kearney,  the  bravest  of  the  brave.  He  lost 
an  arm  in  Mexico ;  but  with  his  bridle  between  his  teeth  and 
sword  in  his  left  hand,  he  was  accustomed  to  lead  his  troops 
into  the  thickest  of  every  fight. 

But  the  army  contested  every  inch  of  ground,  and  main- 
tained the  contest  with  a  gallantry  and  heroism,  which,  had 
it  been  supported  by  McClellan,  and  the  troops  under  his 
command,  would  have  given  it  a  glorious  victory.  If  reen- 
forced  with  the  40,000  men,  which  were  at  Alexandria,  and 
within  reach,  it  would  have  whipped  Lee  ;  but  it  would  have 
been  a  victory  which  would  have  covered  Pope,  and  not 
McClellan,  with  laurels.  The  conduct  of  General  McClel- 
lan, in  failing  to  send  troops  to  the  relief  of  Pope,  the  posi- 
tive disobedience  on  the  field  by  Fitz  John  Porter  of  the  or- 
ders of  General  Pope,  a  disobedience  for  which  he  was  tried 
by  a  bpard  of  general  officers,  found  guilty  and  cashiered, 
clearly  shows  that  there  was  among  some  of  the  officers  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  a  cabal  and  a  conspiracy  against 
Pope.  This  cabal,  and  others  of  the  officers  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  who  honestly  distrusted  Pope,  and 
believed  that  the  troops  of  McClellan  would  not  fight 
so  well  under  any  other  leader,  all  clamored  against  Pope,  and 
demanded  that  McClellan  should  be  restored  to  the  head  of 
all  the  forces.  It  was  a  very  critical  period.  As  Pope  retired 
to  Washington,  Lee  advanced  towards  Maryland. 

Two  courses  were  suggested  and  discussed  in  the  Cabinet 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  One  was  to  place  McClellan  in  command 
of  all  the  forces,  including  both  the  Army  of  Virginia  and  of 
the  Potomac,  and  the  other  to  arrest  and  try  him  and  some  of 
his  subordinates,  for  disobedience  and  insubordination.  Gen- 
eral Halleck  and  the  Secretary  of  War  charged  him  with  dis- 
obedience of  orders,  and  with  being  responsible  for  the  dis- 
asters under  Pope ;  and  they  were  clearly  right.  It  was 
stated  by  at  least  one  member  of  the  Cabinet,  that  McClellan 
deserved  death  for  his  repeated  disobedience  of  orders,  and 
failure  to  reenforce  Pope.  He  and  Fitz  John  Porter •«  must 


POPE'S  CAMPAIGN.  353 

go  down  to  posterity,  as  responsible  for  the  sacrifice  of  Pope 
and  his  army.  The  President  said  to  Pope,  when  he 
came  to  Washington,  that  he  had  no  fault  to  find  with  him ; 
he  had  faithfully  performed  his  duty;  yet  yielding  to  the  real 
or  supposed  necessities  of  the  hour,  he  relieved  him  of  his 
command,  and  placed  the  person  most  responsible  for  his 
disasters  again  at  the  head  of  the  army. 

On  the  the  trial  of  Fitz  John  Porter  for  disobedience,  his 
guilt  was  clearly  established,  and  the  evidence  of  the  com- 
plicity of  his  superior,  McClellan,  was  scarcely  less  clear. 
General  McClellan  was  never  placed  on  trial,  because  the 
Government,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  gave  him  a  new 
command,  and  the  gallant  Army  of  the  Potomac  fought  and 
won  the  battle  of  Antietam,  and  this,  to  some  extent, 
condoned  his  great  offense. 

Immediately  after  General  Pope  and  his  army  fell  back 
upon  Washington,  General  Lee  proceeded  towards  the  Poto- 
mac, north  of  the  Capital,  with  the  obvious  purpose  of  cross- 
ing into  Maryland. .  He  expected  to  meet  a  cordial  reception 
in  that  State,  from  the  slaveholders ;  and  if  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroad  could  be  severed,  and  Baltimore  cap- 
tured, Washington  itself  would  probably  fall.  It  has  already 
been  stated  that  McClellan  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
army  which  was  to  contend  with  Lee.  On  his  arrival  at 
Alexandria,  from  the  Peninsula,  his  command  had  been 
limited  to  the  defenses  of  Washington.  General  McClellan 
had  now  with  him  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  the  rem- 
nants of  the  army  of  Pope,  the  forces  of  Burnside,  and  his 
numbers  were  increased  by  the  fresh  troops  which  again 
poured  in  from  the  loyal  States.  Immediately  after  McClellan 
left  the  Capital,  his  despatches  were  of  the  same  character  as 
those  he  sent  during  his  Richmond  campaign — a  constant 
exaggeration  of  the  force  of  the  enemy,  constant  calls  for 
more  troops,  and  the  same  tardiness  in  going  forward.  He 
wished  the  troops  at  Washington  sent  to  him,  "even  if 
Washington  should  be  taken  :  that  would  not  bear  com- 
parison with  the  ruin  and  disaster  which  would  follow  a 
single  defeat  of  this  army."* 

*  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  39. 

23 


354  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

On  the  llth  of  September,  General  McClellan  asked  that 
Colonel  Miles,  who  held  with  some  12,000  troops,  the  import- 
ant position  of  Harper's  Ferry,  should  be  ordered  to  join  his 
army.  This  order  was  not  given  ;  but  it  was  suggested  to 
General  McClellan  to  open  communication  with  Harper's 
Ferry,  when  that  force  would  be  under  his  command.  On 
the  14th  of  September,  the  battle  of  South  Mountain 
was  fought  by  General  Burnside  and  General  Franklin.  The 
rebels  were  repulsed,  and  driven  back  to  Sharpsburg. 

The  picturesque  village  of  Harper's  Ferry  lies  on  the  banks 
of  the  Potomac  and  the  Shenandoah,  in  the  valley  formed 
by  Maryland  Heights — a  high,  rocky  mountain,  lying  on  the 
Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac,  and  Louden  Heights,  consti- 
tuting the  Virginia  side.  Between  Louden  Heights  and 
Harper's  Ferry,  the  Shenandoah  has  cut  its  way  through  the 
rocks  into  the  Potomac.  The  lower  ridge,  lying  between 
the  Potomac  and  the  Shenandoah,  is  called  Bolivar  Heights. 
An  air  line  from  the  Maryland  Heights  to  Louden  Heights 
would  be  perhaps  two  miles  long.  Maryland  Heights  over- 
top the  others,  and  command  the  position.  The  post  was 
held  by  Colonel  Miles  with  more  that  12,000  men,  and  pro- 
perly posted  on  Maryland  Heights,  the  position  could  have 
been  held  against  a  greatly  superior  force,  and  been  main- 
tained by  Miles  until  relieved.  But  Colonel  Ford  abandoned 
Maryland  Heights,  and  in  consequence,  the  whole  garrison 
were  compelled  to  surrender  to  Jackson  on  the  15th  of 
August. 

McClellan,  by  promptness,  could  have  saved  Harper's 
Ferry.  Swinton,  who  excuses  McClellan  when  he  can,  says: 
"If  he  had  thrown  forward  his  army  with  the  vigor  used  by 
Jackson  in  his  advance  on  Harper's  Ferry,  the  passes  of  the 
South  Mountain  would  have  been  carried  before  the  evening 
of  the  13th,  at  which  time  they  were  feebly  guarded  *  * 
he  might  the  next  morning  have  fallen  upon  the  rear  of 
McLaws,  at  Maryland  Heights,  and  relieved  Harper's  Ferry, 
which  did  not  surrender  until  the  morning  of  the  15th.* 

On  the  17th  was  fought  the  bloody  battle  of  Antietam.  At 
daylight,  the  battle  was  opened  by  "fighting  Joe  Hooker," 

*  See  Swinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac,  p.  202. 


BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM.  355 

commanding  the  right  of  McClellan's  army.     He  drove  the 
enemy  back,  and  gained  important  advantages.      General 
Hooker,  while   gallantly  leading  his   troops,  was    severely 
wounded  and  home  from  the  field,  when  the  command  of  the 
right  wing  devolved  upon  General  Sumner.     General  Mans- 
field had  been  killed,  and  the  Union  troops  heavily  pressed 
and  forced  back,  but,  when  assisted  by  the  force  brought  up 
by  Sumner,  they  checked  the  enemy,  and  held  their  position. 
General  Burnside  commanded  the  left,  and  at  10,  A.  M., 
had  been  ordered  to  attack  and  carry  the  stone  bridge  across 
Antietam  Creek,  which  was  in  his  front,  and  to  cross  and 
attack  the  enemy  beyond.  Burnside  met  with  a  most  obstin- 
ate resistance ;  and  it  was  not  until  half-past  one  that  the 
bridge  was  carried,  and  by  the  time  Burnside's  whole  force 
was  across, the  enemy  had  brought  from  the  right  wing  rein- 
forcements, and  occupied  the  elevated  ground  beyond.     He 
was  then   ordered  to  take  the  heights  commanding  Sharps- 
burg,  which  was  done  after  a  desperate  resistance.     But  the 
enemy  massing  their  force  in  front  of  Burnside,  forced  him 
back  from  some  of  the  ground  he  had  taken,  and  he  sent  to 
McClellan  for  reinforcements,  but  was  told  he  could  have 
none,  although  the  centre,  under  command  of  Fitz  John 
Porter,  did  not  participate  in  the  action  at  all.      General 
McClellan  was  with  this  large  corps,  which  remained  inac- 
tive during  the  terrible  day.      The  battle   closed  at  dark 
with  advantage  to  the  Union  troops,  but  without  decisive 
results.     General  Sumner  says  "  the  troops  were  sent  into 
the  action  in  driblets ;  if  General  McClellan  had  authorized 
me  to  march  40,000  men  on  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy,  we 
could  not  have  failed  to  throw  their  right  back  in  front  of 
Burnside,  Franklin  and  Porter's  corps ;  ^  and  as  it  was,  we 
went  in,  division  after  division.*     If  he  could  have  executed 
the  movement  he  desired,  Sumner  was  clearly  of  the  opinion 
that  the  escape  of  the  enemy  would  have  been  impossible. 
The  following  day,  neither  army  renewed  the  attack.     Gen- 
eral Burnside  urged  that  the  attack  should  be  renewed  at 
daylight,  the  day  after  the  battle.      General  Franklin  also 

*  See  Sumner's  testimony  before  Committee  on  Conduct  of  the  War. 


356  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

expressed  the  opinion  that  the  attack  should  be  renewed,  and 
felt  confident  of  success. 

On  the  18th,  the  enemy  were  permitted  to  abandon  their 
position,  and,  without  molestation,  retired  across  the  Potomac 
into  Virginia.  The  Union  army  slowly  followed,  occupying 
Maryland  Heights  on  the  20th,  and  Harper's  Ferry  on  the 
23d.  The  losses  in  the  battles  of  South  Mountain  and 
Antietam  were  very  severe,  General  McClellan  reporting 
them,  in  killed  and  wounded,  at  14,794,  and  expressed  the 
opinion  that  the  enemy  lost  at  least  double  that  number  in 
this  Maryland  campaign. 

He  called  again  for  reinforcements,  and  announced  his  de- 
termination to  fortify  Maryland  Heights.  On  the  27th,  he 
asked  that  everything  available  in  Washington  might  be 
sent  to  reenforce  his  army.  On  the  7th  of  October,  there 
having  been  no  movement  by  McClellan,  Halleck  renewed 
the  old  complaint  of  inactivity: 

"  The  army  must  move.  The  country  is  becoming  very  impatient  at 
the  want  of  activity  of  your  army,  and  we  must  push  it  on.  The  enemy 
are  falling  back  towards  Richmond;  we  must  follow  them  and  seek  to 
punish  them.  There  is  a  decided  want  of  legs  in  our  troops. 

The  fault  was  not  in  the  troops,  but  in  the  leader.  Halleck 
continued : 

"  They  have  too  much  immobility,  and  we  must  try  to  remedy  the 
defect.  A  reduction  of  baggage  and  baggage  trains  will  effect  some- 
thing ;  but  the  real  difficulty  is,  they  are  not  sufficiently  exercised  in 
marching ;  they  lie  still  in  camp  too  long.  'After  a  hard  march,  one 
day  is  time  enough  to  rest ;  lying  still  beyond  that  time  does  not  rest 
the  men.  If  we  compare  the  average  distances  marched  per  month  by 
our  troops  for  the  last  year  with  that  of  the  rebels,  or  with  European 
armies  in  the  field,  we  will  see  why  our  troops  march  no  better.  They 
are  not  sufficiently  exercised  to  make  them  good  and  efficient  soldiers." 

Early  in  October,  the  President  visited  the  army.  The 
battle  of  Antietam  had  been  fought  on  the  17th  of  Septem- 
ber, and  after  it,  no  blow  had  been  struck  upon  the  enemy, 
and  the  anxious  President  visited  McClellan  to  try  and  find 


MC  CLELLAN  URGED  TO  GIVE  BATTLE.  357 

out  the  difficulty.     On  his  return,  the  following  order  was 
sent  to  the  commander : 

"  I  am  instructed  to  telegraph  you  as  follows :  The  President  directs 
that  you  cross  the  Potomac  and  give  battle  to  the  enemy,  or  drive  him 
south.  Your  army  must  move  now  while  the  roads  are  good.  If  you 
cross  the  river  between  the  enemy  and  Washington,  and  cover  the 
latter  by  your  line  of  operations,  you  can  be  reenforced  with  30,000 
men.  If  you  move  up  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  not  more  than 
12,000  or  15,000  can  be  sent  to  you. 

"  The  President  advises  the  interior  line  between  Washington  and 
the  enemy,  but  does  not  order  it.  He  is  very  desirous  that  your  army 
move  as  soon  as  possible.  You  will  immediately  report  what  line  you 
adopt,  and  where  you  intend  to  cross  the  river  j  also  to  what  point  the 
reinforcements  are  to  be  sent.  It  is  necessary  that  the  plan  of  your 
operations  be  positively  determined  on  before  orders  are  given  for 
building  bridges,  or  repairing  railroads. 

"  I  am  directed  to  add  that  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  General- 
in-Chief  fully  concur  with  the  President  in  these  instructions.* 

"H.  W.  HALLECK,  General-in-  Chief." 

This  order  was  prepared  by  the  President  himself,  and 
commanded  McClellan  to  "give  battle."  How  often  had  this 
order  been  repeated  in  vain  ?  and  it  was  equally  vain  now. 
He  says  in  reply,  that  "  several  corps  could  not  be  in  readiness 
to  move  for  three  days." 

On  the  10th  of  October,  the  rebel  General  Stuart  amused 
himself  by  crossing  the  Potomac,  and  making  the  entire 
circuit  of  McClellan's  army,  and  recrossing  the  river  into 
Virginia.  General  McClellan  excused  this  on  the  grounds 
of  the  deficiency  of  his  cavalry,  and  the  want  of  horses.  To 
this  the  President  replied,  through  Halleck,  that  if  McClellan 
would  give  the  enemy  more  to  do  south  of  the  Potomac,  he 
would  have  less  time  for  raids  north  of  it." 

On  the  13th  of  October,  the  President  made  one  more 
effort  to  induce  McClellan  to  "give  battle."  He  wrote  to  him 
the  following  kind  letter  : 

"My  Dear  Sir: — You  remember  my  speaking  to  you  of  what  I 
called  your  over-cautiousness.  Are  you  not  over-cautious  when  you 

*  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  514-16. 


358       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

assume  that  you  cannot  do  what  the  enemy  is  constantly  doing  ?  Should 
you  not  claim  to  be  at  least  his  equal  in  prowess,  and  act  upon  the 
claim  ? 

"  As  I  understand,  you  telegraphed  General  Halleck  that  you  cannot 
subsist  your  army  at  Winchester,  unless  the  railroad  from  Harper's 
Ferry  to  that  point  be  put  in  working  order.  But  the  enemy  does  now 
subsist  his  army  at  Winchester,  at  a  distance  nearly  twice  as  great  from 
railroad  transportation,  as  you  would  have  to  do  without  the  railroad 
last  named.  He  now  wagons  from  Culpepper  Court  House,  which  is 
just  about  twice  as  far  as  you  would  have  to  do  from  Harper's  Ferry. 
He  is  certainly  not  more  than  half  as  well  provided  with  wagons  as  you 
are.  I  certainly  should  be  pleased  for  you  to  have  the  advantage  of  the 
railroad  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Winchester;  but  it  wastes  all  the  re- 
mainder of  Autumn  to  give  it  to  you,  and,  in  fact,  ignores  the  question 
of  time  which  cannot  and  must  not  be  ignored. 

"Again,  one  of  the  standard  maxims  of  war,  as  you  know,  is,  'to 
operate  upon  the  enemy's  communications  as  much  as  possible  without 
exposing  your  own.'  You  seem  to  act  as  if  this  applies  against  you 
but  cannot  apply  in  your  favor.  Change  positions  with  the  enemy,  and 
think  you  not  he  would  break  your  communication  with  Richmond 
within  the  next  twenty-four  hours  ?  You  dread  his  going  into  Pennsyl- 
vania. But  if  he  does  so  in  full  force,  he  gives  up  his  communications 
to  you  absolutely,  and  you  have  .  nothing  to  do,  but  to  follow  and  ruin 
him ;  if  he  does  so  with  less  than  full  force,  fall  upon  and  beat  what 
is  left  behind,  all  the  easier. 

"  Exclusive  of  the  water  line,  you  are  now  nearer  Richmond  than 
the  enemy  is,  by  the  route  that  you  can,  and  he  must  take.  Why  can 
you  not  reach  there  before  him,  unless  you  admit  that  he  is  more  than 
your  equal  on  a  march  ?  His  route  is  the  arc  of  a  circle,  while  yours 
is  the  chord.  The  roads  are  as  good  on  yours  as  on  his. 

"  You  know  I  desired  but  did  not  order  you,  to  cross  the  Potomac 
below,  instead  of  above  the  Shenandoah  and  Blue  Ridge.  My  idea 
was  that  this  would  at  once  menace  the  enemy's  communications,  which 
I  would  seize,  if  he  would  permit.  If  he  should  move  northward,  I 
would  follow  him  closely,  holding  his  communications.  If  he  should 
prevent  our  seizing  his  communications,  and  move  towards  Richmond,  I 
would  press  closely  to  him,  fight  him  if  a  favorable  opportunity  should 
present,  and  at  least  try  to  beat  him  to  Richmond  on  the  inside  track. 
I  say  'try;'  if  we  never  try,  we  shall  never  succeed.  If  he  makes  a 
stand  at  Winchester,  moving  neither  north  nor  south,  I  would  fight  him 
there,  on  the  idea  that  if  we  cannot  beat  him  when  he  bears  the  wast- 
age of  coming  to  us,  we  never  can  when  we  bear  the  wastage  of  going 


LINCOLN'S  LETTER  TO  MC  CLELLAN.  359 

to  him.  This  proposition  is  a  simple  truth,  and  is  too  important  to  be 
lost  sight  of  for  a  moment.  In  coming  to  us,  he  tenders  us  an  advant- 
age which  we  should  not  waive.  We  should  not  so  operate  as  to 
merely  drive  him  away.  As  we  must  beat  him  somewhere,  or  fail 
finally,  we  can  do  it,  if  at  all,  easier  near  to  us  than  far  away.  If  we 
cannot  beat  the  enemy  where  he  now  is,  we  never  can,  he  again  being 
within  the  entrenchments  of  Richmond. 

"  Recurring  to  the  idea  of  going  to  Richmond  on  the  inside  track, 
the  facility  for  supplying  from  the  side  away  from  the  enemy,  is  re- 
markable, as  it  were  by  the  different  spokes  of  a  wheel  extending  from 
the  hub  towards  the  rim ;  and  this,  whether  you  move  directly  by  the 
chord  or  on  the  inside  arc,  hugging  the  Blue  Ridge  more  closely.  The 
chord  line,  as  you  see,  carries  you  by  Aldie,  Haymarket  and  Fredericks- 
burg,  and  you  see  how  turnpikes,  railroads,  and  finally  the  Potomac,  by 
Acquia  Creek,  meet  you  at  all  points  from  Washington.  The  same, 
only  the  lines  lengthened  a  little,  if  you  press  closer  to  the  Blue  Ridge 
part  of  the  way.  The  gaps  through  the  Blue  Ridge,  I  understand  to 
be  about  the  following  distances  from  Harper's  Ferry,  to  wit :  Vestals, 
five  miles ;  Gregory's,  thirteen  ;  Snicker's,  eighteen  ;  Ashby's,  twenty- 
eight;  Manassas,  thirty-eight;  Chester,  forty-five;  and  Thornton's, 
fifty-three.  I  should  think  it  preferable  to  take  the  route  nearest  the 
enemy,  disabling  him  to  make  an  important  move  without  your  knowl- 
edge, and  compelling  him  to  keep  his  forces  together  for  dread  of  you. 
The  gaps  would  enable  you  to  attack  if  you  should  wish.  For  a  great 
part  of  the  way  you  would  be  practically  between  the  enemy  and  both 
Washington  and  Richmond,  enabling  us  to  spare  you  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  troops  from  here.  When  at  length,  running  for  Richmond 
ahead  of  him,  enable  him  to  move  this  way;  if  he  does  so,  turn  and  at- 
tack him  in  rear.  But  I  think  he  should  be  engaged  long  before  such 
point  is  reached.  It  is  all  easy  if  our  troops  march  as  well  as  the 
enemy,  and  it  is  unmanly  to  say  they  cannot  do  it.  This  letter  is 

in  no  sense  an  order. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

General  McClellan's  aggregate  force  at  this  time  was 
304,609 ;  present  and  fit  for  duty,  207,096.  The  President 
urged  McClellan  "to  try."  "If  we  never  try,"  said  he, 
"we  shall  never  succeed."*  It  had  been  charged  that  Mc- 
Clellan did  not  move  for  want  of  supplies.  The  subject  was 
referred  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  General  Halleck,  who 

*Beport  on  Conduct  of  War,  Part  I,  p.  524^-526. 


360       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

reported  that  General  McClellan's  requisitions  had  been  im- 
mediately filled,  and  that  his  army  had  been  better  supplied 
than  the  troops  operating  in  the  West.  He  also  stated  that, 
on  the  1st  of  October,  he  had  ordered  McClellan  to  cross 
the  Potomac  and  give  battle.  On  the  6th,  his  orders  were 
peremptory. 

On  the  25th  of  October,  McClellan  sends  a  report  of  Col- 
onel Williams,  stating  that  his  horses  had  sore  tongues,  lame- 
ness, sore  backs,  etc.,  and  the  horses  which  are  sound,  are 
absolutely  broken  drown  from  fatigue  and  want  of  flesh. 
To  this,  the  President  replies  impatiently : 

"  I  have  just  read  your  despatch  about  sore  tongue  and  fatigued 
horses.  Will  you  pardon  me  for  asking  what  the  horses  of  your  army 
have  done  since  the  battle  of  Antietam,  that  fatigues  anything."* 

And  in  a  succeeding  despatch  of  the  27th,  the  President 


"  And  now  I  ask  a  distinct  answer  to  the  question  :  Is  it  your  purpose 
not  to  go  into  action  again  until  the  men  now  being  drafted  in  the 
States  are  incorporated  in  the  old  regiments  ?"  f 

At  last,  the  movement  of  the  army  across  the  Potomac 
began  on  the  26th  of  October,  and  was  not  concluded  until 
the  3d  of  November — four  weeks  from  the  date  of  the 
order,  and  six  weeks  after  the  battle  of  Antietam  !  On 
the  5th  of  November,  the  patience  of  the  country  long 
since  exhausted,  that  of  the  President  gave  way,  and  he 
issued  the  order  relieving  McClellan  of  command,  and 
directing  him  to  turn  it  over  to  General  Burnside. 

Thus  ingloriously  ends  the  military  career  of  George  B. 
McClellan.  With  an  army  which,  in  numbers,  equipments, 
arms,  esprit,  pluck  and  endurance,  was  never  surpassed,  unless 
possibly  by  the  veterans  of  Grant  and  Sherman ;  with  the 
finest  opportunities  for  winning  fame  and  serving  his  country 
ever  presented,  he  retired  to  New  Jersey,  no  more  to  emerge, 
except  as  the  partizan  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the 

*  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  547-653. 

t  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  Part  I,  p.  525.    As  to  number  of  troops,  see 
page  534. 


CLOSE  OF  MCCLELLAN'S  CAREER.  361 

party  which  declared  "the  war  a  failure,"  and  a  majority  of 
which  opposed  its  vigorous  prosecution.  He  himself  was  the 
most  conspicuous  failure  of  the  war.  He  wrote  more  des- 
patches, and  General  Grant  fewer,  than  any  other  general  of 
the  war.  The  burden  of  those  written  by  McClellan  was 
a  constant  call  for  reinforcements,  exaggerated  and  extrava- 
gant statements  of  the  force  of  the  enemy,  and  declarations 
of  what  he  was  going  to  do.  Grant  rarely  called  for  ree'n- 
forcements,  never  expressed  apprehensions  of  the  enemy, 
and  when  he  spoke  of  himself,  it  was  never  to  profess  what 
he  intended  to  do,  but  to  state  in  the  most  simple  and  modest 
language,  and  in  the  fewest  possible  words,  what  had  been 
done. 

McClellan  commanded  the  grand  army  of  the  Potomac  for 
over  fifteen  months  ;  he  rarely  attacked,  and  the  successes  won 
by  his  gallant  and  able  subordinates,  he  never  followed  up, 
to  secure  decided  results,  although  opportunities  of  the  most 
favorable  character  attended  him  from  Yorktown  to  Malvern 
Hill.  He  often  withheld  his  army  from  attack ;  and  after  all 
his  disasters,  fortune,  through  the  kindness  of  the  President, 
offered  him  still  an  opportunity  at  Antietam,  to  redeem  his 
failure.  I  have  dwelt  upon  his  campaigns,  and  lingered 
over  the  correspondence  between  him  and  the  President, 
because  in  1864  he  was  the  opposing  candidate  for  the 
presidency  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  because  I  wished  to  exhibit 
truthfully,  clearly  and  fully,  the  patience,  the  faithfulness  and 
generosity  with  which  he  was  supported  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  Mr. 
Lincolnnever  failed  to  do  full  justice  to  his  political  opponents. 
He  sustained  McClellan  until  it  was  demonstrated  by  repeat- 
ed trials  and  failures,  by  repeated  neglect  on  the  part  of  the 
General  to  obey  orders,  that  to  retain  him  longer  at  the  head 
of  the  army,  was  to  endanger  the  cause  of  the  Union.  I 
venture  the  prediction  that  when  the  prejudices  and  partial- 
ities of  the  day  shall  have  passed  away,  history  will  censure  Mr. 
Lincoln  for  adhering  to  McClellan  too  long,  rather  than  for  a 
failure  to  support  and  stand  by  him.  What  were  the  motives 
which  controlled  McClellan — what  considerations  withheld 
him  from  obeying  the  President's  urgent,  repeated,  ever  con- 
tinuing entreaties  and  orders  to  attack  the  enemy,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  define.  His  enemies  have  suggested  every  motive, 


LINCOLN   AND   THE    OVERTHROW   OF    SLAVERY. 

even  secret  treason,  complicity  with  the  rebels  and  personal 
cowardice.  These  in  my  judgment  do  him  great  injustice; 
still  he  was  evier  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  political  sympa- 
thy with  those  who  declared  it  wrong  to  coerce  the  South, 
and  who  always  reiterated  that  the  seceded  States  could  never 
be  subjugated,  and  that  the  Union  could  not  be  restored  by 
the  means  which  Mr.  Lincoln  used.  It  is  more  charitable, 
probably  more  true,  to  say  that  he  failed  from  a  constitution- 
al inability  to  meet  the  responsibility  of  a  great  crisis  by 
prompt  and  decided  action.  He  was  always  looking  to  the 
rear,  and  there  was  ever  some  insurmountable  obstacle,  or 
overwhelming  numbers  in  his  front.  "  "With  all  his  failings," 
said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  McClellan  was  a  pleasant  and  scholarly 
gentleman.  He  added :  "He  was  an  admirable  engineer, 
but  he  had  a  special  talent  for  a  stationary  engine." 

On  the  8th  of  November,  General  A.  E.  Burnside,  by  order 
of  the  President,  assumed  command  of  the  army.  He  was  a 
frank  and  manly  soldier,  of  fine  personal  appearance,  and  every- 
where respected  as  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  a  patriot. 
He  accepted  the  position  with  diffidence.  On  the  9th,  he  for- 
warded to  Washington  his  plan  of  proposed  operations. 
On  the  12th,  General  Halleck  and  General  Meigs  visited  his 
camp  at  Warrenton,  and  held  a  conference  with  him  upon 
the  movements  to  be  made.  General  Burnside  stated  that 
his  plan  was  to  concentrate  the  army  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Warrenton,  to  make  a  movement  across  the  Rappahannock  as 
a  feint,  thus  to  lead  the  enemy  to  believe  his  object  was  Gor- 
donsville,  and  then  to  make  a  rapid  movement  of  the  whole 
army  to  "Fredericksburg.  He  desired  to  have  provisions, 
forage,  and  pontoons  sent  to  Falmouth,  opposite  Fredericks- 
burgh  to  enable  his  army  to  cross  the  Rappahannock.  An 
order  was  immediately  sent  by  Halleck  to  General  Wood- 
bury  at  Washington,  to  call  on  the  Quartermaster  General 
for  trans  portation  for  pontoons  to  Aquia  Creek.  This  order 
was  received  by  Woodbury  on  the  13th  of  November.  On 
General  Halleck's  return  on  the  14th,  he  had  an  interview  with 
the  President,  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  consented  to  Burnside's 
plans,  and  Halleck  telegraphed  to  him  to  go  ahead.  There 
seems  to  have  been  borne  misunderstanding  between  Halleck 


FREDERICKSBUKG.  363 

and  Burnside,  in  regard  to  who  was  to  see  that  the  pontoons 
should  reach  Falmouth,  opposite  Fredericksburg  in  time. 

Burnside  started  for  Fredericksburg  on  the  16th,  and  reach- 
ing the  river  opposite  that  city  on  the  19th,  found  the  pon- 
toons were  not  there,  and  they  did  not  arrive  for  sometime, 
so  that  he  was  not  ready  to  cross  before  the  10th  of  Decem- 
ber. By  this  delay,  all  the  advantage  of  a  surprise  was  lost, 
and  the  enemy  had  time  to  concentrate  their  forces  upon  the 
heights  overlooking  Fredericksburg,  and  to  entrench.  There 
was  much  discussion  at  the  time,  in  regard  to  the  question 
as  to  who  was  in  fault  for  the  failure  of  the  pontoons  to  reach 
there  in  time.  Upon  this  point,  after  full  examination,  these 
facts  are  proved :  Generals  Halleek  and  Meigs,  as  well  as 
Burnside,  knew  of  the  movement,  and  of  the  importance  of 
the  pontoons  being  at  Fredericksburg  in  time.  Each  of  them 
it  would  seem  ought  to  have  known  personally,  that  they 
were  there.  Neither  should  have  depended  upon  the  other. 
Each  did  depend,  to  some  extent,  upon  the  other,  or  on 
subordinates,  and  there  was  neglect. 

When  such  vast  results  are  dependent  upon  things 
being  done  promptly,  no  person  connected  with  the  transac- 
tion should  trust  to  another.  At  the  bar,  no  good  lawyer, 
when  about  to  enter  upon  a  trial,  involving  the  life  of  a  hu- 
man being,  ever  leaves  the  main  witness  to  be  examined  by 
his  clerk  or  assistant ;  he  sees  and  knows  personally  what 
the  important  evidence  is.  So,  a  great  Commander,  a  great 
General  in  the  position  of  Burnside,  Haileck  and  Meigs,  and 
with  their  knowledge  of  the  possible  fate  of  a  great  expedition 
depending  on  the  arrival  of  pontoons  at  a  particular  date, 
should  not  have  depended  upon  any  other,  but  each  should 
have  known  personally,  that  the  thing  was  done. 

On  the  llth  and  12th  of  December,  General  Burnside's 
army  crossed,  and  on  the  13th,  attacked  the  enemy;  Hooker 
under  Sumner,  commanding  the  centre,  and  General  Franklin 
the  left.  General  Burnside's  plan  was,  that  Franklin  should 
turn  the  enemy's  right,  while  the  heights  d£  Fredericksburg 
should  be  carried  by  assault.  General  Meade,  under  Frank- 
lin, carried  a  portion  of  the  enemy's  works  on  the  right,  but 
not  being  supported,  was  compelled  to  fall  back.  Franklin  was 


364  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

blamed  by  Burnside;  but  he  alleged  ambiguous  orders,  and 
that  he  did  not  understand  them.  The  main  assault  upon  the 
heights  of  Fredericksburg,  although  most  gallantly  made, 
was  repulsed  with  terrible  slaughter.  The  works,  and  posi- 
tion of  the  enemy  were  too  strong.  It  was  a  sad,  and  blo.ody 
day  for  the  brave  men,  who  had  driven  the  enemy  from  the 
field  at  Antietam.  It  is  difficult  now  to  understand  why  the 
army  should  be  led  across  a  stream  like  the  Rappahannock, 
and  up  to  the  assault  of  works,  which  the  delay  in  the  arrival 
of  the  pontoons  had  given  Lee  full  time  to  construct.  Why 
should  not  a  flank  movement  have  been  made;  such  as  was 
made  again  and  again  by  Sherman  and  Grant,  and  thus  force 
the  enemy  to  deliver  battle  upon  more  equal  ground?  The 
position  of  Lee  was  very  strong;  he  occupied  a  fortified  ridge, 
the  approach  to  which  was  swept  by  artillery.  After  holding 
the  position  in  the  town  until  the  15th,  in  the  evening  the 
army  was  withdrawn  to  Falmouth ;  and  the  morning  of  the 
16th,  saw  General  Burnside's  army  on  the  North  bank,  with 
a  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  of  about  12,321 ! 

The  armies  of  Burnside  and  Lee,  now  confronted  each 
other  on  the  banks  of  the  Rappahannock.  In  reviewing  the 
campaign  of  1862,  in  the  East,  the  result  was  upon  the  whole, 
favorable  to  the  rebels.  With  a  smaller  force  than  the  Union 
army,  they  had  kept  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  all  the  Autumn 
and  Winter  of  1861-2,  in  the  defences  of  Washington.  They 
had  blockaded  the  Potomac.  They  had,  by  the  blunders  and 
want  of  vigor  in  McClellan,  repulsed  him  from  Richmond. 
They  had  sent  Jackson,  swooping  like  an  eagle,  through  the 
Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  driving  Banks  across  the  Potomac, 
and  then  escaping  from  Fremont  and  McDowell.  They  had 
frightened  McClellan  away  from  Richmond,  without  ever 
once  defeating  his  combined  army;  but  on  the  contrary,  his 
troops  often  defeated  the  rebels;  yet  the  fruits  of  victory 
McClellan  would  never  seize,  but  always,  after  knocking 
down  the  enemy,  would  call  for  reinforcements,  or  run  away 
from  him. 

Then  came  the  spirited  and  hard  fought  campaign  of  Pope, 
when,  had  McClellan  obeyed  orders,  the  armies  of  Burnside, 
Pope,  and  McClellan,  would  have  been  consolidated  on  the 


CLOSE  OF  CAMPAIGN  OF  1862.  365 

.field  of  Manassas,  and  crushed  the  smaller  force  of  Lee; 
"but  McClellan's  disobedience,  and  Fitz  John  Porter's  treach- 
ery, led  to  the  retreat  on  Washington.*  Then  came  the  rebel 
march  into  Maryland,  and  the  battle  of  Antietam,  which 
ought  to  have  been  a  crushing  defeat  of  the  rebels,  but  which 
was  upon  the  whole,  an  undecisive  victory.  Lee's  12,000  pris- 
oners captured  by  Jackson  at  Harper's  Ferry,  was  an  offset 
or  equivalent  for  his  losses  at  South  Mountain  and  Antietam. 
Then  followed  the  long  delays  of  McClellan — his  removal — 
Burnside's  campaign — closed  by  the  slaughter  of  Fredericks- 
burg.  Such  is  the  sad  and  gloomy  picture  of  the  war  on  the 
Atlantic  in  1862. 

Let  us  return  to  the  West,  where,  as  Pope  said  boastingly 
but  truthfully,  "  the  Union  armies  had  been  accustomed  to 
see  the  backs  of  their  enemy."  This  narrative  is  designed 
to  exhibit  the  spirit  of  contending  principles,  and  to  fol- 
low the  movements  of  armies,  so  far  only  as  is  incidental 
and  necessary  to  exhibit  the  final  triumph  of  freedom,  and 
therefore,  does  not  go  fully  into  the  details  of  the  vast  and 
varied  movements  west  of  the  mountains. 

The  evacuation  of  Corinth  by  Beauregard,  led  to  the  separ- 
ation of  the  armies  of  Grant  and  Buell.  Grant  advanced 
towards  the  South,  to  take  and  hold  the  military  positions 
along  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  preparatory  to  the  great 
work  which  he  was  destined  to  accomplish  of  reclaiming  and 
opening  the  Mississippi.  He  was  to  lead  the  sons  of  the 
Northwest,  who  were  "  to  hew  their  way  to  the  sea." 

Buell  was  to  move  towards  Chattanooga,  and  attempt  the 
too  long  delayed  work  of  relieving  the  loyal  people  of  East 
Tennessee.  These  people  occupying  the  mountains,  had  few 
slaves,  and  were  passionately  devoted  to  the  Union.  Never 
were  a  people  more  cruelly  persecuted,  than  the  devoted 
Unionists  of  this  mountain  region.  Conscripted  into  rebel 
armies,  driven  from  their  homes,  their  houses  burned,  their 
property  destroyed,  families  outraged,  they  fled  to  the  caves 
of  the  mountains,  and  organizing  small  bands,  maintained  a 
brave  but  unequal  conflict  for  the  flag  they  loved. 

*  "  Had  the  army  of  the  Potomac  arrived  a  few  days  earlier,  the  rebel  army  would 
have  been  easily  defeated."    Halleck's  Report,  November,  1862. 


366  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Buell  moved  to  the  vicinity  of  Chattanooga,  but  he  was 
forced  back,  and  the  rebels,  under  Bragg,  entered  Kentucky, 
and  occupied  Frankfort  the  Capital,  Lexington,  and  other 
important  positions.  On  the  18th  of  September,  Bragg  issued 
a  proclamation,  calling  upon  Kentucky  to  rally  to  his  support. 
On  the  4th  of  October,  a  "  Provisional  Government "  was  pro- 
claimed by  the  rebels  at  Frankfort.  Louisville  and  Cincin- 
nati were  threatened  and  fortified.  On  the  6th  of  October, 
BuelPs  troops  reached  Springfield,  sixty  miles  from  Louis- 
ville. On  the  8th  of  October,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Perry- 
ville.  A  portion  of  BuelPs  army,  under  McCook,  was  at- 
tacked unexpectedly,  and  thrown  into  confusion,  and  retreated. 
Crittenden's  forces  coming  up  in  the  evening,  the  forces  of 
Bragg  retired.  He  succeeded  in  escaping  with  large  supplies. 
Buell,  on  the  25th  of  Ocober,  by  order  of  the  President,  was 
superceded  by  General  Rosecrans. 

Previous  to  this,  on  the  26th  of  September,  General  Rose- 
crans was  in  command  at  Corinth.  On  the  4th  of  October, 
he  was  attacked  by  Price,  on  the  right,  and  Van  Dorn,  on 
the  left.  For  a  moment,  the  attack  of  Van  Dorn  was  so  se- 
vere that  the  division  of  Davis  fell  back,  but  Rosecrans,  in 
person  rallying  his  men,  and  leading  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois 
to  a  bold  bayonet  charge,  drove  back  and  scattered  the  ene- 
my with  great  havoc ;  other  forces  participating,  the  whole 
force  of  Van  Dorn  was  repulsed  with  a  loss  of  near  5,000 
killed  and  wounded,  and  2,265  prisoners.  Rosecrans'  whole 
loss  did  not  exceed  2,357. 

The  stronghold  of  Vicksburg,  strong  by  nature,  and  forti- 
fied with  all  the  skill  of  the  ablest  engineers,  was,  as  yet,  an 
insurmountable  obstacle  to  the  complete  recovery  of  the 
Mississippi.  A  movement  against  it  was  defeated  by  the 
disgraceful  surrender  of  Holly  Springs,  by  Colonel  Murphy 
on  the  20th  of  December,  by  which  a  vast  amount  of  stores 
and  supplies  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

Generals  Sherman  and  McClernand  organized  a  move- 
ment against  Vicksburg,  from  Memphis  and  Cairo,  which 
sailed  on  the  20th  of  December,  and  which  arrived  at  Milli- 
kens  Bend  on  the  24th,  and  destroyed  a  portion  of  the  Vicks- 
burg and  Texas  Railroad.  On  the  27th,  the  troops  disem- 
barked on  the  plantation  of  the  late  General  Albert  Sidney 


VICTORY  OF  STONE  RIVER.  367 

Johnson,  on  the  Yazoo  River.  They  met  the  active  and  effi- 
cient cooperation  of  a  gunboat  fleet,  under  command  of 
Commodore  Ellett. 

On  the  29th,  a  general  and  gallant  assault  was  made  upon 
the  defenses  in  the  rear  of  Yicksburg,  in  which  General  F.  P. 
Blair  particularly  distinguised  himself,  but  the  place  was  too 
strong,  and  too  well  defended;  and  the  assault,  though  gal- 
lantly made,  was  repulsed  with  severe  loss.  The  forces  of 
General  Sherman  retired  to  Milliken's  Bend,  and  went  into 
camp  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1863. 

The  results  in  the  West,  subsequent  to  May,  1862,  were 
much  less  decisive  for  the  Union  cause  than  the  brilliant 
record  of  the  Fall,  Winter  and  Spring  of  1861-2.  The  cam- 
paign of  1862,  was  however  crowned  with  the  victory  of 
Rosecrans  over  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  at  Stone  River. 

In  December,  the  rebel  army  was  concentrated  at  Mur- 
freesboro,  and  the  Union  army  at  Nashville.  Johnston  sup- 
posing the  Union  army  would  go  into  winter  quarters  at 
Nashville,  detached  his  cavalry  under  Forrest,  to  cut  the  rail- 
road in  Grant's  rear,  and  another  body  under  Morgan,  to  go 
into  Kentucky.  Rosecrans  determined  to  improve  this  op- 
portunity to  strike  the  enemy.  On  the  26th,  he  began  to 
move  upon  the  enemy.  On  the  31st,  McCook,  who  had  the 
right  of  Rosecrans'  army,  was  attacked  by  a  heavy  force  on 
his  entire  line.  He  was  driven  back  by  overwhelming  num- 
bers, and  his  force  retreated  with  a  loss  of  many  prisone  rs 
Rosecrans  massed  his  artillery,  and  prepared  for  an  attack 
on  his  left  and  centre  by  the  rebels,  sending  Generals  Negley 
and  Rosseau,  to  the  aid  of  McCook.  This  checked  the  rebel 
advance.  As  they  were  coming  up  the  second  time,  Rose- 
crans, opened  upon  them  his  newly  planted  batteries,  and  af- 
ter a  short  conflict,  they  turned  and  fled  in  confusion,  leaving 
immense  numbers  of  dead  and  wounded  on  the  field.  The 
rebels  renewed  the  attack  later  in  the  day,  and  were  again 
repulsed. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  Johnston  retreated  from  Murfrees- 
boro.  The  Union  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners, 
was  11,578,  and  the  rebel  loss,  14,560. 


OHAPTEE   XVII. 


THIRD  SESSION  THIRTY-SEVENTH  CONGRESS. 

PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE  DEC.,  1862 — PROPOSAL  TO  AID  MISSOURI 
IN  EMANCIPATION — BILL  AUTHORIZING  ENROLLING  COLORED 
TROOPS — ENROLLMENT  BILL — DEBATE  IN  SENATE  AND  HOUSE — 
BINGHAM — Cox —  DUNN  —  THOMAS — SENATOR  WILSON — Mc- 
DOUGALL — ADMISSION  OP  WEST  VIRGINIA  —  DEBATE — MAY- 
NARD — STEPHENS — BINGHAM — THOMAS — ADMISSION  OF  MEM- 
BERS FROM  LOUISIANA — WAR  POWERS  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  — 
ARBITRARY  ARRESTS — VALLANDIGHAM — LINCOLN'S  REPLY  TO 
ALBANY  MEETING  —  HABEAS  CORPUS — CLOSE  OF  THIRTY-SEV- 
ENTH CONGRESS — SPEAKER  GROW'S  VALIDICTORY. 

THE  action  of  the  drama  calls  us  again  from  the  field  of  war 
to  the  forum  of  Congress ;  from  the  conflict  of  arms  to  the 
conflict  of  principles  in  the  National  council,  and  before  the 
people.  The  tyranny  over  mind,  which  two  centuries  of  slavery 
had  riveted,  was  being  broken,  and  the  loyal  people  of  the  Na- 
tion had  learned  in  the  school  of  war,  clearly  to  see  that  the 
unity  of  the  Nation,  with  a  homogeneous  people,  was  a  neces- 
sity to  its  grand  destiny;  and  to  secure  that  unity,  slavery 
must  be  removed.  Whatever  the  purposes  of  the  administra- 
tion at  the  beginning,  the  inexorable  logic  of  war  was  driv- 
ing it  to  abolition.  The  Republic  was  based  upon  man's 
equality  before  the  law.  Slavery  was  an  anomaly,  inconsistent 
with  the  principles  upon  which  the  government  was  founded, 
and  must  either  yield  itself  or  overturn  the  Government.  The 
war  was  a  natural  and  perhaps  inevitable  conflict  between  the 
systems  of  free  and  slave  labor.  These  truths  gradually  be- 
came more  and  more  the  settled  convictions  of  the  American 
people,  and  resulted  in  the  proclamation  of  emancipation.  The 
effect  of  this  proclamation  abroad,  was  sharply  to  define  the  is- 
sue between  an  established  Government  fighting  for  liberty, 

368 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE,  1863.  369 

and  a  rebellion  inaugurated  to  maintain  and  secure  slavery. 
The  emissaries  of  the  insurgents  abroad  were  disarmed  by  this 
act;  from  the  hour  of  its  promulgation,  the  danger  of  foreign 
recognition  and  foreign  intervention  ceased  to  exist.  The 
response  of  the  people  of  Europe,  in  hearty,  genuine  sympa- 
thy, was  such  as  to  prevent  intervention  by  those  of  their 
rulers  who  wished  success  to  the  rebel  cause. 

The  President  in  his  annual  message,  calls  attention  to  the 
success  of  the  financial  measures,  which  under  the  able  lead  of 
Mr.  Chase,  had  been  sanctioned  by  Congress.  Large  issues 
of  Treasury  notes  had  been  made,  and  these  had  been  de- 
clared by  law,  receivable  for  loans  and  internal  duties,  and 
made  a  legal  tender  in  payment  of  all  debts;  and  this  made 
them  a  universal  and  very  welcome  and  popular  currency. 
The  President  recommended  the  passage  of  a  law  authoriz- 
ing banking  associations;  the  Government  to  furnish  the 
notes  for  circulation  on  the  deposit  in  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States,  of  Government  bonds  as  security.  The  bill  au- 
thorized the  conversion  of  existing  State  banks  into  National 
banking  associations. 

The  leading  feature  of  the  message,  was  that  which  treated 
the  great  questions  of  emancipation,  and  the  necessity  of 
National  unity.  The  President  announced  to  Congress,  that 
on  the  22d  of  September,  he  had  issued  a  preliminary  procla- 
mation announcing  his  intention  to  proclaim  freedom  to  the 
slave,  and  communicated  a  copy  of  the  paper. 

In  accordance  with  the  second  paragraph  of  the  proclama- 
tion, in  language,  which  for  Statesman  like  views,  and  clear- 
ness of  statement,  will  compare  favorably  with  any  State 
paper  in  American  annals,  he  recalled  to  the  attention  of 
Congress,  the  proposition  of  "  compensated  emancipation." 
He  said :  * 

"  A  Nation  may  be  said  to  consist  of  its  territory,  its  people  and' its 
laws.  The  territory  is  the  only  part  which  is  of  certain  durability. 
'  One  generation  passeth  away,  and  another  generation  cometh,  but  the 
earth  abideth  forever.'  It  is  of  the  first  importance  to  duly  consider  and 
estimate  this  ever-enduring  part.  That  portion  of  the  earth's  surface 
which  is  owned  and  inhabited  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  is  well 

*  McPberson,  p.  220. 

24 


370  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

adapted  to  be  the  home  of  one  National  family;  and  it  is  not  well 
adapted  for  two  or  more.  Its  vast  extent  and  its  variety  of  climate  and 
productions,  are  of  advantage,  in  this  age  for  one  people,  whatever  they 
might  have  been  in  former  ages.  Steam,  telegraphs,  and  intelligence, 
have  brought  these  to  be  an  advantageous  combination  for  one  united 
people.  *  *  * 

"  There  is  no  line,  straight  or  crooked,  suitable  for  a  National  boundary 
upon  which  to  divide.  Trace  through  from  East  to  West,  upon  the  line 
between  the  free  and  slave  country,  and  we  shall  find  a  little  more  than 
one-third  of  its  length  are  rivers  easy  to  be  crossed,  and  populated,  or 
soon  to  be  populated,  thickly  upon  both  sides,  while  nearly  all  its  re- 
maining length  are  merely  surveyor's  lines,  over  which  people  may  walk 
back  and  forth,  without  any  consciousness  of  their  presence.  No  part 
of  this  line  can  be  made  any  more  difficult  to  pass,  by  writing  it  down 
on  paper  or  or  parchment  as  a  National  boundary.  *  *  * 

"  But  there  is  another  difficulty.  The  great  interior  region  bounded 
east  by  the  Alleghanies,  north  by  the  British  dominions,  west  by  the 
Rocky  mountains,  and  south  by  the  line  along  which  the  culture  of 
corn  and  cotton  meets,  and  which  includes  part  of  Virginia,  part  of 
Tennessee,  all  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wiconsin,  Illi- 
nois, Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  the  Territories  of  Dakota, 
Nebraska,  and  part  of  Colorado,  already  has  above  ten  millions  of  peo- 
ple, and  will  have  fifty  millions  within  fifty  years,  if  not  prevented  by 
any  political  folly  or  mistake.  It  contains  more  than  one-third  of  the 
country  owned  by  the  United  States — certainly  more  than  one  million 
square  miles.  Once  half  as  populous  as  Massachusetts  already  is,  it 
would  have,  more  than  seventy-five  millions  of  people.  A  glance  at  the 
map  shows  that,  territorially  speaking,  it  is  the  great  body  of  the  Re- 
public. The  other  parts  are  but  marginal  borders  to  it,  the  magnificent 
region  sloping  West  from  the  Rocky  mountains  to  the  Pacific,  being 
the  deepest,  and  also  the  richest  in  undeveloped  resources.  In  the  pro- 
duction of  provisions,  grains,  grasses,  and  all  which  proceed  from  them, 
this  great  interior  region  is  naturally  one  of  the  most  important  in  the 
world.  Ascertain  from  the  statistics,  the  small  proportion  of  the  region 
which  has  as  yet  been  brought  into  cultivation,  and  also  the  large  and 
rapidly  increasing  amount  of  its  products,  and  we  shall  be  overwhelmed 
with  the  magnitude  of  the  prospect  presented.  And  yet  this  region  has 
no  seacoast,  touches  no  ecean  anywhere.  As  part  of  one  nation,  itspeo* 
pie,  now  find,  and  may  forever  find  their  way  to  Europe  by  New  York 
to  South  America  and  Africa  by  New  Orleans,  and  to  Asia  by  Sai 
Francisco.  But  separate  our  common  country  into  two  nations,  as  de- 
signed by  the  present  rebellion,  and  every  man  of  this  great  interior 
region  is  thereby  cut  off  from  some  one  or  more  of  these  outlets ;  not 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE,  1863.  371 

perhaps  by  a  physical  barrier,  but  by  embarrassing  and  onerous  trade 
regulations." 

The  absolute  necessity  of  the  Union  to  the  Northwest,  the 
vast  grain  growing  region,  was  never  more  strikingly  pre- 
sented. The  President  as  the  leading  mind  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  spoke  its  convictions  and.  sentiments,  when  he,  thus 
presented  the  impossibility  of  disunion.  He  knew  that  the 
great  West,  with  one  hand  clasped  the  East,  and  with  the 
other,  would  if  necessary,  grasp  the  South,  and  hold  the 
Union  together  forever. 

The  President  went  on  to  say : 

"  And  this  is  true  wherever  a  dividing  or  boundary  line  may  be  fixed. 
Place  it  between  the  now  free  and  slave  country,  or  place  it  south  of 
Kentucky,  or  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  still  the  truth  remains,  that  none 
south  of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or  place  north  of  it,  and  none  north 
of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or  place  south  of  it  except  upon  terms  dic- 
tated by  a  Government  foreign  to  them.  These  ontlets,  east,  west,  and 
south,  are  indispensable  to  the  well  being  of  the  people  inhabiting,  and 
to  inhabit  this  vast  interior  region.  Which  of  the  three  may  be  the 
best,  is  no  proper  question.  All  are  better  than  either;  and  all  of 
right,  belong  to  that  people  and  to  their  successors  forever.  True  to 
themselves,  they  will  not  ask  where  a  line  of  separation  shall  be,  but 
will  vow  rather  that  there  shall  be  no  such  line.  Nor  are  the  marginal 
regions  less  interested  in  these  communications  to  and  through  them,  to 
the  great  outside  world.  They  too,  and  each  of  them,  must  have  access 
to  this  Egypt  of  the  west,  without  paying  toll  at  the  crossing  of  any 
National  boundary. 

"  Our  national  strife  springs  not  from  our  permanent  part;  not  from 
the  land  we  inhabit;  not  from  our  national  homestead.  There  is  no 
possible  severing  of  this,  but  would  multiply  and  not  mitigate  evils 
among  us.  In  all  its  adaptations  and  aptitudes  it  demands  Union  and 
abhors  separation.  In  fact,  it  would  ere  long  force  re-union,  however 
much  of  blood  and  treasure  the  separation  might  have  cost.  Our  strife 
pertains  to  ourselves — to  the  passing  generations  of  men;  and  it  can, 
without  convulsion,  be  hushed  forever  with  the  passing  of  one 
generation."  . 

And  thereupon  the  President  suggested  to  Congress  the 
adoption  of  amendments  of  the  Constitution,  providing 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

compensation  to  every  State,  wherein  slavery  then  existing, 
should  abolish  it  before  the  year  1900.  These  proposed 
amendments  would  operate  only  in  those  States  in  which  slav- 
ery had  not  been  abolished  by  the  proclamation.  The  amend- 
ments proposed  compensation  to  loyal  owners,  whose  slaves 
had  been  freed  by  the  operations  and  chances  of  war.  In  urg- 
ing these  amendments  upon  Congress,  the  President  declared 
the  now  generally  conceded  truth,  that  "without  slavery, 
the  rebellion  could  never  have  existed ;  without  slavery  it 
could  not  continue."  He  closes  a  most  earnest  appeal  for 
the  system  of  compensated  emancipation  in  these  memorable 
words : 

"  Fellow  citizens,  we  cannot  escape  history.  We  of  this  Congress  and 
this  administration,  will  be  remembered  in  spite  of  ourselves.  No  per- 
sonal significance  or  insignificance  can  spare  one  or  another  of  us.  The 
fiery  trial  through  which  we  pass,  will  light  us  down  in  honor  or  dis- 
honor, to  the  latest  generation.  We  say  we  are  for  the  Union.  The 
world  will  not  forget  that  we  say  this.  We  know  how  to  save  the  Union. 
The  world  knows  we  do  know  how  to  save  it.  We — even  we  here  — 
hold  the  power  and  bear  the  responsibility.  In  giving  freedom  to  the 
slave,  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free — honorable  alike  in  what  we  give 
and  what  we  preserve.  We  shall  nobly  save,  or  meanly  lose,  the  last, 
best  hope  of  earth.  Other  means  may  succeed;  this  could  not  fail. 
The  way  is  plain,  peaceful,  generous,  just — a  way  which,  if  followed, 
the  world  will  forever  applaud,  and  God  must  forever  bless."  * 

In  pursuance  of  the  recommendation  of  the  President,  a 
bill  passed  the  House  of  Representatives,  appropriating  ten 
millions  to  compensate  the  owners  of  slaves  in  Missouri,  on 
condition  that  that  State  should  emancipate  all  her  slaves, 
within  one  year  from  January,  1863. 

In  the  Senate,  the  bill  was  so  amended  as  to  appropriate 
twenty  millions  in  United  States  bonds,  for  compensation  to 
the  owners  of  slaves,  provided  that  State  should  adopt  a  valid 
and  Constitutional  law  for  gradual  or  immediate  emancipa- 
tion of  all  slaves  in  Missouri,  and  the  exclusion  of  slavery 
from  that  State  forever  thereafter.  Such  a  law  to  be  passed 
within  twelve  months,  and  to  provide  that  slavery  should 
forever  cease  on  some  day  not  later  than  the  4th  of  July,  1876. 

•  McPherson's  History,  p.  224. 


BILL  TO  AID  EMANCIPATION  IN  MISSOURI.  373 

Senator  Howard,  of  Michigan,  in  urging  the  passage  of  this 
bill,  said : 

"  Eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-six,  will  be  a  great  epoch  in  the  history 
of  this  Nation  as  I  trust,  if  the  people  are  true  to  themselves,  true  to 
their  own  interests,  to  that  tutelary  Constitution  under  which  we  have 
lived  and  prospered  for  eighty  years  past.  I  shall  expect,  if  I  shall  have 
the  good  fortune  to  survive  until  that  day,  to  see  the  Constitution  in  its 
vigor  and  purity  restored,  and  the  Union  restored,  and  to  see  not  one 
foot  of  slave  soil  within  the  territorial  limits  of  the  United  States.  1 
hope  sir,  to  live  to  see  that  day." 

The  bill  as  amended,  came  back  to  the  House,  and  was  com- 
mitted to  a  select  Committee,  and  was  not  again  considered 
by  the  House.  On  the  15th  of  December,  1862,  the  House, 
by  a  vote  of  78  to  52,  adopted  resolutions  sanctioning  the 
proclamation  of  freedom  and  declaring  it  to  have  been 
warranted  by  the  Constitution,  and  well  adapted  to  hasten 
peace,  and  well  chosen  as  a  war  measure. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Stanton,  in  bis  annual  report, 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  power  of  the  rebels  rested  upon 
their  peculiar  system  of  labor,  which  enabled  them,  by  the 
employment  of  slaves  on  the  plantations,  to  support  the  mas- 
ters while  devoting  themselves  to  the  war.  He  expressed  the 
opinion  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  strike 
down  the  system  of  slavery,  and  turn  against  the  rebels  its 
productive  power;  that,  by  striking  down  the  system  of  com- 
pulsory labor,  the  rebellion  would  die  of  itself.  The  Presi- 
dent, as  we  have  seen}  had  already  done  this,  and  Congress 
had  sanctioned  it. 

In  January,  a  bill  passed  the  House,  authorizing  the  Pres- 
ident to  enrol  into  the  land  and  naval  service  such  number 
of  volunteers  of  African  descent  as  he  might  deem  useful  to 
suppress  the  rebellion,  for  such  term  as  he  might  prescribe, 
not  to  exceed  five  years.  The  bill  provided  that  the  slaves 
of  loyal  citizens  from  that  portion  of  the  Union  not  included 
in  the  proclamation  of  emancipation,  should  not  be  received, 
into  the  armed  service,  nor  should  there  be  recruiting  offices 
opened  in  either  of  the  States  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  "West 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  or  Missouri,  without  consent 


374  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  the  Governors  of  those  States.  In  the  Senate,  the  bill  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  who  reported 
it  back,  recommending  that  it  do  not  pass,  on  the  ground 
that  the  President  already  had  the  power  proposed  to  be  con- 
ferred by  the  bill.  Up  to  January  1863,  the  vast  armies  of 
the  Republic,  had  been  raised  by  volunteering,  stimulated  by 
patriotism,  and  aided  also  by  Government  and  local  bounties. 
"Under  the  first  call  for  75,000  men,  there  had  been  fur- 
nished 93,000  and  a  fraction.  Under  the  act  of  July,  1861, 
authorizing  500,000,  there  had  been  furnished  671,419  three 
•years  men.  Under  the  call  of  July,  1862,  there  was  furnished 
430,201,  and  under  the  call  of  August  4th,  1862,  87,558  men. 
In  addition  to  these,  were  the  accessions  to  the  regular 
army,  and  men  who  volunteered  for  shorter  periods.  In 
January,  1863,  as  the  magnitude  and  duration  of  the  war 
became  fully  developed,  the  conviction  became  general,  that 
the  efficiency  of  the  military  power  would  be  increased  by 
placing  at  the  control  of  the  Government,  the  entire  military 
force  of  the  nation.  Thus  far,  the  ranks  had  been  filled  by 
the  patriotic  and  generous,  while  many  of  the  selfish,  although 
enjoying  all  the  benefits  of  the  Government,  shirked  ignobly 
from  making  any  sacrifices  for  its  preservation.  It  was  felt 
to  be  nothing  but  justice,  that  all  who  enjoyed  the  blessings 
of  the  Government,  and  who  were  fit  for  military  service, 
should  be  made  to  contribute  to  its  maintenance. 

In  January  1863,  Senator  Wilson,  the  able  and  efficient 
Chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  of  the  Senate,  reported  a 
bill  providing  that  all  able  bodied  male  citizens  of  the  United 
Sates,  and  those  of  foreign  birth,  who  had  declared  their  in- 
tentions to  become  citizens,  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
forty-five,  should  constitute  the  National  forces,  and  be  liable 
to  military  duty  at  the  call  of  the  President.  From  such  call 
were  exempted,  as  the  bill  finally  passed,  the  Vice  President, 
the  Judges,  Heads  of  "  Departments  of  the  Government,  and 
the  Governors  of  the  several  States;  also  the  only  son  liable 
to  military  service  of  a  widow  dependent  upon  his  labor  for 
support;  also  the  only  son  of  an  aged  or  infirm  parent  or 
parents,  dependent  upon  his  labor  for  support;  also  where 
there  are  two  or  more  sons  of  aged  or  infirm  parents  subject 


THE  ENROLLMENT  BILL.  375 

to  draft,  the  father,  or  if  he  be  dead,  the  mother  may  elect 
which  son  shall  be  exempt;  also  the  only  brother  of  children 
not  twelve  years  old,  having  neither  father  nor  mother  de- 
pendent upon  his  labor  for  support;  also  the  father  of  mother- 
less children  under  twelve  years  of  age,  dependent  upon  his 
labor  for  support;  also  where  there  are  a  father  and  sons  in  the 
same  family  and  household,  and  two  of  them  are  in  the  mili- 
tary service  of  the  United  States  as  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers, musicians  or  privates,  the  residue  of  such  family;  pro- 
vided that  no  person  who  has  been  convicted  of  any  felony 
shall  be  enrolled  or  permitted  to  serve  in  said  forces.  It  di- 
vided the  force  into  two  classes.:  First,  Those  between  twenty 
and.  thirty-five,  and  all  unmarried  persons  above  thirty-five 
and  under  forty-five:  Second,  All  others  liable  to  military 
duty.  It  divided  the  country  into  districts,  in  each  of  which, 
an  enrollment  board  was  established.  The  persons  enrolled, 
were  made  subjeckto  be  called  into  the  military  service  at  any 
time  for  two  years  from  July  1st,  1863,  and  continue  in  ser- 
vice for  three  years.  A  drafted  person  was  allowed  to  furnish 
an  acceptable  substitute,  or  on  payment  of  $300,  be  discharged 
from  further  liability  under  that  draft.  Persons  drafted  failing 
to  report,  were  to  be  considered  deserters.  All  persons  drafted 
were  to  be  assigned  by  the  President  to  military  duty  in  such 
corps,  regiments,  or  branches  of  the  service  as  the  exigencies 
of  the  service  may  require."  * 

This  act  passed  March,  3d,  1863.  ISTearly  one  year  earlier, 
in  April  1862,  the  Confederate  Congress  had  passed  a  con- 
scription bill,  placing  at  the  service  of  the  President  of  the 
Confederate  States  for  three  years,  unless  the  war  should 
sooner  cease,  "  all  white  men  between  18,  and  45  years  of 
age." 

Senator  Wilson,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  urged  the  passage  of  the  bill  on  these  grounds :  f 

"  The  old  regiments  hardly  average  now,  more  than  four  hundred  men 
in  the  field  fit  for  the  stern  duties  of  war.  Many  who  rallied  at  the  call  of 
their  country,  and  who  followed  its  flag  with  unswerving  devotion,  now 
sleep  in  bloody  graves,  or  linger  in  hospitals,  or,  bending  beneath  disease 

*  McPherson's  Hist.,  p.  115-118. 
t  Encyclopedia,  1863,  p.  278. 


376  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

and  wounds,  can  DO  longer  fill  the  ranks  of  our  legions  in  camp  or  on  the 
battle-field.  If  we  mean  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws,  if  we  mean  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  Republic,  if  we 
mean  that  America  shall  live  and  have  a  position  and  name  among  the 
nations,  we  must  fill  the  broken  and  thinned  ranks  of  our  wasted 
battalions. 

"  The  issue  is  now  clearly  presented  to  the  country  for  the  acceptance 
or  rejection  of  the  American  people — an  inglorious  peace,  with  a  dis- 
membered Union  and  a  broken  Nation  on  the  one  hand,  or  war,  fought 
out  until  the  rebellion  is  crushed  beneath  its  iron  heel.  Patriotism  as 
well  as  freedom,  humanity  and  religion,  accepts  the  bloody  issues  of  war, 
rather  than  peace  purchased  with  the  dismemberment  of  the  Republic, 
and  the  death  of  the  Nation. 

"  If  we  accept  peace,  disunion,  death,  then  we  may  speedily  summon 
home  again  our  armies;  if  we  accept  war,  until  the  flag  of  the  Republic 
waves  over  every  foot  of  our  united  country,  then  we  must  see  to  it  that 
the  ranks  of  our  armies,  broken  by  toil,  disease,  and  death,  are  filled 
again  with  the  health  and  vigor  of  life.  To  fill  the  thinned  ranks  of  our 
battalions,  we  must  again  call  upon  the  people.  The  immense  numbers 
already  summoned  to  the  field,  the  scarcity  and  high  rewards  of  labor, 
press  upon  all  of  us,  the  conviction  that  the  ranks  of  our  wasted  regi- 
ments cannot  be  filled  again  by  the  old  system  of  volunteering.  If  vo- 
lunteers will  not  respond  to  the  call  of  the  country,  then  we  must  resort 
to  the  involuntary  system." 

It  will  be  observed  that  by  the  provisions  of  this  law,  all 
able  bodied  citizens,  Hack  as  well  as  white,  were  liable  to  be 
enrolled  into  the  service  of  the  United  States.  This  bill  com- 
ing down  to  the  House  after  the  middle  of  February,  and 
Congress  expiring  on  the  4th  of  March,  the  opposition 
entertained  strong  hopes  of  defeating  its  passage. 

Mr.  Olin,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
urging  the  early  passage  of  the  bill,  said: 

"  It  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Republic  that  Congress  has 
been  called  upon  to  exercise  that  power  given  by  the  Constitution,  '  to 
raise  and  support  armies,'  in  the  true  and  proper  sense  of  the  grant. 
Heretofore  the  soldiers  of  the  Republic  have  voluntarily  entered  the  ser- 
vice, or  have  done  so  in  pursuance  of  a  call  made  upon  the  Governors 
of  the  several  States,  either  voluntarily  or  by  constraint  of  State  laws. 
This  is  the  first  attempted  exercise  of  that  great  power,  more  than  all 


THE  ENROLLMENT  BILL.  377 

others,  the  index  of  our  Nationality,  to  compel  all  our  citizens  to  devote 
their  lives  to  sustain,  defend,  and  perpetuate  the  life  of  the  Republic."* 

Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio,  said,  in  reply  to  those  who  opposed 
the  bill  because  it  gave  the  power  to  Provost  Marshals  to  ar- 
rest those  opposing  the  enrollment  and  draft,  and  alluding  to 
the  arrest  of  a  person  in  Ohio  : 

"  I  remember  well,  Mr.  Speaker — who  does  not  remember  ?  that 
about  the  time  that  arrest  was  made  in  Ohio,  for  seven  long  days,  a 
battle  raged  before  Richmond.  During  that  protracted  struggle,  while 
that  field  of  conflict  was  covered  with  the  thick  darkness  of  bat- 
tle and  the  shadow  of  death,  and  in  all  the  loyal  homes  of  our  people, 
hands  were  raised  in  silent  prayer  for  the  Republic  and  its  defenders, 
a  cry  came  up  from  the  banks  of  the  York  and  the  James  rivers, 
'  Help  !  help  !  help  !  brothers  of  the  free  North  and  West,  or  we  perish, 
and  our  banner  of  glory  and  of  beauty  goes  down  before  the  armed 
legions  of  treason."  In  response  to  that  call,  the  people  rushed  to  the 
conflict,  from  the  hills  of  New  England  to  the  golden  sands  of  Califor- 
nia, filling  the  continent  with  their  shout, 

1  We  are  coming,  we  are  coming, 
Six  hundred  thousand  more; 

"  It  was  in  the  presence  of  this  sublime  uprising  of  the  freemen 
of  this  land,  for  Jhe  defense  of  their  homes  and  country,  and  the  res- 
cue from  an  unequal  struggle  of  your  gallant  army,  that  a  partizan  in 
Ohio,  it  is  said,  dared  to  outrage  and  disgrace  humanity  by  saying  to 
his  neighbors,  '  stop  brother  Democrats,  stay  at  home  and  vote  ;  and  let 
the  army  of  the  Union  perish.'  It  is  said  that  man  was  arrested  by 
order  of  the  President."f 

Mr.  Cox  moved  to  insert  "  white"  so  as  to  limit  the  bill  to 
white  citizens.  This  was  rejected. 

Mr.  Sargent  of  California,  urging  the  passage  of  the  bill 
said: 

"  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  successful  raising  of  armies  by  the 
rebels  has  been  accomplished  by  the  conscription  principle.  By  no 
other  could  they  have  kept  full  half  a  million  men  in  arms, — so  large  a 
proportion  of  their  available  population.  As  we  must  fight, 
we  must  begin  to  fight  upon  effective  principles.  We  must  gird 

«  Vol.  47.  Congressional  Globe,  p.  1214. 
t  Vol.  47  Congressional  Globe,  page  1229. 


378  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

up  the  loins  of  the  nation  for  a  conclusive  struggle.  The  en- 
emy have  made  their  last  effort.  It  is  now  with  them  a  question  of 
endurance.  If  they  can  keep  us  at  bay  until  our  present  enlisted  men 
are  discharged  which  the  expiration  of  their  short  term  of  enlistment, 
and  their  allies  in  the  North  can  defeat  the  re-filling  of  our  armies, 
they  have  gained  their  purposes,  and  the  Union  is  dissolved."* 

Mr.  Dunn  of  Indiana,  said : 

"  A  draft  is  the  cheapest,  fairest  and  best  mode  of  raising  troops. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  this  mode  was  not  adopted  at  first.  Then  all  would 
have  shared  alike  in  the  perils  and  glories  of  war.  Every  family  would 
have  been  represented  in  the  field,  and  every  soldier  would  have  had 
sympathy  and  support  from  his  friends  at  home.  The  passage  of  this 
bill  will  give  evidence  to  the  rebels  that  the  nation  is  summoning  all  its 
energies  to  the  conflict,  and  it  will  be  proof  to  foreign  nations  that  we 
are  preparing  to  meet  promptly  any  intermeddling  in  our  domestic 
strife.  The  government  has  a  right  in  war,  to  command  the  services  of 
its  citizens,  whom  it  protects,  in  war  as  weJl  as  in  peace.  We  as  legis- 
lators, must  not  shrink  from  the  discharge  of  our  high  responsibility. 
This  Congress  will  be  memorable  in  the  annals  of  our  country  and  the 
history  of  the  world.  '  The  fiery  trials  through  which  we  are  passing 
will  light  us  down  in  honor  or  dishonor  to  the  latest  generation.'  If  we 
cannot  '  escape  history/  let  us  make  our  record  right,  and  display  that 
patriotism,  wisdom  and  energy  which  history  cannot  fuil  to  commend." 

Judge  Thomas  of  Massachusetts,  a  gentleman  of  the  high- 
est and  purest  character,  and  of  conservative  associations, 
as  much  in  sympathy  with  the  opposition  as  with  the  Admin- 
istration, thus  rebuked  the  democratic  party  for  its  efforts  to 
discourage  volunteering : 

"But,  sir,  it  is  a  fact  not  to  be  disputed,  that  for  the  last  six  or  nine 
months  a  whole  party,  a  strong  party,  has  deliberately  entered  into  a 
combination  to  discourage,  to  prevent,  and  so  far  as  in  it  lay,  to  prohibit 
the  volunteering  of  the  people  of  the  country  as  soldiers  in  our  army. 
Members  of  that  party  have  gone  from  house  to  house,  from  town  to 
town,  and  from  city  to  city,  urging  their  brethren  not  to  enlist 
in  the  armies  of  the  nation,  and  giving  them  all  sorts  of  reasons  for 
that  advice.  One  of  these  reasons  is,  that  it  was  an  abolition  war ; 
that  it  was  '  a  war  for  the  nigger,'  as  the  slang  phrase  is. 


*  Vol.  47  Congressional  Globe,  page  1220. 


THE   ENROLLMENT     BILL.  379 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  this  is  a  terrible  bill  ;  terrible  in  the  powers  it  con- 
fers upon  the  executive,  terrible  in  the  duty  and  the  burden  it  imposes 
upon  the  citizen.  I  meet  the  suggestion  by  one  as  obvious  and  cogent, 
and  that  is  that  the  exigency  is  a  terrible  one  and  calls  for  all  the  pow- 
ers with  which  the  Government  is  invested.  Some  of  the  features  of 
the  bill,  my  judgment  condemns,  unhesitatingly  condemns. 

"  I  do  not  rest  the  power  of  Congress  to  pass  this  bill  upon  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Constitution  in  relation  to  the  militia.  I  put  it  upon  the 
simple  and  clear  provision  which  gives  to  Congress  the  power  to  raise  and 
support  armies,  and  upon  the  absence  of  any  provision  of  the  Consti- 
tution which  limits  or  restricts  that  power.  In  the  nature  of  things 
there  can  be  no  such  limitation.  I  repeat  what  at  an  early  day  I  as- 
serted upon  this  floor,  that  there  is  not  a  human  being  within  the  ter- 
tory  of  the  United  States,  black  or  white,  bond  or  free,  whom  this 
Government  is  not  capable  of  taking  in  its  right  hand  and  using  for  its 
military  services  whenever  the  defense  of  the  country  requires,  and  of 
this  Congress  alone  must  judge.  The  question  of  use  is  a  question  of 
policy  only.  *  *  *  *  * 

"  They,  the  people,  will  submit  to  it.  In  view  of  the  infinite  interests 
at  stake  in  this  great  controversy ;  in  the  solemn  conviction  that  there 
is  to-day  no  hope  of  peace  except  in  disintegration  ;  that  as  a  nation  we 
must  conquer  in  arms,  or  perish,  they  will  meet  and  respond  to  this  im- 
perative call  of  duty.  Such  is  my  hope  and  trust.  Go  firmly  to  the  people 
and  present  to  them  the  issue.  They  will  understand  the  terrible  ex- 
igency in  which  the  country  is  placed,  and  they  will  be  true  to  that 
country,  if  you  show  clearly  to  their  comprehension,  the  length  and 
breadth,  and  height  and  depth,  of  that  exigency.  Mr.  Speaker,  the 
issue  must  be  met  at  all  hazards.  If  the  people  will  not  support  you, 
if  they  will  not  do  this  highest  act  of  duty,  the  days  of  this  republic 
are  numbered,  and  the  end  is  nigh.  Satisfy  them  that  you  mean  to  be 
true  to  the  Constitution,  and  the  Union,  and  they  will  be  true  to  you."* 

The  bill  was  vehemently  opposed  by  Messrs.  Wicklift'e,  Voor- 
hees,  Vallandigham  and  the  leading  democrats  in  Congress. 

Perhaps  there  was  nothing  finer  in  the  debate  in  the  Sen- 
ate on  the  Enrollment  Bill,  than  the  rebuke  given  by  Senator 
McDougal  of  California  to  a  senator  by  the  name  of  Turpie, 
appearing  for  a  short  time  from  Indiana.  Turpie,  in  a  tur- 
bid and  violent  speech  against  the  bill,  undertook  to  use  the 
great  name  of  Douglas,  as  one  who  would,  if  living  have  op- 
posed the  measure.  McDougal  of  California,  who  was  a 

*  Congressional  Globe,  3d  session,  37th  Congress,  page  1289. 


380       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

scholar,  a  democrat,  and  a  life-long  personal  and  political 
friend  of  Douglas,  indignantly  replied  : 

"  The  Senate  was  organized  for  consultation.  There  was  an  academy 
once  established,  I  think  on  the  western  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  by  a  great 
wise  old  Greek,  and  he  allowed  no  one  to  enter  into  the  inner  temple 
until  he  had  been  silent  for  seven  years,  if  I  remember  the  legend 
rightly.  I  think,  thinking  is  better  than  talking. 

"  I  wish  to  say  in  reply  to  the  Senator  from  Indiana  particularly,  that 
I  somewhat  represent  the  North-west  from  whence  he  comes,  (Mc- 
Dougal  had  spent  many  years  in  Illinois)  I  more  particularly  repre- 
sent the  late  senator  from  Illinois  whose  name  he  has  used,  who  was 
my  friend  and  companion  in  boyhood  days.  The  sentiments  and  opin- 
ions he  has  expressed  are  not  the  sentiments  and  opinions  that  have  been 
expressed  by  Mr.  Douglas."* 

Senator  Wilson  said : 

"  The  Senator  from  Indiana  assumes  to  speak  for  the  brave  men 
who  are  fighting  under  the  flag  of  the  country  in  the  land  of  the  re- 
bellion. Sir,  that  Senator  is  not  commissioned  to  speak  for  the  men 
who  are  fighting  the  battles  of  their  country.  That  Senator  is  enti- 
tled to  speak  for  the  men  of  his  State  who  are  now  quailing  beneath 
the  withering  scorn  and  stinging  rebukes  of  the  gallant  men  who  have 
made  the  battle-fields  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  immortal.  The 
Senator  has  the  brazen  effrontery  to  tell  the  Senate  and  the  country 
that  our  brave  soldiers  in  the  field,  whose  ranks  are  thinned  by  the 
storms  of  battle  and  the  diseases  of  camps,  will  oppose  this  measure 
to  fill  their  broken  and  wasted  ranks."f 

Senator  Kennedy,  a  type  of  a  class  of  wealthy  men,  edu- 
cated in  the  interests  of  slavery,  and  blinded  to  its  de- 
moralizing tendencies,  said  in  reply : 

"  Sir,  perhaps  this  is  the  last  time  I  shall  ever  address  the  Senate. 
My  political  career  is  nearly  ended ;  and  if  it  were  not  in  bad  taste, 
I  might  say  that  I  thank  my  God  for  it.  I  regret  that  I  stand  in 
the  midst  of  the  ruins  of  the  Republic.  I  deplore  that  I  can  see  no 
hope  from  the  black,  gloomy  cloud  of  convulsion  and  ruin  by  which 
we  are  surrounded.  I  claim  no  particular  honor  or  fame  for  the  part 
I  have  acted  here  in  my  humble  sphere  for  six  years  past. 

"  I  think  you  understand  me  when  I  say  that  I  have  no  heart  in 

*  Vol.  47,  Congressional  Globe,  page  1370. 

t  Congressional  Globe,  3d  session,  37th  Congress,  page  1370. 


ADMISSION   OF   WEST    VIRGINIA.  381 

this  contest ;  I  speak  to-night  as  a  stricken  down  man,  without  either 
hope  or  prospect  for  the  future,  under  the  legislation  which  has 
marked  this  Congress  for  the  last  two  months — a  regular  organized 
catalogue,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  call  it  so,  of  laws  to  maintain  a 
purpose  and  a  policy — you  will  do  nothing  to  restore  a  fraternal  Union."* 

It  was  repeatedly  charged  in  this  debate  that  theProclam- 
mation  of  Emancipation  had  a  tendency  to  prevent  enlist- 
ments, and  to  demoralize  the  army. 

Senator  Grimes  of  Iowa,  said  :  "  The  proclamation  came 
to  us  in  Iowa  while  canvassing  the  State,  and  it  was  hailed 
by  the  loyal  men  of  all  parties  as  one  of  the  most  efficient 
means  of  putting  down  the  rebellion.  "  The  soldiers  of 
Iowa?"  said  he,  "  have  hailed  it  with  acclamation."  It  was  at 
this  session  that  the  question  whether  Congress  would  assent 
to  the  formation  of  a  new  State  carved  off  from  Virginia, 
came  before  Congress  for  decision. 

Some  forty  counties,  a  portion  of  the  commonwealth  of 
Virginia,  situated  south  of  the  Ohio,  and  in  the  north-east  of 
the  State,  refused  to  recognize  the  Ordinance  of  Secession, 
and  sent  delegates  to  a  convention  which  met  at  Wheeling, 
on  the  llth  of  June  1861.  This  convention  organized,  and 
took  an  oath  "to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  as  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  land,  anything  in  the  ordinance  of  seces- 
sion adopted  by  the  Richmond  Convention  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding. ' ' 

The  convention  proceeded  to  declare  vacant,  the  offices  of 
those  adhering  to  the  rebel  government,  and  to  organize  a 
State  Government,  and  elected  two  Senators  to  represent 
Virginia  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  These  Senators, 
Messrs.  "Willey  and  Carlisle,  were  admitted  to  the  seats  va- 
cated by  Mason  and  Hunter,  the  former  of  whom  represented 
the  confederate  power  in  London,  and  the  latter  was  a 
member  of  Jefferson  Davis'  cabinet. 

Ohio  under  the  energetic  lead  of  Governor  Dennison  had 
been  very  prompt  to  send  troops  to  aid  the  loyal  men  of 
north-western  Virginia  in  defending  themselves  against  the 
forces  which  Virginia  sent  to  crush  this  loyal  insurrection. 

•  Congressional  Globe,  3d  session,  37th  Congress,  page  1374.  f 


882      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  convention  in  August  proceeded  to  pass  an  ordinance, 
establishing  a  proposed  new  State  called  Kanawha.  A  con- 
stitutional convention  was  called  and  assembled  on  the  26th 
of  November,  and  adopted  a  constitution  for  the  proposed 
new  State.  This  constitution  was  approved  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote  of  the  people  upon  whom  it  was  to  operate. 
Thus  far  the  proceedings  had  been  nominally  for  the  State 
of  Virginia.  A  legislature  was  elected,  consisting  of 
members  from  that  part  of  the  Old  Dominion,  now  recognized 
as  "West  Virginia,  and  some  few  counties  on  the  Potomac, 
and  within  the  lines  of  the  Union  Army.  The  legislature 
met  on  the  1st  of  May,  1862,  and  assuming  to  speak  for  Vir- 
ginia, gave  its  assent  to  the  formation  of  the  new  State.  This 
assent,  together  with  an  official  copy  of  the  constitution  which 
had  been  adopted,  was  forwarded  to  Congress.  The  Senate 
had  so  far  recognized  the  legislature  referred  to,  as  to  admit 
the  Senators  elected  by  them.  So  also  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  elected  under  writs  of  election  issued  by 
Governor  Pierpont,  the  new  governor,  were  admitted  to  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

Early  in  December  a  bill  for  the  admission  of  West  Vir- 
ginia having  passed  the  Senate  at  the  2d  session  of  this  Con- 
gress, the  question  came  before  the  House  whether  it  would 
assent  to  the  formation  of  the  new  State,  and  recognize  it 
as  one  of  the  States  in  the  Union.  Mr.  Colfax,  of  Indi- 
ana, took  the  lead,  in  earnestly  advocating  the  admission  of 
the  new  State.  He  said : 

"  I  say  then  that  not  only  the  two  legislative  branches  of  the  govern- 
ment, but  that  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  various 
members  of  the  Cabinet,  have,'  without  dissent  and  without  protest,  as 
far  as  I  have  heard  by  any  one  up  to  this  day,  recognized  Governor 
Pierpont  and  the  Wheeling  legislature  as  the  rightful  authority  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  it  therefore  seems  to  be  a  settled  and  concluded  question  j 
and  the  consent  of  this  Legislature  to  the  division  of  the  state,  is  suffi- 
cient to  bring  it  within  the  purview  of  the  constitution.  I  confess 
also  that  I  sLail  welcome  it  now  with  peculiar  pleasure  when  I  see  that  her 
people  have  provided  for  the  ut£er  extinction  of  slavery,  and  when  she 
comes  here  knocking  at  our  door,  with  the  tiara  of  freedom  upon  her 
brow."  * 

*  Vol.  47,  Congressional  Globe,  part  1,  page  43. 


ADMISSION   OF   WEST   VIRGINIA.  383 

Mr.  Olin  justified  the  people  of  West  Virginia  as  follows  : 

"  It  was  simply  a  movement  of  the  people  without  any  of  the  forms 
of  law,  when  the  formation  of  a  State  government  was  attempted  by  the 
people  of  West  Virginia.  I  do  not  complain  of  it,  much  less  condemn 
it ;  it  was  a  matter  of  necessity  ;  I  applaud  them  for  it ;  but  it  was  in 
every  sense,  as  against  the  State  of  Virginia  a  revolutionary  movement, 
justifiable  only  by  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  because  of  the  aban- 
donment of  every  principle  of  law,  duty  and  obligation,  which  ought  to 
have  bound  these  secessionists  to  the  Union.  The  people  of  Western 
Virginia  were  justified  by  that  great  "higher  law"  of  self  protection, 
and  fidelity  to  the  Union.  ***** 

"  In  the  other  branch  of  Congress  they  admitted,  as  the  representa- 
tives of  the  State  of  Virginia,  two  Senators  elected  by  the  Legislature 
assembled  at  Wheeling.  We  have  recognized  their  acts  as  those  of  a 
defacto  Government  of  that  State.  Perhaps  it  was  a  necessity.  I  ad- 
mit that  it  was  so.  I  had  hoped  and  still  cling  to  that  hope,  that  the 
old  State  of  Virginia,  with  the  glorious  memories  which,  clustered 
around  her  in  former  years,  will  yet  be  an  honored  member  of  the 
Union,  clothed,  and  in  her  right  mind."  * 

Others  opposed  the  division  of  the  State,  and  among  them 
the  venerable  Crittenden  of  Kentucky.  They  appealed  to  the 
memories  of  the  past,  and  begged  that  Virginia  might  re- 
main as  she  came,  from  the  great  hands  that  formed  her,  with 
her  boundaries  extending  from  tide  water  to  the  Ohio. 

Mr.  Maynard,  one  of  those  loyal  men  from  East  Tennes- 
see, who  remained  true  to  the  flag  said  :  f 

:<  I  found  there  in  that  mountain  region,  one  of  the  loveliest  portions 
of  the  United  States.  I  found  there  a  people,  loyal  and  devoted  to 
your  flag,  desiring  to  be  formed  into  a  State  by  themselves,  with  power 
to  manage  their  own  local  and  domestic  affairs.  They  spoke  with  feel- 
ing, and  with  deep  entreaty  upon  this  subject.  They  said  as  their  Rep- 
resentatives have  said  here,  that  if  you  bind  them,  or,  which  is  the  same 
thing,  keep  them  bound  to  the  dead  carcass  that  lies  floating  many  a 
rood  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  their  fate  for  long,  long 
years,  if  not  for  generations  and  ages,  is  sealed.  They  begged  that 
they  might  be  disenthralled,  and  that  they  might  be  permitted  to  go 
forward  in  that  career  of  prosperity  for  which  their  habits,  and  the  pe- 
culiar position  of  their  country  fit  them.  I  cannot  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 

*  Vol.  47  Congressional  Globe,  part  1,  page  45  and  46. 
t&l  session,  37th  Congress,  page  46^ 


384  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

their  appeal.  Nor  do  I  regard  it  of  grave  importance,  that  in  some  fu- 
ture event,  in  the  reconstruction  of  this  country  and  the  suppression  of 
this  rebellion,  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  authority  of  our  Govern- 
ment, the  pride  of  Old  Virginia  may  be  wounded  by  seeing  her  moun- 
tain sons  set  up  as  a  rival  commonwealth.  Virginia,  in  common  with 
the  other  rebellious  regions,  has  earned  it  all.  She  has  only  herself  to 
thank  for  her  future."  * 

The  venerable  Thaddeus  Stevens  voted  for  the  bill  on  these 
grounds : 

"  I  do  not  desire  to  be  understood  as  being  deluded  by  the  idea  that 
we  are  admitting  this  State  in  pursuance  of  any  provision  of  the  Con- 
stitution. I  find  no  such  provision  that  justifies  it,  and  the  argument 
in  favor  of  the  constitutionality  of  it,  is  one  got  up  by  those  who  either 
honestly  entertain,  I  think,  an  erroneous  opinion,  or  who  desire  to  jus- 
tify by  a  forced  construction,  an  act  which  they  have  pre-determined  to 
do.  By  the  Constitution,  a  State  may  be  divided  by  the  consent  of  the 
Legislature  thereof,  and  by  the  consent  of  Congress  admitting  the  new 
State  into  the  Union.f 

"  Now,  sir,  it  is  but  mockery,  in  my  judgment,  to  tell  me  that'  the 
Legislature  of  Virginia  has  ever  consented  to  this  division.  There  are  two 
hundred  thousand  out  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  people,  who  have 
participated  in  this  preceding.  They  have  held  a  convention,  and 
they  have  elected  a  Legislature  in  pursuance  of  a  decree  of  that  con- 
vention. Before  all  this  was  done,  the  State  had  a  regular  organization, 
a  constitution  under  which  that  corporation  acted.  By  a  convention  of 
a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  that  State,  they  changed  their  consti- 
tution, and  changed  their  relations  to  the  Federal  Government  from 
that  of  one  of  its  members  to  that  of  secession  from  it.  Now  I  need 
not  be  told  that  that  is  treason.  I  know  it.  And  it  is  treason  in 
all  the  individuals  who  participated  in  it.  But  so  far  as  the  State  munici- 
pality or  corporation  was  concerned,  it  was  a  valid  act,  and  governed 
the  State.  Our  Government  does  not  act  upon  the  State.  The  State 
as  a  separate  and  distinct  body,  was  the  State  of  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  Virginia  whether  rebel  or  loyal,  whether  convicts  or  free- 
men. The  majority  of  the  people  of  Virginia,  was  the  State  of 
Virginia,  although  individuals  had  committed  treason. 

"  Now,  then,  how  has  that  State  ever  given  its  consent  to  this  divis- 
ion ?  A  highly  respectable,  but  very  small  number  of  the  citizens 

*  Congressional  Globe,  3d  session,  37th  Congress,  page  49. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  3d  session,  37th  Congress,  page  50-51. 


ADMISSION   OF   WEST    VIRGINIA.  385 

of  Virginia, — the  people  of  West  Virginia — assembled  together,  dis- 
approved of  the  acts  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  with  the  utmost  self- 
complacency,  called  themselves  Virginia.  Now,  is  it  not  ridiculous  ?  Is 
not  the  very  statement  of  the  facts  a  ludicrous  thing  to  look  upon — al- 
though a  very  respectable  gentleman,  Governor  Pierpont,  was  elected 
by  them  Governor  of  Virginia.  He  is  a  most  excellent  man,  and  I 
wish  he  were  the  Governor  elected  by  the  whole  people  of  Virginia. 
The  State  of  Virginia,  therefore  has  never  given  its  consent  to  this 
separation  of  the  State." 

Mr.  Bingham  closed  the  debate.     He  said :  * 

"  I  hold  sir,  that  the  Legislature  assembled  at  Wheeling,  then,  is  the 
legal  Legislature  of  the  State ;  that  it  had  power  to  assent  to  this  divis- 
ion of  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  that  it  is  wholly  immaterial  to  us 
whether  a  majority  of  the  counties  of  that  State  refused  by  reason  of 
their  treason,  to  co-operate  in  the  election  of  delegates  and  Senators  to 
that  Legislature.  On  the  subject  of  granting  the  admission  of  the 
proposed  State,  to  which  that  body  has  assented,  it  is  enough  for  me 
to  know  that  there  is  a  sufficient  number  of  loyal  men  within  the  limits 
of  the  proposed  State,  to  maintain  the  machinery  of  a  State  govern- 
ment, and  entitle  them  to  Federal  representation.  That  is  the  only  rule 
heretofore  recognized  by  Congress,  in  the  matter  of  admitting  new 
States  duly  organized.  ; 

"  Under  this  bill,  it  is  provided  that  no  person  born  in  that  State  after 
the  4th  of  July  npxt,  shall  be  a  slave ;  that  all  persons  held  in  slavery 
within  the  limits  of  that  State  under  the  age  of  ten  years,  shall  be  free 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  all  over  ten  and  under  twenty-one,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-five  years. 

"  If  I  could  not  give  liberty  to-day  to  all  the  slaves  in  Virginia,  I 
consider  it  my  duty  to  give  liberty  ultimately,  as  this  bill  does,  to  nine- 
tenths  of  the  slaves  within  that  State,  and  to  forbid  the  increase  of 
slavery  therein  in  the  great  hereafter." 

The  bill  passed  by  a  large  majority.  West  Virginia  com- 
plied with  its  conditions,  and,  on  the  4th  day  of  April,  1863, 
the  President  issued  his  proclamation,  proclaiming  that  the 
conditions  of  the  law  had  been  complied  with,  and  that 
West  Virginia  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Con- 
gress, was  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  original  States.  The  State  by  its  Legislature  abolished 

Vol.  47  Congressional  Globe,  part  1,  page  68. 

25 


386      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

and  prohibited  slavery  before  the  adoption  of  the  constitutional 
amendment  prohibiting  it  throughout  the  United  States. 

The  admission  to  Congress  of  members  elected  from  seced- 
ing states,  became  a  grave  question  for  consideration  at  this 
session.  One  or  two  members  from  Eastern  Tennesse'e,  and 
Andrew  Johnson,  senator  from  that  State  continued  to  hold 
the  seats  to  which  they  had  been  elected. 

After  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  by  Admiral  Farragut, 
and  under  the  vigorous  and  wise  administration  of  General 
Butler,  more  than  60,000  persons  enrolled  themselves  as  cit- 
izens of  the  United  States  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
The  President  appointed  a  Military  Governor  of  the  area 
embraced  within  the  boundaries  of  Louisiana.  He  exercised 
the  civil  functions  of  Governor  of  that  state. 

This  Provisional  or  Military  Governor,  directed  an  elec- 
tion for  members  of  Congress  under  provisions  of  the  old 
State  Constitution,  to  be  held  in  the  two  districts  of  the 
city  of  New  Orleans,  on  the  3d  of  December  1862.  Mr. 
Flanders  in  one  district  received  2,370  votes,  and  Michael 
Hahn  in  the  other  received  2,799,  and  all  others  2,318.  Mes- 
srs. Flanders  and  Hahn  received  certificates  of  election  from 
the  Military  Governor.  The  elections  were  held  in  exact 
conformity  with  the  laws  of  Louisiana.  On  the  grave  ques- 
tion, since  so  much  discussed,  as  to  what  were  the  rights  of 
the  Executive,  and  of  Congress,  in  regard  to  the  reconstruction 
of  a  seceded  State,  Mr.  Voorhees,  a  leading  democratic  mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  Indiana  said  :  * 

"  I  regard  it  as  setting  a  precedent  for  future  action  which  will  be  ex- 
ceedingly important  in  its  bearing  on  the  destiny  of  this  Government. 
In  other  words,  I  regard  it  as  surrendering  to  the  Executive,  the 
branch  of  the  Government  to  which  we  belong.  In  my  judgment,  the 
Executive  has  already  usurped  the  judicial  department  of  this  Gov- 
ernment by  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  It  lacks  but 
the  sanction  of  such  a  report  as  the  committee  has  made  in  this  case, 
to  surrender  up  the  legislative  department  also  to  the  executive.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  this  House  will  do  it.  Step  by  step,  executive  encroach- 
ment has  come  upon  this  country  with  a  rapidity,  the  like  of  which 


Vol.  47  Congressional  Globe,  page  834. 


ADMISSION   OF    MEMBERS   FROM    LOUISIANA.  387 

is  unknown  to  history ;  the  like  of  which  has  never  been  seen  in  any 
country  calling  itself  free. 

"  Understand  this  principle.  If  the  Southern  Confederacy  is  a  for- 
eign power,  an  independent  nationality  to-day,  and  you  have  conquered 
back  the  territory  of  Louisiana,  you  may  then  substitute  a  new  system 
of  laws  in  the  place  of  the  laws  of  that  State.  You  may  then  sup- 
plant her  civil  institutions  by  institutions  made  anew  for  her  by  the 
proper  authority  of  this  Government — not  by  the  executive — but  by  the 
legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  assisted  by  the  Executive  simply 
to  the  extent  of  signing  his  name  to  the  bills  of  legislation.  If  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  (Mr.  Stevens)  is  cor- 
rect ;  if  the  gentleman  from  Kansas  (Mr.  Conway)  is  correct,  and  this 
assumed  power  in  the  South  is  a  power  of  the  earth,  and  stands  to-day 
upon  equal  terms  of  nationality  with  ourselves,  and  we  conquer  back 
State  by  State  its  territory  by  the  power  of  arms,  then  we  may  govern 
them  independently  of  their  local  laws.  But  if  the  theory  we  have 
been  proceeding  upon  here  that  this  Union  is  unbroken ;  that  no 
States  have  sundered  the  bonds  that  bind  us  together ;  that  no  suc- 
cessful disunion  has  yet  taken  place, — if  that  theory  is  still  to  prevail 
in  these  halls,  then  this  thing  cannot  be  done.  You  are  as  much  bound 
to  uphold  the  laws  of  Louisiana  in  all  their  extent  and  in  all  their  parts, 
as  you  are  to  uphold  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania  or  New  York,  or  any 
other  State  whose  civil  policy  has  not  been  disturbed." 

Mr.  Noell  of  Missouri,  said ; 

"  The  civil  authorities  there,  having  abdicated,  became  a  treasonable 
body,  and  omitting  to  perform  their  functions,  it  was  necessary  that 
the  United  States  should  substitute  some  authority  there  for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  the  performance  of  those  functions,  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  people." 

Mr.  Bingham  said : 

"  If  the  people  of  Louisiana  had,  under  an  act  of  their  own  Legis- 
lature, and  by  duly  constituting  officers  of  an  existing  State  govern- 
ment, organized  under  the  Federal  Constitution,  held  this  election,  I 
could  not  doubt  that  such  election  was  the  lawful  act  of  the  loyal  people. 
But,  sir,  there  is  no  organized  constitutional  State  government  in 
Louisiana,  nor  was  this  election  held  under  the  law  or  by  the  officers 
of  such  government  of  Louisiana,  nor  under  a  law  of  Congress.  I 
therefore  repeat  my  proposition  :  representatives  can  be  elected  to  the 
Federal  Legislature,  only  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  State  Legisla- 


388  LINCOLN   AND    THE   OVERTHROW   OF   SLAVERY. 

ture,  or  of  an  act  of  the  Federal  Congress.  I  wish  to  enquire  when 
there  has  been  any  decision  under  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  legislative  or  executive  or  judicial  to  the  contrary  ?"  * 

Judge  Thomas  of  Massachusetts  said : 

"It  is  not  contested  in  the  report  of  the  committee,  or  in 
the  arguments  of  the  members  of  the  Committee  of  Elections, 
who  did  not  sign  the  report,  that  the  persons  who  are  elected  to 
this  House  are  loyal  men.  It  is  not  contested  that  they  were  elected 
by  loyal  citizens  of  Louisiana.  It  is  not  contested  that  they  were  elected 
without  military  dictation  or  control.  There  is  nothing  developed  in 
the  report  or  in  the  arguments  presented  to  the  House,  to  show  that 
there  was  any  military  dictation  or  control,  or  influence  in  the  election. 
What  are  the  relations  which  these  electors  and  the  persons  who 
claim  these  seats,  hold,  at  this  moment  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States?  They  are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  subject  to  all  the 
duties  imposed  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States.  They 
are  subject  to  taxation.  They  are  subject  to  military  service.  Some 
four  thousand  of  loyal  residents  of  New  Orleans  are  already  engaged 
in  the  military  service  of  the  Government. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  before  the  act  of  secession,  these  men  had  all 
the  political  rights  that  are  corelative  to  their  political  duties.  They 
had  the  right  of  representation,  which,  from  the  earliest  history  of 
this  Government,  has  been  indissolubly  connected  with  the  right  of 
taxation.  Subject  in  war  or  peace  to  all  the  duties  and  burdens  of  the 
Government,  they  are  entitled  to  the  corresponding  rights  and  privi- 
leges that  Government  had  conferred  upon  them,  unless  in  some  legal 
way  deprived  of  them.  The  state  of  Louisiana  exists.  Its  functions 
may  be  in  abeyance.  All  the  powers  of  the  State  exist,  and  all  that 
is  necessary,  is  simply  that  the  machinery  of  the  State  shall  be  put  in 
motion.  The  State  itself  is  like  Milton's  angels,  which, 

*  Vital  in  every  part 
Cannot  but  by  annihilating  die." ' 


Judge  Thomas  concluded  an  earnest  appeal  in  behalf  of 
the  admission  of  the  members  elect,  in  these  words :  f 

"  The  distinguished  gentleman  from  Indiana  (Mr.  Voorhees)  who 
first  spoke  upon  this  subject,  averred  that  there  was  great  da-nger  from 

*  Vol.  47,  Congressional  Globe,  3d  session,  37th  Congress,  page  1014. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  3d  session,  37th  Congress,  page  1018. 


ADMISSION   OF   MEMBERS   FROM   LOUISIANA.  389 

the  admission  of  these  claimants,  and  in  like  cases,  that  the  executive 
authority  of  this  Government  would  finally  prevail  over  the  rights  and 
powers  of  this  House.  The  answer  to  all  such  suggestions,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fidelity  of  this  House  to  its  rights,  to  its  powers  and  to  its 
duties,  and  without  such  fidelity  there  can  be  no  safety.  It  is  in  all 
cases  the  first  and  final  and  only  judge  of  the  qualifications,  elections, 
and  returns  of  its  members,  and  so  long  as  it  holds  that  power  in  its 
right  hand,  and  exercises  it  discreetly,  firmly,  fearlessly,  we  need  have 
no  fear  of  the  Executive. 

"  I  put  this  case  then,  upon  two  or  three  plain  grounds.  I  put  it 
upon  the  ground  that  these  men  who  are  asking  seats  in  this  House, 
are  loyal  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  that  they  have  been  elected  by 
the  loyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  j  that  they  have  been  elected  at 
an  election  which  was  free ;  that  they  were  elected  by  numbers  which 
compared  with  other  elections,  indicate  that  the  people  in  the  districts 
were  in  the  movement,  and  that  it  was  had  in  entire  good  faith. 

"  But  if  on  the  other  hand  you  expect — as  it  seems  to  us  every  ra- 
tional man  must  expect — to  reconstruct  the  Government  with  the  sym- 
pathy, co-operation,  and  aid  of  the  loyal  men  of  these  States,  then  I  ask 
in  the  name  of  prudence  and  of  justice,  not  to  shut  the  door  of  this 
House  against  them.  Do  not,  I  beseech  you,  teach  them  the  terrible 
lesson  that  your  powers  are  effective  to  destroy  but  not  to  redeem  ;  to 
crush  but  not  to  save.  Meet  them  at  the  threshold ;  welcome  and  bless 
them,  as  they  seek  once  more  the  shelter  of  the  old  homestead." 

Michael  Hahn,  one  of  the  Representatives  elect,  closed  a 
very  effective  speech,  which  secured  the  personal  good  will 
of  the  House  in  favor  of  his  admission,  in  these  words: 

"  And  even,  sir,  within  the  limits  of  the  dreary  and  desolated  region 
of  the  rebellion  itself,  despair,  which  has  already  taken  hold  of  the  peo- 
ple, will  gain  additional  power  and  strength,  at  the  reception  of  the  news 
that  Louisiana  sends  a  message  of  peace,  good-will,  and  hearty  fellowship 
to  the  Union.  This  intelligence  will  sound  more  joyfully  to  patriot  ears 
than  all  the  oft  repeated  tidings  of  '  Union  victories.'  And  of  all  vic- 
tories, this  will  be  the  most  glorious,  useful  and  solid,  for  it  speaks  of 
reorganization,  soon  to  become  the  great  and  difficult  problem  with  which 
our  statesmen  will  have  to  familiarize  themselves.  And  when  this  shall 
have  commenced,  we  will  be  able  to  realize  that  God,  in  his  infinite 
mercy  has  looked  down  upon  our  misfortunes,  and  in  a  spirit  of  paternal 


390       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

love  and  pity,  has  addressed  us  in  the  language  ascribed  to  him  by  our 
own  gifted  Longfellow: 

I  am  weary  of  your  quarrels, 
Weary  of  your  wars  and  bloodshed, 
Weary  of  your  prayers  for  vengeance. 
Of  your  wranglings  and  dissensions. 
All  your  strength  is  in  your  Union, 
All  your  danger  is  in  discord, 
Therefore,  be  at  peace,  henceforward, 
And  as  brothers  live  together. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  Louisiana — ever  loyal  honorable  Louisiana — seeks 
no  greater  blessing  in  the  future,  than  to  remain  a  part  of  this  great 
and  glorious  Union.  She  has  stood  by  you  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the 
rebellion;  and  she  intends  ever  to  stand  by  you.  Sir,  raise  your  eyes  to 
the  gorgeous  ceilings  which  ornament  this  Hall,  and  look  upon  her  fair 
and  lovely  escutcheon.  Carefully  read  the  patriotic  words  which  sur- 
round her  affectionate  pelican  family,  and  you  will  find  there  inscribed, 
1  Justice,  Union,  Confidence.'  Those  words  have  with  us  no  idle  mean- 
ing; and  would  to  God  that  other  members  of  this  Union  could  properly 
appreciate  our  motto,  our  motives  and  our  position! 

"  Reject  the  Representatives  of  Louisiana  to-day,  disfranchize  her, 
withhold  her  dearest  and  most  cherished  right  as  a  State  under  the  Con- 
stitution; but  if  you  do  that,  let  not  that  lovely  escutcheon  look  down 
upon  you  with  solemn  mockery,  but  remove  it  from  your  sight,  and  tear 
irorn  yonder  glorious  emblem  of  our  country's  greatness,  our  bright  and 
shining  star. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  instead  of  diminishing  those  stars  in  number,  and  in- 
stead of  curtailing  the  fair  proportions  of  this  Union,  we  in  Louisiana, 
are  in  favor  of  adding  to  the  number  and  brilliancy  of  those  stars,  and 
of  standing  by  and  maintaining  this  Union  under  all  circumstances  in 
its  integrity,  so  that  all  American  citizens  can  proudly  and  truthfully 
proclaim  in  the  poetic  language  of  Byron : 

Far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  the  billows  roam; 
Survey  our  empire,  and  behold  our  home, 
These  are'our  realms,  no  limit  to  their  sway, 
Our  flag,  the  scepter  all  who  meet,  obey.* 

After  an  able  argument  from  Mr.  Dawes,  the  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Elections,  the  House  by  a  vote  of  92  to  44, 
admitted  the  members,  and  they  being  sworn  took  their  seats. 

The  great  civil  war,  the  necessity  of  self-preservation  on 
the  part  of  the  Government,  called  into  exercise  a  class  of 

*  Vol.  47,  Congressional  Globe,  p.  1032. 


THE  WAR  POWERS  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT.  391 

powers  called  war  powers;  powers  dormant  until  the  exigency 
arose  demanding  their  exercise,  and  of  the  existence  of  which, 
many  of  the  statesmen  of  the  Republic  had  been  unconscious. 
The  first  exercise  of  these  powers  was  induced  by  the  imper- 
ative necessity  of  self-preservation,  and  at  first  without  any 
very  clearly  defined  conception  of  their  extent  and  bounda- 
ries. The  American  people  educated  to  a  full  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  the  securities  of  liberty  embodied  in  English 
Magna  Charta,  and  still  more  perfectly  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  were  ever  jealous  of  the  exercise  of 
extraordinary  powers.  The  great  safeguards  of  English  and 
American  liberty,  freedom  of  the  press,  liberty  of  speech, 
personal  security  protected  by  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus;  an 
independent  Judiciary,  a  speedy  and  fair  trial  by  jury,  the 
old  time  honored  principle  of  English  and  American  law, 
that  no  person  should  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
but  by  due  and  impartial  process  of  law  and  the  judgment 
of  his  peers;  these  fundamental  principles  of  a  free  Govern- 
ment, were  revered  as  sacred,  and  no  people  were  ever  more 
watchful  or  jealous  of  encroachments  upon  them.  How  far  a 
State  of  war  modified  or  suspended  these  great  principles, 
became  early  the  subject  of  earnest  debate  and  controversy. 

The  rebels  for  themselves,  and  their  sympathizers  -for  them, 
claimed  all  their  Constitutional  rights  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States  while  in  arms  as  rebels  and  public  enemies,  to  over- 
throw the  Constitution.  They  claimed  that  while  waging 
war  against  the  United  States,  they  should  be  treated  as 
possessing  at  the  same  time  all  the  rights  of  belligerents  and 
of  citizens.  We  have  seen  rebel  officers  claiming  under  a  flag 
of  truce,  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves,  under  a  provision  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Such  claims  were  too  absurd  to  be  debatable.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln came  to  the  exercise  of  these  war  powers  of  the  Consti- 
tution necessary  to  maintain  the  Government,  slowly,  cau- 
tiously, and  reluctantly.  He  was  reluctant  to  proclaim  mar- 
tial law,  even  when  conspirators  were  plotting  treason,  his 
own  deposition  from  the  office  of  President,  and  the  over- 
throw of  the  Constitution.  He  suffered  the  rebels,  Breckin- 
ridge,  Burnett  and  others,  at  the  special  session  of  July,  1861, 


392       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

to  talk  and  plot  treason  in  Congress,  and  go  over  and  join 
the  rebel  armies  without  arrest.  But  the  safety  of  the  Re- 
public finally  compelled  him  to  exercise  these  war  powers. 
He  saved  Maryland  to  the  Union,  and  prevented  a  civil  war 
there,  as  conceded  by  Governor  Hicks,  by  causing  General 
McClellan  to  arrest  the  Maryland  Legislature.  He  arrested 
persons  known  to  hold  criminal  intercourse  with  the  enemy. 
He  caused  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  be  suspended,  and 
declared  martial  law. 

This  right  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  conferred 
by  the  Constitution.  It  is  a  dangerous  power,  but  the  exer- 
'  cise  of  it,  is  confined  to  dangerous  times.  It  can  be  sus- 
pended, only  "  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the 
public  safety  may  require  it."  Who  may  decide  when  the 
public  safety  may  require  it?  There  is  no  doubt  Congress 
has  this  power.  Does  the  Executive  also  possess  it?  The  ex- 
igency and  necessity  for  the  exercise  of  it,  may  arise  when 
Congress  is  not  in  session.  The  discussions  in  Congress,  in 
the  press,  and  before  judicial  tribunals,  may  be  regarded  as 
settling  the  point,  that  the  President  may  rightfully  exercise 
this  power,  and  that  Congress  may  in  its  discretion,  direct 
and  control  the  exercise  of  it. 

The  subject  of  arrests  for  political  offences,  was  the  occa- 
sion of  continued  attack  upon  the  administration,  by  the  op- 
position in  Congress  during  the  years  1861-2,  and  3.  The 
case  of  Vallandigham  was  widely  discussed.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  Ohio,  bold,  able  and  aggressive.  He 
was  arrested  by  order  of  General  Burnside,  for  the  utterance 
of  alleged  treasonable  language,  and  discouraging  volunteer- 
ing for  the  army,  and  thereby  aiding  and  abetting  the  enemy. 
His  counsel  applied  to  Judge  Leavett,  United  States  District 
Judge  of  Ohio,  for  a  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  which  was  refused. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  both  the  General  who  ordered 
the  arrest,  and  the  Judge  who  refused  the  writ  were  demo- 
crats. He  was  tried  before  a  Court  Martial,  and  sentenced 
to  imprisonment  during  the  war.  Meetings  were  held  in 
several  places,  and  resolutions  passed  denouncing  the  arrest 
as  an  infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  citizen.  The  most 


ARBITRARY  ARRESTS.  393 

imposing  of  these  meetings,  was  the  one  held  at  Albany,  under 
the  auspices  of  Governor  Seymour,  and  presided  over  by 
Erastus  Corning,  a  prominent  Democratic  member  of  Con- 
gress. The  proceedings  of  this  meeting  were  laid  before 
the  President,  and  he  deemed  them  of  sufficient  importance 
to  make  to  them  an  elaborate  reply. 

President  Lincoln  thus  stated  the  necessity  of  preventive 
arrests : 

"  Of  how  little  value  the  Constitutional  provisions  I  have  quoted  will 
be  rendered,  if  arrests  shall  never  be  made  until  defined  crimes  shall 
have  been  committed,  may  be  illustrated  by  a  few  notable  examples. 
General  John  C.  Breckinridge,  General  Robert  E.  Lee,  General  Joseph 
E.  Johnston,  General  John  B.  Magruder,  General  William  B.  Preston, 
General  Simon  B.  Buckner,  and  Commodore  Franklin  Buchanan,  now 
occupying  the  very  highest  places  in  the  rebel  war  service,  were  all 
within  the  power  of  the  Government  since  the  rebellion  began,  and  were 
nearly  as  well  known  to  be  traitors  then  as  now.  Unquestionably,  if  we 
had  seized  and  held  them,  the  insurgent  cause  would  be  much  weaker. 
But  no  one  of  them  had  then  committed  any  crime  defined  in  the  law 
Every  one  of  them,  if  arrested,  would  have  been  discharged  on  Habeas 
Corpus,  were  the  writ  allowed  to  operate.  In  view  of  these  and  similar 
cases,  I  think  the  time  not  unlikely  to  come,  when  I  shall  be  blamed 
for  having  .made  too  few  arrests,  rather  than  too  many. 

"  By  the  third  resolution,  the  meeting  indicate  their  opinion,  that 
military  arrests  may  be  Constitutional  in  localities  where  rebellion  actu- 
tually  exists,  but  that  such  arrests  are  unconstitutional,  in  localities 
where  rebellion  or  insurrection  does  not  actually  exist.  They  insist  that 
such  arrests  shall  not  be  made  '  outside  of  the  line  of  necessary  military 
occupation,  and  the  scenes  of  insurrection/  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the 
Constitution  itself,  makes  no  such  distinction,  I  am  unable  to  believe 
that  there  is  any  such  Constitutional  distinction.  I  concede  that  the 
class  of  arrests  complained  of,  can  be  Constitutional  only  when  in  cases 
of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  them;  and  I*in- 
sist^that  in  such  cases,  they  are  Constitutional  wherever  the  public 
safety  does  require  them;  as  well  in  places  to  which  they  may  prevent 
the  rebellion  extending,  as  in  those  where  it  may  be  already  prevailing; 
as  well  where  they  may  restrain  mischievous  interference  with  the  rais- 
ing and  supplying  of  armies  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  as  where  the  re- 
bellion may  actually  be;  as  well  where  they  may  restrain  the  enticing 
men  out  of  the  army,  as  where  they  would  prevent  mutiny  in  the  army; 


894       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

equally  Constitutional  at  all  places  where  they  will  conduce  to  the  public 
safety,  as  against  the  dangers  of  rebellion  or  invasion."  * 

He  puts  the  case  very  strongly  of  preventing  men  from 
inducing  desertion.  He  says: 

"  Must  I  shoot  a  simple  minded  soldier  boy  who  deserts,  while  I  must 
not  touch  a  hair  of  a  wily  agitator  who  induces  him  to  desert?  This  is 
none  the  less  injurious  when  effected  by  getting  a  father,  a  brother,  or 
friend  into  a  public  meeting,  and  there  working  on  his  feelings  till  he  is 
persuaded  to  write  the  soldier  boy  that  he  is  fighting  in  a  bad  cause,  for 
a  wicked  administration  of  a  contemptible  Government,  too  weak  to 
arrest  and  punish  him  if  he  shall  desert.  I  think  that,  in  such  a  case 
to  silence  the  agitator  and  save  the  boy,  is  not  only  Constitutional,  but 
withal,  a  great  mercy."  f 

He  concludes  a  very  able  defence  of  his  course,  by  saying, 
that  in  his  own  discretion  he  did  not  know  whether  he  would 
have  caused  the  arrest  of  Vallandigham;  but  while  he  would 
not  shift  the  responsibility,  he  yet  held  that  the  Commander 
in  the  field,  was  the  better  judge  of  the  necessity  of  the 
arrest. 

To  a  delegation  from  Ohio,  urging  the  release  of  Vallan- 
digham, Mr.  Lincoln  said: 

"  The  earnestness  with  which  you  insist  that  persons  can  only,  in  times 
of  rebellion  be  lawfully  dealt  with,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  for 
criminal  trials  and  punishments  in  times  of  peace,  induces  me  to  add  a 
word  to  what  I  said  on  that  point  in  the  Albany  response.  You  claim 
that  men  may,  if  they  choose,  embarrass  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  combat 
a  giant  rebellion,  and  then  be  dealt  with  only  in  turn,  as  if  there  were 
no  rebellion.  The  Constitution  itself,  rejects  this  view.  The  military 
arrests  and  detentions  which  have  been  made,  including  those  of  Mr. 
Vallandigham,  which  are  not  different  in  principle  from  the  other,  have 
been  for  prevention  and  not  for  punishment;  as  injunctions  to  stay  in- 
jury; as  proceedings  to  keep  the  peace — and  hence,  like  proceedings 
in  such  cases  and  for  like  reasons,  they  have  not  been  accompanied  with 
indictments  or  trials  by  juries,  nor  in  a  single  case,  by  any  punishment 
whatever,  beyond  what  is  purely  incidental  to  the  prevention."  J 

*  McPherson's  History,  p.  165. 
t  McPherson's  History,  p.  166. 
J  McPherson's  History,  p.  171. 


CLOSE  OF  THE  THIRTY-SEVENTH  CONGRESS.  395 

After  a  very  full  and  learned  discussion,  both  in  the  Senate 
and  the  House,  a  bill  became  a  law,  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1863,  authorizing  the  President,  whenever,  during  the  exist- 
ing rebellion,  in  his  judgment,  the  public  safety  might  re- 
quire it,  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  throughout  the 
United  States,  or  any  part  thereof.  The  bill  further  provided 
that  the  orders  issued  by  the  President,  or  under  his  authority, 
made  at  any  time  during  the  rebellion,  should  be  a  defense 
to  any  action  civil  or  criminal,  for  any  search,  arrest,  or 
imprisonment  under  such  order,  or  under  color  of  any  law  of 
Congress. 

The  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  most  of  the  members  of  the 
lower  House  of  which,  had  been  elected  on  the  same  ticket 
with  Mr.  Lincoln,  drew  to  its  close.  It  had  been  generally, 
in  close  sympathy  with  him  during  its  existence.  It  had,  un- 
hesitatingly conferred  upon  him  all  the  power  asked  for,  to 
enable  him  to  crush  the  rebellion.  It  never  withheld  any 
grant  of  men  or  money.  It  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive, the  resources  of  the  country.  In  this  connection,  it 
is  due  to  the  truth  of  history  to  say,  that  in  regard  to  the 
mode  of  raising  troops,  and  the  money  to  pay  them,  it  fol- 
lowed the  suggestions  of  the  President,  Secretary  Chase,  and 
the  Secretaries  of  War  and  the  Navy,  rather  than  originated 
measures. 

Upon  the  great  question  of  the  manner  in  which  the  war 
was  conducted,  Congress  was  impatient.  It  chafed  under  the 
long  delays  and  slow  and  indecisive  movements  of  McClellan. 
Upon  the  engrossing  subject  of  slavery,  it  reflected  the  feel- 
ings of  the  loyal  masses  of  the  American  people.  It  early  in- 
dicated its  disposition  to  confiscate  the  property,  and  free  the 
slaves  of  rebels.  In  abolishing  slavery  at  the  National  Capital, 
and  prohibiting  it  in  all  the  territories,  it  prepared  the  way  for 
the  proclamation  of  freedom.  A  majority  acted  upon  the 
profound  conviction  that  through  the  death  of  slavery  would 
come  the  regeneration  and  restoration  of  the  Republic.  It 
encoureged  and  directed  the  employment  of  colored  soldiers, 
and  held  out  as  a  reward  for  their  valor,  the  liberty  of 
themselves  and  their  race. 


396  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  Pacific  Railroad  and  the  Homestead  bills  were  among 
the  great  measures  of  this  Congress,  not  directly  connected 
with  the  war. 

Mr.  Speaker  Grow,  in  adjourning  this  Congress  sine  die. 
took  occasion,  briefly  to  review  the  eventful  days  of  its  life. 
He  said: 

"  We  met  as  legislators  of  the  Republic,  on  the  threshhold  of  its  most 
important  era.  Its  sunshine  of  almost  half  a  century  was  for  the  first 
time  darkened  with  clouds.  Grim-visaged  war  stalked  through  the  land, 
which  it  has  since  drenched  with  blood. 

"  While  grappling  in  a  death  struggle  with  this  hydra-headed  monster 
of  civil  discord,  you  have  by  your  labors,  contributed  not  a  little  to  the 
advancement  of  the  industrial  interests,  and  promotion  of  the  greatness 
and  glory  of  the  country.  Few  Congresses,  if  any,  will  hold  a  prouder 
position  in  its  future.  Though  we  separate  with  darkness  lowering  over 
the  horizon,  behind  the  clouds  is  the  sun  still  shining.  It  seems  to  be 
a  part  of  the  plans  of  divine  Providence,  that  every  marked  advance  in 
civilization,  must  begin  amid  the  carnage  of  the  battle-field.  Over  the 
Marathons  and  through  the  Thermopylaes  of  the  world's  history,  liberty 
has  hewn  out  her  victories,  and  the  race  has  marched  on  to  higher  and 
nobler  destinies. 

"  As  the  lightnings  of  Heaven  rend  and  destroy,  only  to  purify  and 
invigorate,  so  freedom's  cannon  furrows  the  fields  of  decaying  empires, 
and  seeds  them  anew  with  human  gore,  from  which  springs  a  more  vig- 
orous race,  to  guard  the  hopes  and  cherish  the  rights  of  mankind.  The 
boom  of  cannon  on  the  plains  of  Lexington  shook  a  continent,  and  bore 
an  obscure  militia  Colonel  from  the  shades  of  Mt.  Vernon  to  the  highest 
pinnacle  of  earthy  glory,  to  stand  forever  on  that  proud  pedestal,  peer- 
less among  men ;  while  it  called  Stark  from  his  granite  hills,  Putnam  from 
his  plow,  and  Greene  from  his  blacksmith's  forge,  to  immortal  fame. 

"  The  iron  hail  beating  on  the  walls  of  Sumter,  again  shakes  a  con- 
tinent, and  the  genius  of  history  is  recording  the  names  of  those  born 
not  die.  The  country's  martyrs  in  this  hour  of  its  trial  will  live  forever. 
Their  tombs  will  be  the  hearts  of  the  great  and  good  of  all  time;  their 
monuments  the  granite  hills  of  a  nation  rejoicing  in  freedom.  Whether 
the  night  of  our  adversity  is  to  be  long  or  short,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
of  the  final  dawn  of  a  glorious  day ;  for  such  is  the  physical  geography 
of  the  continent,  that  between  the  Gulf  and  the  Lakes,  there  can  be 
but  one  Nationality.  No  matter  what  changes  may  be  wrought  in  its 
social  organization,  its  territorial  limits  will  continue  the  same.  The 


VALEDICTORY  OF  SPEAKER  GROW.  397 

traditions  of  the  past  and  the  hopes  of  the  future,  have  crystalized  in 
the  American  heart  the  fixed  resolve  of  '  one  Union,  one  country,  and 
one  destiny/  from  ocean  to  ocean.  No  human  power  can  change  that 
destiny,  any  more  than  it  can  stay  the  tide  of  the  Father  of  waters  as  it 
rolls  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea : 

Freedom's  battle  once  begun, 
Bequeathed  from  bleeding  sire  to  son, 
Though  baffled  oft,  is  ever  won. 

"  Better  one  war,  though  it  cost  countless  lives  and  untold  treasure, 
than  a  dismembered  Union,  with  its  endless  border  conflicts,  and  final 
anarchy  and  ruin.  If  the  people  between  the  Gulf  and  the  Lakes  can- 
not live  together  in  peace  as  one  Nation,  they  certainly  cannot  as  two. 
This  war  then,  must  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  prosecuted  till  the  last 
armed  rebel  is  subdued,  and  the  flag  of  our  fathers  is  respected  on  every 
foot  of  American  soil."  * 

•Congressional  Globe,  3d  Sess.  37  Congress,  vol.  47,p.  1552-3. 

y 


CHAPTER    XYIII. 


THE    CAMPAIGNS    OF  1863—  VICKSBURG— GETTYSBURG. 

PLAN  OP  THE  CAMPAIGN  —  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  — 
ARKANSAS  POST — GRANT'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  VICKSBURG — 
GRIERSON'S  RAID  —  PORT  HUDSON — CHANCELLORVILLE — LEE 
INVADES  MARYLAND  —  MEADE — GETTYSBURG — THE  GETTYS- 
BURG CEMETERY — EVERETT'S  ORATION — LINCOLN'S  ADDRESS. 

AGAIN  the  drama  shifts  to  the  fields  of  contending  armies, 
and  we  now  approach  the  turning  point  in  the  great  Civil 
"War.  Up  to  1863,  although  there  had  been  vast  expendi- 
tures of  treasure  and  of  blood,  and  great  successes  had  been 
obtained  and  progress  made,  yet  there  had  been  such  severe 
repulses  and  grievous  disasters  experienced  by  the  Union 
armies,  that  the  hopes  of  the  insurgents  of  final  success  were 
still  confident.  All  the  great  victories  in  the  West  and  South 
West,  had  not  opened  the  Mississippi.  In  the  East,  the  dis- 
astrous campaigns  of  McClellan  and  Pope  had  been  followed 
by  the  fearfully  costly  repulse  at  Fredericksburg. 

It  is  worthy  of  profound  reflection,  that  not  until  the 
President  had  proclaimed  emancipation,  and  written  liberty 
upon  our  banners,  were  those  banners  crowned  with  decisive 
success.  The  proclamation  issued  January  1863,  was  the 
day  from  which  success  became  a  certainty.  It  was  well 
known  to  those  intimate  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  he  regard- 
ed the  opening  of  the  Mississippi,  as  the  blow  which  would 
make  certain  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  Union  arms.  Like 
the  great  soldier,  General  Sherman,  he  regarded  the 
possession  of  the  Mississippi  river,  as  the  possession  of  Amer- 
ica. So  long  as  the  insurgents  held  this  great  water  com- 
munication, they  were  not  and  could  not  be  subjugated. 

398 


NATIONAL    UNITY.  399 

Those  familiar  with  the  President  knew,  that  to  gain  pos- 
session of  this  river,  had,  from  the  beginning,  received  his 
most  careful  consideration. 

The  campaigns  in  the  "West — the  movements  against  forts 
Henry  and  Donelson  had  been  planned  by  him,  and  he  was 
determined  that  another  season  should  not  pass  without  the 
rebel  States  being  cut  in  two  by  the  Union  army,  and  the 
Mississippi  cleared  of  every  hostile  flag.  We  have  seen  how 
comprehensive  the  view  he  had  taken  of  the  physical  neces- 
sity of  the  Union,  as  expressed  in  his  annual  message  in  De- 
cember 1862,  when  he  declared  that  the  territory  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  was  adapted  to  be  the  home  of  "  one  National  fam- 
ily, and  no  more."  He  often  dwelt  upon  these  views,  and 
declared  that  as  between  the  great  Lakes  and  the  Gulf  there 
were  no  natural  boundaries;  but  on  the  contrary,  the  config- 
uration of  the  country  rendered  disunion  impracticable.  The 
navigable  streams,  from  the  imperial  Hudson  to  the  continen- 
tal Mississippi  ran  from  North  to  South.  Such,  too  were  the 
ranges  of  the  mountains.  These  considerations  made  Na- 
tional unity,  "  manifest  destiny."  These  causes  made  unity 
so  convenient,  nay,  so  necessary,  that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  separate  the  North  from  the  South.  Civilization  and  its 
wants  and  necessities  had  riveted  what  nature  had  united. 
Railroads,  and  canals,  and  post  roads,  the  electric  telegraph 
with  its  connecting  wires  had  doubly  bound  our  wide  terri- 
tory together. 

That  impartial  history  which  shall  be  written  when  all  the 
partialities  and  prejudices  of  the  day  have  passed  away,  will 
record  without  disparagement  to  other  sections,  that  the  Union 
was  saved  by  the  North  West.  The  great  river  of  the  republic 
with  its  State  embracing  arms,  tributaries  extending  to  New 
York,Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin,  on  the  one  side,  and  Minnes- 
ota, Iowa,  Kansas,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Louisiana  and  Texas 
on  the  other,  were  strong  enough  to  hold  the  Union  together. 
The  North  West  never  for  one  moment  faltered  in  the 
struggle.  In  the  dark  hours  of  the  contest  had  the  Presi- 
dent or  the  North  West  faltered,  all  would  have  been  lost. 

The  rain  which  falls  upon  that  great  basin  south  of  the 


tOO       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW*  OF  SLAVERY. 

Lakes,  and  between  the  western  slope  of  the  Allegha- 
nies  and  the  Rocky  mountains,  in  extent  an  Empire,  finds  its 
way  by  tributaries  numerous  and  vast,  into  the  great  Father 
of  Waters,  and  through  its  channels  to  the  Gulf,  and  by  *the 
Gulf  to  the  Sea.  Through  these  vast  natural  channels  which 
God  created,  and  thereby  made  unity  a  necessity,  the  North 
west  would  follow  with  travel  and  trade,  not  under  treaty, 
but  by  indefeasible  right,  freely,  under  the  same  flag.  "Woe 
to  those  who  should  seek  to  erect  barriers  or  throw  obstacles 
in  the  way. 

With  these  views  the  President  and  his  military  advisers 
planned  the  campaign  of  1863.  To  open  the  Mississippi  by 
taking  Vicksburg,  was  the  great  objective  point  of  the*  cam- 
paign. Mr.  Lincoln,  during  every  period  of  the  war,  was 
fully  possessed  of  every  important  movement.  He  knew  ful- 
ly the  condition  of  every  army,  and  had  a  most  intelligent 
appreciation  of  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered,  and  the 
chances  of  success.  His  room  was  ever  full  of  maps  and 
plans  ;  and  he  marked  upon  them  every  movement,  and  no 
subordinate  was  at  all  times  so  completely  the  master  of  the 
situation,  as  the  Commander  in  Chief.  Mr.  Lincoln  selected 
General  Grant  to  lead  what  he  meant  should  be,  and  what 
was,  the  decisive  campaign  in  the  West.  There  were  those 
who  at  that  time  charged  General  Grant  with  habits  of  in- 
toxication, and  sought  to  shake  the  confidence  of  the 
President  in  him.  "  If  Grant  is  a  drunkard,"  said  he,  in 
reply,  "I  wish  some  of  my  other  generals  would  learn  where 
lie  buys  his  liquor." 

As  the  year  opened,  the  President  had  settled  upon  two 
great  objective  points  in  his  plans  of  the  campaign.  First 
as  stated  to  get  complete  possession  of  the  Mississippi 
river  and  open  its  navigation,  and  thus  utilize  the  capture 
of  New  Orleans,  cutting  off  the  rebel  communication  with  the 
trans-Mississippi  department,  and  severing  the  so-called  Con- 
federacy, into  two  parts.  Second,  to  destroy  the  army  of 
Virginia,  and  sieze  upon  the  rebel  Capital.  Let  us  first  fol- 
low the  standard  of  Grant  in  his  most  difficult  enterprise 
against  Vicksburg.  General  John  A.  McClernand  of  Illinois 
had,  in  a  written  communication,  early  suggested  the  Miss- 


GRANTS    CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   VICKSBURG.  401 

issippi  campaign,  including  the  capture  of  Vicksburg,  and 
urged  it  upon  the  Government.  He  had  had  repeated  personal 
interviews  with  the  President  on  the  subject,  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
fully  appreciated  his  views,  and  seconded  his  purposes. 

In  January  1863,  the  army  of  the  Mississippi,  under  the 
commands  of  Generals  McClernand  and  Sherman,  acting  in 
conjunction  with  the  fleet  under  command  of  Rear  Admiral 
Porter,  captured  Arkansas  Post.  This  was  a  brilliant  open- 
ing of  the  campaign,  and  the  fruits  of  the  victory  were  7,000 
prisoners,  8,000  stand  of  arms,  and  a  large  amount  of  can- 
non, ordinance  and  stores.  On  the  18th  of  January,  Gen- 
eral Grant  went  up  White  River,  and  held  a  consulta- 
tion with  Admiral  Porter  and  Generals  McClernand  and- 
Sherman. 

On  the  2d  of  February,  General  Grant  arrived  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Vicksburg,  and  assumed  command  in  person.  The 
attack  under  General  Sherman  in  1862,  had  demonstrated  the 
strength  of  the  defensive  works  of  Vicksburg  on  the  North. 
To  get  his  army  below  the  city,  and  in  its  rear  was  the  imme- 
diate object  of  General  Grant.  Various  means  were  resorted  to. 
An  attempt  was  renewed  to  cut  a  new  channel  across  the 
bend  in  front  of  Vicksburg.  This  proved  a  failure.  The 
vicinity  of  this  stronghold,  above  the  city,  in  its  rear,  and 
upon  the  Louisiana  shore  was  a  net  work  of  bayous,  lakes, 
ponds,  and  old  channels  of  streams.  General  Grant  spent 
several  weeks,  in  trying  to  cut  and  clear  out  a  channel,  by 
which  he  could  with  the  fleet  and  transports,  pass  around 
Vicksburg.  Some  effort  was  made  to  cut  an  opening  through 
the  Yazoo  pass  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi.  In  these 
efforts,  even  the  persistent  Grant  was  baffled. 

A  most  daring  attempt  was  made  in  February  by  Colonel 
Charles  E.  Ellet,  in  the  wooden  steamer,  Queen  of  the  West, 
fitted  up  as  a  ram  and  protected  by  cotton  bales,  to  destroy 
the  rebel  steamer  City  of  Vicksburg,  and  to  run  the  batteries 
of  the  city.  He  succeeded  in  striking,  but  not  fatally,  the 
rebel  steamer,  and  demonstrated  the  practicability  of  run- 
ning the  batteries  by  transports.  The  Queen  of  the  West 
went  down  the  river,  capturing  boats  and  supplies  ;  entering 
26 


402  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Red  river,  she  continued  her  successes,  until  on  her  return, 
she  ran  aground  and  was  abandoned  by  her  gallant  and  en- 
terprising commander.  Meanwhile,  the  persistent  and  inde- 
fatigable Grant  was  exploring  every  pass,  bayou,  lake  and 
water  course,  with  a  view  of  finding  a  passage  below 
Vicksburg,  so  as  to  approach  it  from  the  ridge  in  the 
rear. 

After  being  often  baffled,  but  never  disheartened,  General 
Grant  commenced  preparations  for  running  his  transports 
and  the  gunboat  fleet  below  the  frowning  batteries  of  Vicks- 
burg. A  large  fleet  of  iron-clad  gunboats  and  transports 
were  prepared,  protected  as  far  as  possible  by  cotton  bales, 
hay,  railroad  iron,  timber  and  chains.  The  night  of  the  16th 
of  April  was  selected  for  the  attempt.  Everything  was 
in  readiness  before  dark.  The  plan  was  that  the  iron  clads 
should  pass  down  in  single  file — with  intervals  between 
them,  and  when  opposite  the  batteries,  should  engage  them 
and  then  that  under  cover  of  smoke,the  transports  should 
endeavor  to  pass. 

The  country  had  been  growing  impatient  of  the  long  de- 
lays at  Vicksburg.*  The  cutting  of  the  canals  and  the 

*  For  a  description  of  the  scene  which  followed,  and  the  brilliant  and  rapid  pro- 
gress of  Grant,  to  the  complete  investment  and  final  capture  of  Vicksburg,  I  am 
much  indebted  to  Mr.  Washburne,  at  present  the  oldest  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  who  was  ever  the  staunch  and  true  friend  and  defender  of  Gen- 
eral Grant,  from  the  time  he  left  his  home  at  Galena,  Illinois,  to  aid  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Illinois  Volunteers,  until  he  fought  his  wav  up  to  the  position  of 
Lieutenat  General  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and  until  he  received  the 
final  capitulation  of  Lee.  See  Washburne's  speech  in  Congress,  February  1,  1864, 
volume  50,  Congressional  Globe,  page  427,  from  which  I  make  the  following 
extracts : 

"  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  with  General  Grant,  and  with  that  noble  army, 
every  man  of  whom  is  a  hero,  at  the  commencement  of  the  expedition  which  cul- 
minated in  the  taking  of  Vicksburg.  We  all  know  how  ill  at  ease  the  public  mind 
was,  last  winter  pending  General  Grant's  operations  on  the  lower  Mississippi. 
The  expedition  by  Grenada,  the  opening  of  the  canal,  the  opening  of  the  bayous 
had  not  succeeded.  The  country  saw  all  the  attempts  to  flank  that  stronghold  like- 
ly to  prove  abortive,  and  there  was  great  atixiety.  But  with  unshaken  confidence 
in  himself,  General  Grant  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  and  with  entire  re- 
liance upon  the  success  in  the  plan  finally  adopted,  and  which  could  not  be  under- 
taken until  the  river  and  bayous  should  sufficiently  recede  to  enable  him  to  move. 
Then,  sir,w;is  seen  that  bold  and  daring  conception  which  I  say  is  without  parallel 
in  all  military  history.  It  was  to  send  his  army  and  his  transportation  by  land  on 
the  Louisiana  side  from  Mi  111  ken's  Bend  to  a  point  below  Vicksburg,  and  then  run 
the  frowning  batteries  of  that  rebel  Gibraltar,  with  its  hundreds  of  guns,  with  his 
transports,  and  thus  enable  him  to  cross  the  river  below  Vicksburg.  and  get  on  to 


GRANT'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  VICKSBURG.  403 

opening  of  the  bayous,  had  proved  failures.  All  the  attempts 
thus  far  to  flank  the  stronghold,  seemed  likely  to  prove  abor- 
tive, and  great  anxiety  existed  in  the  public  mind.  After  all 
these  failures,  Grant,  with  a  persistence  which  has  marked 
his  whole  career,  conceived  apian  without  parallel  in  military 
history  for  its  boldness  and  daring.  This  was  to  march  his 
army  and  send  his  transportation  by  land  Qn  the  Louisiana 
side  of  the  Mississippi,  from  Milliken's  Bend  to  a  point  be- 
low Vicksburg,  and  then  to  run  the  bristling  batteries  of 
that  rebel  Gibraltar,  exposed  to  its  hundreds  of  heavy  guns, 
with  his  transports  and  then  to  cross  the  Mississippi  below 
Vicksburg,  and  returning,  attack  that  city  in  the  rear. 

The  crews  of  the  frail  Mississippi  steamers  used  as  trans- 
ports, conscious  of  the  hazardous  service,  with  one  exception, 
refused  to  go.  Volunteers  were  called  for  by  General  Grant, 
and  no  sooner  was  the  call  made,  than  from  the  noble  army 


the  Mississippi  side.  The  country  was  startled  at  the  success  which  attended  the 
running  of  those  batteries  by  the  frail  Mississippi  steamboats  used  as  transports 
and  the  rebels  stood  aghast  when  they  saw  seven  or  eight  transports  and  all  of* 
Porter's  gunboats  below  Vicksburg. 

"  And  that  which  must  ever  be  regarded  by  the  historian  as  the  most  extraordi- 
nary feature  of  this  campaign  is  the  astounding  fact  that  when  General  Grant 
landed  in  the  State  of  Mississippi,  and  made  his  campaign  in  the  enemy's  country, 
he  had  a  smaller  force  than  the  enemy.  There  he  was  in  the  enemy's  country,  cut 
off  in  a  measure  from  his  supplies,  with  a  great  river  in  his  rear,  and  in  one  of  the 
most  defensible  of  countries  through  which  he  had  to  pass.  To  his  indomitable 
courage  and  energy,  to  his  unparalleled  celerity  of  movement,  striking  the  enemy 
in  detail,  and  beating  him  on  every  field,  is  the  country  indebted  to  those  wonder- 
ful successes  of  that  compaign  which  have  not  only  challenged  the  gratitude  and 
admiration  of  our  own  countrymen,  but  the  admiration  of  the  best  military  men 
of  all  nations.  My  colleague,  Mr.  Farnsworth,  has  well  said  that  General  Grant  is 
no  "  carpet  knight."  If  gentlemen  could  know  him  as  I  know  him,  and  as  his  sol- 
diers know  him,  they  would  not  be  so  reluctant  about  conferring  this  honor.  'If 
they  could  have  seen  him  as  I  saw  him  on  that  expedition ;  if  they  could  have 
witnessed  his  terrible  earnestness,  his  devotion  to  duty,  his  care,  his  vigilance,  and 
liis  unchallenged  courage,  I  think  their  opposition  to  this  bill  would  give  way. 

"When  he  left  his  headquarters  at  'Smith's  Plantation'  below  Vicksburg,  to 
enter  on  the  great  campaign,  he  did  not  take  with  him  the  trappings  and  para- 
phernalia so  common  to  military  men.  As  all  depended  upon  quickness  of  move- 
ment, and  as  it  was  important  to  be  encumbered  with  as  little  baggage  as  possible, 
he  set  an  example  to  all  under  him.  He  took  with  him  neither  a  horse,  nor  an  or- 
derly, nor  a  servant,  a  camp-chest,  an  overcoat,  nor  a  blanket,  nor  even  a  clean 
shirt.  His  entire  baggage  for  six  days— I  was  with  him  at  that  time — was  a  tooth 
brush.  He  fared  like  the  commonest  soldier  in  his  command,  partaking  of  his  ra- 
tions, and  sleeping  upon  the  ground,  with  no  covering  excepting  the  canopy  of 
heaven.  How  could  such  a  soldier  fail  to  inspire  confidence  in  an  army,  and  to 
lean  it  to  victory  and  to  glory  ?  Confer  upon  him  the  rank  contemplated  by  this 
bit!,  an  3  you  excite  the  enthusiasm  of  all  your  armies,  and  all  your  soldiers  will 
be  eager  to  follow  his  victorious  banners." 


404  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  the  west,  pilots,  engineers,  firemen  and  deck-hands  offered 
themselves  for  the  dangerous  adventure  in  such  numbers, 
that  it  became  necessary  to  select  those  needed  from  the  crowd 
of  volunteers,  by  lot.  Such  was  the  generous  emulation 
among  the  soldiers  to  participate  in  the  dangerous  service, 
that  one  Illinois  boy  who  had  drawn  the  coveted  privilege  of 
exposing  his  life  was  offered  one  hundred  dollars  in  green- 
backs for  his  chance  ;  but  he  refused  to  take  it,  and  held  his 
post  of  honor. 

Ten  o'clock  at  night  was  the  hour  at  which  the  fleet  was 
to  start.  At  that  hour  the  camps  of  the  Union  army  were 
huslfed  into  silence,  watching  with  intense  anxiety  the  result. 
All  was  obscurity  and  silence  in  front  of  the  city.  Soon  an 
indistinct,  shadowy  mass  was  seen,  dimly,  noiselessly  floating 
down  the  river.  It  was  the  flag-ship,  the  iron  clad  Benton. 
It  passed  on  into  the  darkness,  and  another,  and  another 
followed,  until  ten  black  masses,  looking  like  spectral  steam- 
ers, came  out  of  the  darkness,  passed  by,  and  disappeared 
down  the  river.  No  sound  disturbed  the  stillness.  Every 
eye  was  fixed  on  the  space  in  front  of  the  city.  Every  ear 
intent,  expecting  every  moment  to  see  the  gleam  and  flash 
of  powder  and  fire,  and  hear  the  thunders  of  cannon.  For 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  the  silence  was  unbroken,  when 
first  came  a  sharp  line  of  light  from  the  extreme  right  of  the 
batteries,  and  in  an  instant  after  the  whole  length  of  the  bluffs 
was  one  blaze  of  fire,  and  roll  of  crashing  thunder.  The 
light  exhibited  the  fleet  squarely  in  front  of  the  city ;  and 
immediately  its  heavy  guns  were  heard  in  reply,  firing  directly 
upon  the  city.  Clouds  of  smoke  enveloped  the  gunboats, 
and  then  the  transports  putting  on  full  steam,  plunged  down 
the  river.  The  batteries  were  passed  in  an  hour  and  a 
quarter;  and  although  some  of  the  transports  were  injured 
and  one  set  on  fire,  no  person  on  either  of  the  transports  was 
killed ;  and  General  Grant  immediately  prepared  and  sent 
the  remaining  transports.  Meanwhile,  the  army  marched 
around  and  struck  the  river  below  Vicksburg,  nearly  oppo- 
site Grand  Gulf.  This  was  a  strong  position  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Mississippi,  below  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Black.  It 
was  hoped  that  Admiral  Porter  with  the  gunboats  could  re- 


GRANT'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  VICKSBURG.  405 

duce  the  batteries  at  Grand  Gulf,  after  which  the  troops 
would  be  taken  over  in  the  transports,  and  carry  the  place 
by  assault.  But  after  nearly  five  hours  bombardment,  Admi- 
ral Porter  drew  off  his  fleet.  Grant  after  consulting  with 
Porter  adopted  a  new  expedient :  this  was  to  march  his  troops 
three  miles  below  Grand  Gulf,  and  after  night  the  transports 
were  to  run  these  batteries,  as  they  had  done  those  of  Vicks- 
burg.  When  darkness  came  Porter  renewed  the  attack 
with  his  gunboats ;  and  amidst  the  thunder  and  smoke  of 
this  attack,  the  transports  went  safely  by,  and  reaching  the 
3amps  below,  as  they  approached,  cheered  the  soldiers  by 
responding  "  all's  well"  to  their  anxious  inquiries.  In  the 
morning  they  were  in  readiness  to  transfer  the  army  to  the 
long  coveted  position  below  Vicksburg. 

Early  the  next  morning,  General  Grant  on  the  Benton,  led 
the  way  to  a  landing  for  his  eager  army.  Going  ashore  at* 
Bruinsburg,  he  found  faithful  and  intelligent  negroes  to  guide 
him  in  the  important  movements  which  were  now  to  be 
made.  Instantly  the  debarkation  of  the  troops  commenced, 
and  the  line  of  march  was  taken  up  towards  Port  Gibson.  Be- 
fore two  o'clock  the  next  morning,  May  1,  1863,  the  enemy 
was  encountered,  and  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson  was  fought, 
the  first  of  the  series  of  battles  and  victories  resulting  in  the 
investment  and  capture  of  Vicksburg.  The  attitude  of  Grant 
was  certainly  a  bold  one.  He  was  in  the  enemy's  country, 
a  fortified  city  above  him,  a  fortified  city  below  him,  a  large 
army  gathering  under  Johnson  to  assail  him  and  relieve 
Vicksburg,  with  another  large  army  to  protect  and  garrison 
its  fortifications.  Celerity  was  of  the  highest  importance. 
No  better  troops  ever  met  an  enemy  than  those  he  command- 
ed ;  and  he  was  most  ably  seconded  by  Sherman,  McClern- 
and,  McPherson,  Logan,  Blair,  Osterhaus  and  others. 

To  the  indomitable  will,  energy  and  activity  of  Grant, 
striking  the  enemy  in  detail,  beating  him  in  every  field,  giv- 
ing him  no  time  for  concentration,  is  the  country  indebted 
for  these  wonderful  successes,  which  have  not  been  surpassed 
by  any  achievement  in  military  history.  General  Grant  seem- 
ed fully  conscious  that  success  in  this,  the  boldest  movement 
of  the  war,  depended  upon  striking  quick  and  rapid  blows, 


406       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

and  hence  he  himself  Bet  the  example  of  taking  no  baggage. 
He  took  neither  horse  nor  servant,  nor  camp  chest,  nor  over- 
coat, nor  blanket ;  his  entire  personal  baggage,  according  to 
Washburne,  who  accompanied  him  during  the  six  eventful 
and  decisive  days  from  his  landing,  was  a  tooth  brush.  During 
this  time,  his  fare  was  the  common  soldier's  rations,  his  bed 
the  ground,  with  no  covering  but  the  sky. 

The  victory  at  Port  Gibson  was  so  important  that  General 
Grant  issued  a  general  order  thanking  his  soldiers,  and  in  a 
few  spirited  words  advised  them  that  more  difficulties  and 
privations  were  before  them,  but  calling  upon  them  to  endure 
them  manfuliy.  "  Other  battles,"  said  he,  "  are  to  be  fought; 
let  us  fight  them  bravely.  A  grateful  country  will  rejoice  at 
our  success,  and  history  will  record  it  with  immortal  honor." 
Moving  rapidly  to  the  North,  General  Grant  interposed  his 
forces  between  the  army  of  Johnston  seeking  to  relieve  Vicks- 
burg,  and  the  garrison  under  Pemberton,  seeking  a  junction 
with  Johnston.  Then  followed  the  rapid  marches,  brilliant 
with  gallant  charges  and  deeds  of  heroic  valor,  winning  vic- 
tories in  quick  succession,  at  Raymond  on  the  12th,  at  Jack- 
son, the  Capital  of  Mississippi,  on  the  14th,  at  Baker's  Creek 
and  Champion  Hills  on  the  16th,  and  at  the  Big  Black  river  on 
the  17th,  and  finally  closing  with  driving  the  enemy  into  his 
works  at  Vicksburg,  and  with  the  aid  of  Admiral  Porter  and 
the  gunboats,  completely  investing  the  city.  And  now,  on 
the  19th  of  May,  Grant  and  his  army  were  before  the  strong- 
hold. Jefferson  Davis,  conscious  of  the  importance  of  this 
position  had  implored  every  man  who  could  do  so,  to  march 
to  Vicksburg.  General  Grant  now  determined  to  take 
the  city  by  assault.  On  the  22d  of  May,  the  attack  was 
most  gallantly  made.  The  assaulting  columns  moved  prompt- 
ly and  steadily  upon  the  rebel  works,  and  stood  for  hours 
under  a  withering  fire,  and  failed  only  because  the  position 
could  not  be  taken  by  storm. 

Then  with  tireless  energy,  with  sleepless  vigilance  night 
and  day,  with  battery  and  rifle,  with  trench  and  mine,  the 
army  made  its  approaches,  until  the  enemy,  worn  out  with 
fatigue,  exhausted  of  food  and  amunition,  and  driven  to  des- 
pair, finally  laid  down  their  arms. 


GRANT'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  VICKSBURG.  407 

On  the  3d  of  July,  General  Grant  received  a  communica- 
tion from  Lieutenant  General  Pemberton  commanding  the 
rebel  forces,  proposing  an  armistice,  and  commissioners  to 
arrange  terms  of  capitulation  The  correspondence  resulted 
in  the  surrender  of  the  city  and  garrison  of  Vicksburg  on 
the  4th  of  July  1863.  This  capture  and  the  preceding  bat- 
tles, resulted  in  a  loss  to  the  rebels  of  37,000  taken  prisoners, 
including  15  general  officers,  10,000  killed  and  wounded,  and 
ammunition  for  60,000  men. 

Thus,  perse verence,  skill  and  valor  triumphed.  The  strong- 
hold of  the  Mississippi  was  taken.  No  language  can  describe 
the  tumultuous  joy  which  thrilled  the  hearts  of  the  gallant 
men  who  had  won  this  great  prize.  The  exultation  of  the 
army  is  illustrated  in  the  glowing  language  of  the  young  and 
brave  McPherson,  in  his  congratulatory  address  issued  on  the 
4th  of  July. 

"The  achievements  of  this  hour,"  said  he,  "will  give  a 
new  meaning  to  this  memorable  day  :  and  Vicksburg  will 
heighten  the  glow  in  the  patriot's  heart  which  kindles  at  the 
mention  of  Bunker  Hill  and  Yorktown.  The  dawn  of  a  con- 
quered peace  is  breaking  before  you.  The  plaudits  of  an 
admiring  world  will  hail  you  wherever  you  go." 

President  Lincoln  fully  comprehended  what  he  termed 
"  the  almost  unappreciable  services"  of  Grant  in  the  captiwe 
of  Vicksburg.  He  wrote  to  him  the  following  letter,  which 
illustrates  the  generous  feelings  of  his  heart : 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  I  do  not  remember  that  you  and  I 
ever  met  personally.  I  write  this  now  as  a  grateful  acknow- 
ledgment for  the  almost  inestimable  service  you  have  done 
the  country.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  further.  "When  you  first 
reached  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  I  thought  you  should  do 
what  you  finally  did,  march  the  troops  across  the  neck,  run 
the  batteries  with  the  transports,  and  thus  go  below ;  and  I 
never  had  any  faith  except  a  general  hope,  that  you  knew 
better  than  I,  that  the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition  and  the  like 
could  succeed.  When  you  got  below  and  took  Port 
Gibson,  Grand  Gulf  and  vicinity,  I  thought  you  should  go 
down  the  river  and  join  General  Banks  ;  and  when  you  turn- 
ed northward,  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  thought  it  was  a  mis- 


408  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

take.     I  now  wish  to  make  the  personal  acknowledgment, 
that  you  was  right  and  I  was  wrong." 

No  military  enterprise  recorded  in  history  presented 
greater  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  none  the  success  of  which 
was  ever  more  fatal  to  an  enemy,  nor  is  there  any  which  ex- 
hibits in  a  higher  degree,  courage,  endurance,  military  skill, 
bold  conception,  fertility  of  resource  and  rapidity  of  execu- 
tion, than  that  which  triumphed  in  the  fall  of  Yicksburg. 
Take  it  altogether  it  was  perhaps  the  most  brilliant  operation 
of  the  war,  and  establishes  the  reputation  of  Grant,  as  one 
of  the  greatest  military  leaders  of  any  age. 

Bold,  dashing  and  meritorious  cavalry  raids  constitute  one 
of  the  most  romantic  features  of  the  war.  In  the  beginning 
the  Confederate  cavalry  was  probably  superior  to  the  Nation- 
al. The  exploits  of  Stewart,  Ashby  and  others,  recall  the 
names  of  Lee  and  Marion,  of  the  revolution.  But  as  the 
war  progressed,  the  Union  cavalry  ultimately  became  superi- 
or to  the  rebel.  The  names  of  Sheridan,  of  Kilpatrick,  Wil- 
son, Ouster,  Dahlgren,  Grierson,  Farnsworth,  Straight,  Aver- 
ill,  Pleasanton  and  others,  and  their  daring  raids,  furnish 
attractive  material  for  the  romance  and  adventure  of  the  war. 
I  select  one  exploit,  that  of  Grierson's  raid,  among  others, 
illustrating  this  portion  of  the  civil  war.  No  better  cavalry 
was  ever  organized  than  that  formed  of  the  bold  riders  of 
the  prairies.  No  more  dashing  soldier  than  Benjamin  H. 
Grierson,  and  no  more  hardy  and  enduring  horsemen  than 
he  commanded,  could  be  found  on  either  side,  during  the 
civil  war.  To  facilitate  the  operations  of  Grant  around 
Vicksburg,  and  distract  the  attention  of  the  enemy,  it  was 
decided  to  make  a  cavalry  march  in  the  rear  of  that  place, 
and  destroy  the  railroad  communications,  and  prevent 
reinforcements. 

Colonel  Grierson  of  Illinois,  commanding  the  first  Cavalry 
Brigade,  had  before  sought  permission  to  make  a  raid  through 
Mississippi,  and  had  failed  to  obtain  the  approval  of  Grant ; 
but  early  in  April,  he  was  instructed  to  prepare  for  the  ex- 
pedition. He  was  at  La  Grange,  in  Tennessee,  fifty  miles 
east  of  Memphis.  With  three  regiments  of  cavalry  about 


GRIERSON'S  RAID.  409 

1,700  men,  two  of  them  from  Illinois,  and  one  from  Iowa,  he 
started  to  march  through  the  Confederacy.  He  had  rivers 
to  swim,  swamps  to  cross,  a  hostile  country  full  of  military 
posts  to  pass  through.  Sixteen  days  of  such  marching  and 
fighting  as  brought  him  to  Baton  Rogue  on  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico, 800  miles  distant,  have  perhaps  never  before  been  per- 
formed. During  this  period  the  men  were  for  the  larger  part 
of  the  time  in  the  saddle.  Their  exhausted  horses  were  con- 
stantly exchanged  for  the  blooded  animals  found  in  the  sta- 
bles of  the  plantations  of  Mississippi.  The  rebels  who  fol- 
lowed, discovering  that  they  burned  the  bridges  behind  them, 
saw  that  they  were  bound  for  the  gulf.  Cavalry  was  sent 
from  every  direction  to  close  in  upon  and  destroy  them. 
With  a  skill,  and  strategy,  and  bravery  rarely  equaled,  they 
eluded  the  force  that  was  too  strong,  and  fought  and  crushed 
the  force  that  was  not  too  strong  to  fight.  Fording  and 
swimming  rivers,  exploring  dark,  interminable  forests, 
through  vast  swamps  and  marshes,  with  no  guide  but  the 
compass,  and  the  ever  faithful  negro,  they  held  on  their  way. 
At  Pearl  river,  the  command  barely  escaped.  It  was  known 
that  the  river  was  too  high  to  be  forded.  The  bridge  must 
be  reached  and  the  troops  cross,  or  they  would  be  lost.  Large 
rebel  forces  were  in  their  rear  and  flank,  and  rebel  scouts  had 
gone  forward  to  destroy  the  bridge.  Delay  was  fatal ;  and 
Grierson  snatching  a  few  hours  rest,  after  a  march  of  more 
than  sixty  miles  on  Monday,  the  22d  of  Aprjl,  with  the  dawn 
of  day,  directed  the  bugle  to  sound  the  advance  of  the  weary 
and  well  nigh  exhausted  men.  Then  it  became  a  race  for 
freedom  and  life,  against  capture  and  death.  Spurring  for- 
ward, they  flew  on  like  the  wind.  Across  the  bridge  only 
was  safety.  It  was  a  fearful  race,  but  their  blooded  animals 
held  out,  and  on  they  sped.  Soon  they  heard  the  roar  of  the 
swollen  waters,  and  saw  men  at  work  tearing  up  the  planks. 
The  bugle  sounded  the  charge,  and  on  they  went  at  the  top 
of  their  speed,  and  charged  upon  the  rebel  force  at  the  bank 
of  the  river.  The  bridge  destroyers  were  scattered  like  chaff, 
the  bridge  rescued,  and  the  command  was  across  in  safety ! 


410        LINCOLN  AND  ^HE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

During  this  wonderful  ride,  they  destroyed  for  many  miles 
three  railroads,  burned  nine  important  bridges,  destroyed  lo- 
comotives and  hundreds  of  cars,  broke  up  and  scattered  three 
rebel  camps,  destroyed  more  than  four  millions  of  confeder- 
ate government  property,  brought  in  1,200  captured  horses 
besides  those  broken  down  and  abandoned,  and  five  hundred 
negroes.  The  latter  were  of  greatest  value  as  guides,  and 
welcomed  the  National  blue  and  the  flag,  as  that  of  their  de- 
liverers. The  enemy  made  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to  sur- 
round and  capture  them.  Thirteen  hundred  cavalry  were 
dispatched  to  intercept  them  from  Mobile  ;  a  thousand  from 
Port  Hudson  ;  many  from  Pearl  river,  and  two  thousand  from 
Columbia,  were  sent  to  cut  them  off,  besides  infantry, 
who  were  marching  from  all  points.  This  raid  will  ever  re- 
main a  most  attractive  theme  for  the  poet  and  the  orator.  It 
has  scarcely  a  parallel  for  successful  hardihood  and  endur- 
ance. 

In  July  1863,  John  Morgan,  a  Kentucky  guerrilla,  attempt- 
ed, with  4,000  men  and  10  pieces  of  artillery,  to  make  a  raid 
through  Indiana  and  Ohio,  and  to  emulate  the  success  of 
Grierson.  He  was  a  bold  and  active  leader.  He  succeeded 
in  crossing  the  Ohio,  in  cutting  some  railroads,  and  doing 
other  damage ;  but  the  final  result,  after  a  dispersion  of  his 
force,  and  a  desperate  effort  on  his  part  to  escape  by  recross- 
ing  the  Ohio,  was  thus  announced  by  Colonel  Shackleford, 
under  date  of  July  26th  :  "By  the  blessing  of  Almighty 
God,  I  have  succeeded  in  capturing  General  John  Morgan, 
Colonel  Chike,  and  the  remainder  of  the  command,  amount- 
ing to  about  400  prisoners." 

A  land  force  under  General  Banks  who  had  succeeded 
General  Butler  in  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the 
Gulf,  in  conjunction  with  the  fleet  of  the  indomitable  Far- 
ragut,  on  the  8th  of  May  invested  Port  Hudson.  Several 
most  gallant  assaults  were  made,  in  which  the  colored  sol- 
diers behaved  with  a  heroism  and  persistence  rivaling  those 
of  their  white  associates.  The  negroes  fought  to  vindicate 
their  right  to  their  lately  acquired  freedom.  As  they  charged 
bravely  up  to  the  strong  fortifications. 


CAPTURE   OF   PORT   HUDSON.  til 

"  Now,"  the  flag-sergeant  cried, 
Though  death  and  hell  betide, 
Let  the  whole  nation  see 
If  we  are  fit  to  be 
Free  in  this  land. 

Hundreds  on  hundreds  fell, 
#         #         *         * 

Oh,  to  the  living  few, 
Soldiers  be  just  and  true ; 
Hail  them  as  comrades  tried, 
Fight  with  them  side  by  side; 
Never  in  field  or  tent 
Scorn  the  black  regiment.'* 

On  the  9th  of  July,  on  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  surren- 
der of  Yicksburg,  the  garrison  of  Port  Hudson,  number- 
ing over  5,000  men  and  50  pieces  of  artillery,  surrendered 
to  General  Banks.  And  now,  the  Mississippi  was  once 
more  clear.  The  soldiers  of  the  Northwest  had  hewn  their 
way  to  the  Gulf.  "  Thanks  to  the  Northwest,  but  not  to  the 
Northwest  alone.  Three  hundred  miles  up,  they  met  New 
England,  Empire,  Keystone  and  Jersey,  hewing  their  way 
right  and  left.  The  sunny  South,  too,  jotted  down  their  part 
in  history,  in  black  and  white."  *  From  the  land  of  snow  to 
the  land  of  flowers,  the  whole  length  of  the  Mississippi  was 
once  more  beneath  the  old  flag. 

From  the  decisive  successes  in  the  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, we  must  return  to  record  another  great  diaster  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  repulse  at  Fredericksburg  was  followed  by  a 
change  of  commanders;  the  modest,  faithful,  but  in  that 
most  sad  movement  at  Fredericksburg,  unfortunate  Burn- 
side,  gave  place  to  the  dashing,  fighting  Joe  Hooker;  and 
yet  Chancellorville  was  scarcely  less  disastrous  than 
Fredericksburg. 

On  the  28th  of  January,  General  Burnside  at  his  own  re- 
quest was  relieved,  and  the  vast  army  of  the  Potomac  trans- 
ferred to  General  Joseph  Hooker.  General  Burnside  in 
general  orders,  gracefully  asked  his  army  to  "  give  to  the 

•  See  Mr.  Lincoln's  letter  to  the  Illinois  Convention.— McPherson,  p.  335-6. 


412  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

brave  and  skillful  General  who  has  long  been  identified  with 
your  organization,  and  who  is  now  to  command  you,  your 
ft  11  and  cordial  support."  Hooker  entered  upon  his  position 
with  sanguine  hopes  of  decisive  success.  He  said  to  his  sol- 
diers, "  with  the  blessing  of  God,  we  will  contribute  some- 
thing to  the  renown  of  our  arms,  and  the  success  of  our 
cause."  The  same  order  which  relieved  Burnside  and  as- 
signed Hooker  to  the  command,  relieved  Sumner  and  Frank- 
lin from  command  of  the  right  and  left  divisions  of  the  army 
of  the  Potomac. 

Three  months  were  passed  in  preparation,  by  General 
Hooker,  and  he  then  expressed  the  opinion  that  no  army  in 
the  world  could  ewithstand  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  its 
condition  at  that  time.  On  the  27th  of  April,  he  pushed  three 
divisions  of  his  army  North,  to  Kelley's  Ford,  twenty-five 
miles  above  Fredericksburg ;  by  the  30th  of  April,  he  had 
reached  Chancellorville,  five  or  six  miles  Northwest  of  that 
place.  The  other  divisions  had  crossed  and  joined  him,  leav- 
ing General  Sedgwick  with  one  division  opposite  Fredericks- 
burg.  On  the  2d  of  May,  the  left  wing  of  Lee's  army,  under 
the  gallant  Stonewell  Jackson,  made  a  sudden  and  fierce  attack 
upon  the  Eleventh  Corps,  and  drove  in  the  Union  right. 
By  the  bright  moonlight  which  followed,  the  enemy  were 
driven  back. 

On  Sunday,  the  3d  of  May,  the  conflict  was  renewed  at 
5  A.  M.,  and  raged  with  fearful  violence,  until  near  noon. 
General  Hooker  gradually  contracted  his  lines ;  his  head- 
quarters were  moved  from  the  Chancellorville  House,  and 
the  house  itself  burned  by  a  shell  from  the  enemy.  During 
Sunday  afternoon,  Lee  attempted  several  times  to  force  the 
lines  of  Hooker,  but  failed.  Meanwhile,  General  Sedgwick 
had  been  ordered  on  Saturday  to  cross  the  Rappahannock, 
march  by  a  plank  road  towards  Chancellorville,  and  connect 
with  Hooker's  right. 

General  Sedgwick  moving  out  towards  Hooker,  about  five 
o'clock  Sunday  afternoon,  encountered  the  enemy.  Remain- 
ing in  line  of  battle  during  the  night,  on  the  morning  of  the 
fourth,  he  was  attacked  in  strong  force  by  Lee.  Being  pressed 
by  nearly  the  whole  rebel  army,  he  made  a  most  brave  fight, 


CHANCELLORVILLE.  413 

gradually  falling  back  towards  Banks'  Ford.  The  fight  lasted 
until  nine  P.  M.,  with  the  severe  loss  to  General  Sedgwick 
of  nearly  4,000  men.  On  Monday  night  he  crossed  the  river 
in  good  order.  "While  these  operations  were  going  on,  Gen- 
eral Hooker  was  strengthening  his  position.  On  Tuesday  pre- 
parations were  made  to  recross  the  Rappahannock,  and  by 
"Wednesday,  this  was  successfully  effected.  The  loss  of  the 
Union  army  in  this  movement  was  between  11,000  and 
12,000  men  killed  and  wounded,  besides  a  large  number  of 
prisoners.  The  loss  of  the  rebels  was  less;  but  among 
the  casualties  was  the  mortal  wound  received  by  Stonewall 
Jackson,  the  most  accomplished  soldier  in  the  rebel  army. 
It  was  in  the  nature  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  do  full  justice  to  his 
enemies.  The  heroism  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  rebel  as  he  was, 
touched  him,  and  he  said  to  one  who  spoke  kindly  of  him,* 
"  I  honor  you  for  your  generosity  to  one  who,  though  con- 
tending against  us  in  a  guilty  cause,  was  nevertheless,  a 
gallant  man.  Let  us  forget  his  sins  over  his  fresh-made 
grave." 

The  failure  of  this  movement  was,  obviously  from  want  of 
cooperation.  Mr.  Stanton,  the  Secretary  of  "War,  on  the  8th 
of  May,  after  a  visit  to  the  army,  says,  "  that  not  more  than 
one-third  of  General  Hooker's  force  was  engaged." 

Lee  now  assumed  the  offensive,  and  advancing  again  into 
the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  crossed  into  Maryland.  The 
movement  of  Lee  began  on  the  3d  of  June.  It  was  his  pur- 
pose to  strike  a  decisive  blow;  for  this  object,  an  army  of  at 
least  100,000  men  had  been  collected,  and  the  old  rebel  chiefs 
with  the  exception  of  Jackson,  once  more  came  down  the 
Valley ;  Longstreet,  Ewell  and  the  Hills,  determined  to 
invade  Pennsylvania  and  the  North. 

Hooker  penetrated  the  object  of  Lee,  and  marching  on 
an  interior  line,  covered  "Washington,  and  kept  his  army 
ready  to  strike  the  enemy  with  effect.  In  view  of  the  threat- 
ening aspect  of  affairs,  President  Lincoln  on  the  15th  of 
June,  issued  a  call  for  100,000  militia  to  serve  for  six  months. 
New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  West  Virginia  and 
Ohio,  quickly  responded  to  this  call.  Defensive  works  were 

*  Colonel  J.  W.  Forney,  of  the  Washington  Chronicle 


414       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

constructed  at  Baltimore  and  Harrisburg;  and  such  was  the 
alarm,  that  even  in  Philadelphia,  valuables  were  sent  further 
North. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  General  Lee,  having  entered  Penn- 
sylvania, occupied  Chambersburg.  Learning  that  Hooker's 
army  had  crossed  the  Potomac,  and  was  advancing  North- 
ward, he  gave  orders  for  the  concentration  of  his  forces  at 
Gettysburg.  On  the  27th,  General  Hooker,  in  consequence 
of  a  refusal  by  Halleck  to  order  the  troops  at  Harper's  Ferry 
to  join  him,  asked  to  be  relieved,  and  Halleck  gladly  issued 
the  order  by  which  he  was  relieved,  and  the  command  of  the 
army  transferred  to  General  Meade.  On  that  day,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Union  army  were  at  Frederick  city,  and  that 
of  the  slaveholders  army  was  at  Hagerstown.  The  Union 
force  being  thus  interposed  between  the  rebels,  and  Baltimore 
and  Washington.  On  the  30th,  General  Meade  issued 
an  address  to  his  army,  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  im- 
portant issue  involved  in  the  approaching  conflict.  "  Homes, 
firesides  and  domestic  altars  are  involved.  The  army  has 
fought  well  heretofore;  it  is  believed  it  will  fight  more 
desperately  and  bravely  than  ever." 

On  Wednesday  General  Reynolds  of  the  First  Corps, 
marching  directly  through  the  town  of  Gettysburg,  came 
unexpectedly  upon  the  enemy.  The  heroic  General  Wads- 
worth,  who  had  left  his  princely  estate  on  the  banks  of  the 
Genessee,  in  western  New  York,  (estates  upon  which  it  is 
said  he  could  ride  for  nearly  fifty  miles  upon  his  own  lands,) 
a  volunteer  for  liberty  and  Union,  led  the  advance;  the  divi- 
sion of  General  Doubleday,  one  of  the  subordinates  of  An- 
derson at  Fort  Sumter  followed,  and  formed  on  the  left,  with 
Robinson  on  the  right.  On  discovering  the  enemy  in  force, 
Reynolds  sent  word  to  Howard  to  hasten  up  the  Eleventh; 
that  Eleventh,  that  since  Chancellorsville  was  in  disgrace;  a 
disgrace  that  must  now  be  wiped  out. 

The  advance  encountered  a  heavy  force  of  the  enemy,  and 
was  forced  back,  but  retired  in  good  order.  The  enemy 
rashly  pressing  too  far,  on  the  centre,  the  left  closed  in  upon 
them,  and  took  many  prisoners.  As  General  Reynolds  was 
pressing  up  to  the  front,  lie  was  killed  by  a  sharpshooter.  At 
1  P.  M.,  the  gallant  Howard  riding  in  advance  of  his  corps, 


GETTYSBURG.  415 

reached  the  field  and  assumed  command,  leaving  his  corps  in 
charge  of  the  gallant  young  soldier  and  eloquent  German 
orator,  Carl  Schurz.  The  death  of  Reynolds  left  Doubleday 
in  command  of  the  First  Corps.  At  half  .past  two,  from  the 
heights  of  Cemetery  Hill,  could  be  seen  the  long  line  of  rebel 
grey  backs  under  Ewell,  the  famous  brigade  which  Stone- 
wall Jackson  had  so  often  led  to  victory,  as  they  advanced. 
They  were  met  by  a  fire  so  sharp,  as  to  cause  them  to  fall 
back.  Twice  the  rebels  were  repulsed,  but  being  reenforced, 
the  remnants  of  the  First  Corps  were  ordered  back  to  the 
town.  In  moving,  thie  left  of  the  Eleventh  was  exposed,  and 
a  heavy  rebel  advance  compelled  it  to  fall  back  in  some 
confusion.  The  enemy  pursued  and  took  possession  of  the 
town,  while  the  two  corps  took  possession  of  the  "Western 
slope  of  the  hill. 

While  the  Union  troops  were  being  driven  by  superior 
numbers  through  the  town,  a  rapid  and  general  charge  might 
possibly  have  destroyed  these  two  corps;  but  it  was  not 
made,  and  their  commander,  the  one  armed  hero  Howard, 
posted  them  on  a  commanding  eminence  south  of  the  town 
called  Cemetery  Hill,  and  prepared  for  the  shock.  When  the 
line  of  grey  again  advanced,  it  met  a  shower  of  balls  and 
shells  which  arrested  its  progress.  It  had  been  a  fearful 
and  bloody  fight;  one  single  brigade,  which  under  Wadsworth 
held  the  left,  going  into  battle  with  1,820  men,  came  out  with 
only  700. 

Thus  ended  the  first  day's  conflict.  Each  army  was  being 
concentrated  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Howard  had  seized  and 
occupied  Cemetery  Hill  south,  and  a  little  east  of  the  village. 
To  the  right  of  it,  the  hills  extended  to  Rocky  creek,  and 
across  this  was  Wolf  Hill ;  while  to  the  left,  the  hills  ex- 
tended south,  and  bending  a  little  west  to  the  Round  Top. 
The  Union  army  was  posted  on  these  hills,  in  shape  like  a 
crescent,  with  its  center  on  Cemetery  Hill,  and  its  left  extend- 
ing to  Round  Top,  and  its  right  to  Rock  Creek.  It  had  the 
advantage  of  position,  and  was  so  placed  that  the  wings  and 
centre  could  readily  support  each  other. 

At  dark  on  Wednesday  evening,  the  Third  and  Twelfth 
corps  came  in  and  were  posted,  the  former  on  the  ridge  ex- 
tending south  and  to  the  left  of  Cemetery  Hill,  and  the  lat- 


416       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

ter  on  the  same  ridge  as  it  curved  to  the  right.  The  Third 
came  up  during  Wednesday  night,  and  the  Fifth  at  10  o'clock 
Thursday  morning.  At  11  o'clock  at  night  General  Meade 
arrived  upon  the  field  and  placed  the  troops  in  order  of  bat- 
tle. Howard  with  the  llth,  what  was  left  of  the  1st  and  the 
2d  under  the  gallant  Hancock,  constituted  the  centre.  The 
12th  under  Slocum  held  the  right.  The  3d  under  Sickles, 
and  the  5th,  after  its  arrival,  were  placed  on  the  extreme 
left.  The  Union  army  was  so  compact,  that  troops  could  be 
readily  removed  from  either  wing  to  the  other,  or  to  the  cen- 
tre, as  they  might  be  needed.  General  Meade  had  his  head- 
quarters on  the  ridge,  in  the  rear  of  the  cemetery,  and  more 
than  one  hundred  guns  bristled  along  the  crest  of  these  hills 
fronting  the  enemy,  and  were  confronted  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  guns  of  the  rebels.  An  effort  was  made  to  induce 
Meade  to  assume  the  offensive  and  attack  on  Thursday  morn- 
ing, pouring  his  whole  army  on  the  rebel  centre,  and  smash- 
ing through-dividing  it  into  two  parts;  but  Meade  wisely  pre- 
ferred to  await  the  attack  in  his  strong  position.  Thus  the 
bright  July  morning  wore  away,  and  no  movement  of  impor- 
tance was  made  until  near  the  middle  of  the  afternoon. 

Lee  had  ordered  a  general  attack  by  Longstreet  on  the 
Union  left  and  centre,  to  be  followed  by  Hill.  While  pre- 
parations were  being  made  in  the  rebel  army  for  this  move- 
ment, Sickles  sent  Berdan's  regiment  of  sharp  shooters  into 
the  woods  in  his  front,  and  they  advancing  a  mile,  descried 
the  grey-backs  moving  large  masses  to  turn  the  Union  left. 
Longstreet  was  bringing  his  whole  corps,  nearly  a  third  of 
the  slave  holder's  army,  to  precipitate  it  upon  the  Union  left. 
Sickles  immediately  moved  out  and  occupied  another  ridge, 
which  he  thought  a  more  commanding  position  than  the  one 
in  which  he  had  been  placed,  but  which  did  not  connect  with 
the  main  force.  His  left  rested  upon  Round  Top  hill.  On 
came  the  rebels,  and  both  armies  opened  with  artillery.  Then 
came  the  wild  yell,  and  the  charge  of  the  grey  backs  is  met  by 
a  storm  of  grape  and  cannister,  their  line  is  shattered  and 
sent  whirling  back ;  directly  another  line  debouches  from 
the  forest, ,and  another  and  weightier  charge  is  approaching. 
General  Warren,  who  as  chief  of  staff  is  watching  tke  fight, 


GETTYSBURG  417 

sends  for  reinforcements.  Sedgwick  and  the  fighting  Sixth 
are  not  yet  available.  Sickles  holds  on  desperately ;  aid  after 
aid  is  dispatched  for  help ;  but  from  the  clouds  of  smoke  and 
flame  it  is  seen  that  Sickles  is  being  pushed  back.  He  fi- 
nally yields  so  far  as  to  occupy  his  first  position,  and  the  5th 
corps  comes  to  his  support,  and  the  brigades  winding  down 
among  the  rocks  to  the  front  brace  up  his  lines,  and  like  a 
rock  turn  back  the  assaulting  columns.  Longstreet  is  re- 
pulsed, and  now  Anderson  moves  upon  the  Union  centre. 
With  massed  columns,  and  the  well  known  yell  with  which 
the  rebels  ever  charge  they  come  swarming  on.  Hancock 
repels  the  assault.  Sickles,  severely  wounded  is  borne  from 
the  front,  and  Birney  the  abolitionist,  assumes  command. 

The  conflict  in  the  centre  rages  fiercely.  Hancock  is 
wounded  in  the  thigh,  and  Gibbon  in  the  shoulder.  The 
First  and  Second  wavered ;  the  rebels  pressed  to  the  muzzle 
of  the  batteries,  shot  down  the  artillery  horses,  and  the  fight 
was  hand  to  hand,  when  the  banners  of  the  welcome  Sixth 
corps  under  the  brave  Sedgwick  came  up.  Although  wearied 
with  a  march  of  32  miles  in  17  hours,  they  hurried  forward 
with  shouts  to  the  rescue  and  the  enemy  were  hurled  back, 
repulsed — destroyed.  The  right  had  been  weakened  to  sus- 
tain the  left  and  centre ;  and  now  Ewell  made  a  dash  upon 
Slocum  on  the  extreme  right.  For  a  short  time  the  attack 
was  most  ferocious ;  but  a  part  of  the  Sixth  and  some  of  the 
First  came  again  at  the  critical  moment,  and  the  enemy,  al- 
though they  had  succeeded  in  taking  some  positions  held  by 
Slocum,  were  finally  driven  back,  and  the  day  closed  with  the 
rebels  repulsed  from  every  part  of  the  field.  It  had  been  a 
bloody  day.  Sickles'  and  Hancock's  corps  had  been  badly 
shattered  ;  both  these  commanders  wounded, — Sickles  with  a 
leg  shot  off.  For  miles,  every  house  and  barn  was  filled  with 
'the  wounded  and  the  dying.  Thursday  had  gone  and  yet 
the  result  was  not  decided.  Friday  came,  and  Northern  per- 
sistence was  to  crown  with  victory  the  three  days  struggle. 

Early  in  the  morning  a  file  of  soldiers  marched  slowly  to 
the  rear,  bearing  tenderly  upon  a  stretcher  the  heroic  Sick- 
les ;  — yesterday  leading  his  corps  with  the  dash  and  spirit 
for  which  he  was  ever  distinguished  ;  to-day,  with  his  right 
27 


418  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

leg  amputated,  grave  and  stoical,  his  cap  drawn  over  his  face, 
and  a  cigar  in  his  mouth.  The  enemy  opened  at  daylight 
with  artillery.  At  dawn  General  Slocum  made  an  attack 
on  Ewell ;  he  commanded  it. will  be  remembered  Stonewall 
Jackson's  men,  and  the  fight  was  maintained  with  equal  spirit 
on  both  sides,  Slocum  being  aided  by  Sykes'  division  of  the 
3d  corps  and  Humphreys.  Ewell's  forces  were  at  length 
driven  back,  and  at  11  o'clock,  a.  m.,  there  was  a  lull  and 
quiet  on  the  bloody  field. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  key  to  the  Union  position  was 
Cemetery  Hill.  Lee  determined  to  make  a  desperate  ef- 
fort to  get  possession  of  this  hill.  "With  this  purpose  he  con- 
centrated upon  that  hill  the  concentric  fire  of  more  than  100 
guns,  ranged  in  a  half  circle.  The  lull  had  continued  until 
near  1.  p.  m.  Meade,  Howard,  and  other  leaders  were  watch- 
ing for  the  attack,  when  at  1  o'clock,  the  thunder  of  an  hundred 
heavy  guns  burst  upon  the  position.  It  was  held  by  the 
llth  and  12th  corps.  The  storm  came  suddenly.  Soldiers 
and  officers  worn  with  battle  and  seeking  rest  were  scattered 
upon  the  grass.  Many  were  struck  as  they  lay;  some  died 
with  cigars  in  their  mouths,  some  at  their  dinners  on  the 
crest  of  the  hill,  and  some  with  letters  and  photographs  of 
friends  in  their  hands,  taking  a  last  fond  look  before  the  battle 
which  all  knew  was  to  be  decisive,  and  fatal  to  many.  Horses 
were  shot  down  as  they  stood  quietly  waiting  for  the  riders 
to  mount.  The  air  in  an  instant  was  filled  with  missiles  and 
splinters ;  the  earth  and  rocks  torn  up  and  shattered,  filled 
the  air  with  clouds  of  dust ;  the  branches  of  trees  were  torn 
off,  and  the  grave  stones  and  monuments  scattered  in  wild 
confusion.  Within  five  minutes  after  the  terrific  rain  of  death 
began,  the  hill  was  cleared  in  all  its  unsheltered  places  of 
every  living  thing.  All  but  the  dead  sought  shelter.  For  an 
l^mr  and  a  half,  this  terrible  concentrated  fire  on  Cemetery 
Hill  was  continued,  and  was  replied  to  with  equal  vigor  by 
the  batteries  on  the  ridge  and  range  of  hills.  After  the  can- 
nonade had  continued  about  three  hours,  General  Howard 
slackened  his  fire  to  allow  his  guns  to  cool.  It  was  supposed 
by  the  enemy  that  our  batteries  were  silenced,  and  that  the 
time  for  an  irresistible  charge  had  come.  The  divisions  of 


GETTYSBURG.  419 

Virginians  under  General  Picket,  led  the  advance  supported 
by  large  bodies  of  other  troops.  As  the  leading  col- 
umns of  the  advance  emerged  from  the  woods  and  be- 
came fully  exposed  to  the  Union  fire,  it  wavered.  But 
Picket's  brigades  did  not  falter;  although  they  were  ex- 
pose(f  to  the  terrific  fire  of  grape,  canister  and  shell 
from  at  least  forty  guns,  with  a  bravery  worthy  of  old 
Virginia,  they  still  held  on  their  way  steady  and  firm,  clos- 
ing up  their  ranks  as  their  comrades  were  cut  down.  They 
crossed  the  Emmettsburg  road,  and  approach  the  masses  of 
infantry.  General  Gibbon,  now  in  command  of  the  Second 
corps,  bare  headed,  walks  along  his  line,  shouting,  "  hold 
your  fire,  boys,  they  are  not  near  enough  yet."  Still  they 
came,  on,  and  with  fixed  bayonets  sweep  up  to  the  rifle  pits. 
"  Now  fire  !"  thundered  Gibbon.  A  blaze  of  death  all  along 
the  line  of  the  Second  corps  followed ;  down  go  the  rebels, 
but  the  survivors  do  not  yet  falter ;  they  charge  on  the  pits, 
— on  they  press,  up  to  the  muzzles  of  the  artillery ;  but  here 
they  are  'met  with  such  storms  of  grape  and  canister,  that 
the  survivors  throw  down  their  arms  and  surrender,  rather 
than  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  retreat.  Three  thousand 
prisoners  were  taken.  The  result  is  thus  stated  by  General 
Meade  in  a  dispatch  dated  at  8.30.  P.  M.  : 

"  The  enemy  opened  at  one  o'clock,  P.  M.  from  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  guns.  They  concentrated  upon  my  left  centre,  continuing 
without  intermission  for  about  three  hours,  at  the  expiration  of  which 
time  they  assaulted  my  left  centre  twice,  heing  upon  both  occasions 
handsomely  repulsed  with  severe  loss  to  them,  leaving  in  our  hands 
nearly  three  thousand  prisoners."* 

When  the  repulse  was  complete,  whole  companies  and 
regiments  threw  down  their  arms  and  surrendered,  to  avoid 
the  terrific  fire  to  which  they  were  exposed.  The  battle  was 
over.  The  army  of  the  Potomac  had  again  vindicated  its 
bravery  and  its  endurance.  As  General  Meade  rode  proudly 
yet  sadly  over  the  bloody  field,  a  band  passing,  struck  up 
"  Hail  to  the  Chief." 

*  Military  and  Naval  History  of  the  Rebellion,  page  404.    Vide  Meade's  Report 


420       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  next  morning  was  as  sweet,  fresh,  and  balmy  as  though 
the  storm  of  death  had  not  been  sweeping  for  three  long  days 
over  these  quiet,  pastoral  Pennsylvania  hills  and  valleys. 
Alas!  must  the  historian  forever,  to  the  last  period  of 
recorded  time,  recount  these  terrible  scenes  of  slaughter 
suffering  and  death !  * 

Lee  was  in  no  condition  to  renew  the  attack.  His  ammu- 
nition was  short,  the  spirit  of  his  army  broken,  andyetMeade 
made  no  vigorous  pursuit.  The  rebel  loss  was  14,000  prisoners, 
and  probably  25,000  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  The 
Union  loss  was  about  23,000  in  all.  Few  battles  in  ancient  or 
modern  times  have  been  more  severely  contested;  few  where 
greater  numbers  were  engaged,  and  where  there  was  a  greater 
loss  of  life;  none  where  more  heroic  valor  was  displayed  on 
both  sides.  Had  Sheridan,  or  Grant,  or  McPherson,  com- 
manded in  place  of  Meade,  it  is  believed  Lee's  army  would 
never  have  recrossed  the  Potomac. 

We  have  seen  with  how  grateful  a  heart  Lincoln  returned 
thanks  to  Grant  and  his  brave  officers  and  soldiers  in  the 
West.  He  received  the  intelligence  of  the  victory  of  the 
army  of  the  Potomac  with  emotions  not  less  warm.  On  the 
4th  of  July,  he  issued  the  following  announcement: 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States  announces  to  the  country,  that 
the  news  from  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  up  to  ten  o'clock  P.  M.,  of  the 
3d,  is  such  as  to  cover  the  army  with  the  highest  honor — to  promise 
great  success  to  the  cause  of  the  Union — and  to  claim  the  condolence 
of  all  for  the  many  gallant  fallen;  and  that  for  this,  he  especially  desires 
that  on  this  day,  '  He  whose  will,  not  ours,  should  ever  be  done/  be 
everywhere  remembered  and  reverenced  with  the  profoundest 
gratitude."  * 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  made  devotional,  reverential,  hum- 
ble, by  the  great  events  in  which  he  lived;  and  his  State 
papers,  his  letters  and  addresses  indicate  more  and  more 
even  to  the  day  of  his  death,  a  consciousness  of  the  Divine 
Government. 

On  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  July,  the  popular  exultation 
over  these  successes  found  expression  in  a  serenade  to  the 

«  Military  and  Naval  History  of  the  War,  p  605. 


GETTYSBURG.  421 

President.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  :  "  I  do  most  sincerely  thank 
Almighty  God  for  the  occasion  of  this  call;"  and  ever  mind- 
ful of  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
which  were  the  basis  of  his  political  creed,  he  said  :  "  How 
long  ago  is  it?  Eighty  odd  years  since  on  the  4th  of  July,  for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world,  a  Nation  by  its 
Representatives,  assembled  and  declared  as  a  self-evident 
truth,  that  all  men  are  created  equal  :  That  was  the  birth  day 
of  the  United  States  of  America."  He  then  alluded  to  the 
other  extraordinary  events  in  American  history  which  had 
occurred  on  the  4th  of  July  —  the  death  of  Jefferson  and 
Adams  on  that  day,  and  said  :  "  And  now  at  this  last  4th  of 
July  just  passed,  we  have  a  gigantic  rebellion,  at  the  bottom 
of  which,  is  an  effort  to  overthrow  the  principle  that  all  men 
are  created  equal.  We  have  the  surrender  of  a  most  important 
position;  and  an  army  on  that  very  day."  And  then  he  al- 
4luded  proudly  and  gratefully  to  the  battles  in  Pennsylvania, 
on  the  1st,  2d,  and  3d  of  July,  as  the  victory  over  the  cohorts 
of  those  who  opposed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  the  President  issued  his  proclamation, 
breathing  throughout  a  spirit  of  grateful  reverence  to  God, 
of  supreme  love  of  country,  and  of  liberty,  and  sympathy 
with  the  afflicted  and  the  suffering.  He  said: 

"  It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  hearken  to  the  supplications  and 
prayers  of  an  afflicted  people,  and  to  vouchsafe  to  the  army  and  the  navy 
of  the  United  States,  victories  on  the  land  and  on  the  sea,  so  signal 
and  so  effective,  as  to  furnish  reasonable  ground  for  augmented  confi- 
dence, that  the  Union  of  these  States  will  be  maintained,  their  Consti- 
tution preserved,  and  their  peace  and  prosperity  permanently  restored. 
But  these  victories  have  been  accorded  not  without  sacrifice  of  life, 
limb,  health  and  liberty,  incurred  by  brave,  loyal  and  patriotic  citizens. 
Domestic  affliction,  in  every  part  of  the  country,  follows  in  the  train  of 
these  fearful  bereavements.  It  is  meet  and  right  to  recognize  and  con- 
fess the  presence  of  the  Almighty  Father,  and  the  power  of  His  hand, 
equalJy  in  these  triumphs  and  these  sorrows."  * 

He  then  invited  the  people  to  assemble  on  the  4th  of 
,  for  thanksgiving,  praise  and  prayer,  and  to  render 


Military  and  Naval  History,  p.  408. 


422       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

homage  to  the  Divine  Majesty,  for  the  wonderful  things  He 
has  done  in  the  Nation's  behalf;  and  he  called  upon  the  peo- 
ple to  invoke  His  Holy  Spirit  to  subdue  the  anger  which  had 
produced,  and  so  long  sustained  a  needless  and  cruel  rebel- 
lion ;  to  change  the  hearts  of  the  insurgents,  to  guide  the 
councils  of  the  Government  with  wisdom,  and  to  visit  with 
tender  care  and  consolation,  those  who,  through  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  battles  and  sieges  have  been  brought  to  suffer  in 
mind,  body  or  estate,  and  finally  to  lead  the  whole  Nation 
through  the  paths  of  repentance  and  submission  to  the  Divine 
Will,  to  unity  and  fraternal  peace. 

With  these  most  important  victories  East  and  West,  a 
load  was  lifted  from  the  troubled  heart  of  the  President.  The 
form  bowed  and  almost  broken  with  anxiety,  once  more 
was  erect;  his  eye  grew  visibly  brighter,  and  his  whole  aspect 
became  again  hopeful.  But  it  is  not  proper  to  suppress  the 
fact  that  he  was  greatly  chagrined  that  Meade  permitted  Lee 
and  his  army  again  to  escape  across  the  Potomac*. 

In  the  Autumn  of  this  year  of  battles,  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania purchased  ground  adjoining  the  Cemetery  at  Gettys- 
burg—  a  part  of  the  battle-field,  and  consecrated  it  as  a  Na- 
tional burying  ground  for  the  gallant  soldiers  who  fell  in  the 
great  battles  there  fought.  On  the  19th,  of  November,  this 
ground  was  dedicated  to  its  pious  purpose,  with  solemn  and 
impressive  ceremonies.  The  President,  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  Governors  of  States,  and  a  brilliant  assemblage  of 
officers,  soldiers  and  citizens,  gathered  to  witness  the  pro- 
ceedings. Edward  Everett,  the  venerable  statesman,  and 
world  renowned  scholar  and  orator  was  selected  as  the  most 
suitable  person  to  pronounce  the  oration.  It  was  worthy  of 
the  occasion,  the  theme,  and  of  New  England's  most  polished 
and  graceful  speaker.  President  Lincoln  while  on  his  way 

•Mr.  Carpenter  States  in  his  "Six  Months  at  the  White  House  page  219,"  That 
the  President  in  reply  to  an  enquiry,  whether  he  had  ever  thought  that  better 
management  on  the  part  of  the  commanding  General  might  have  terminated  the 
war,  replied,  "Yes,  at  Malvern  Hill  where  McClellan  failed  to  command  an  imme- 
diate advance  upon  Richmond;  at  Chancellorvilie  when  Hooker  failed  to  re-en- 
force Sedgwick,  after  hearing  his  cannon  upon  the  extreme  right ;  and  at  Gettys- 
burg, when  Meade  failed  to  attack  Lee  in  his  retreat  at  the  bend  of  the  Potomac:" 
"But"  he  added,  "I  do  not  know  that  I  could  have  given  any  different  order 
if  I  had  been  there,  etc." 


LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  AT  GETTYSBURG.  423 

from  the  Capital  to  the  battle-field,  was  notified  that  he 
would  be  expected  to  make  some  remarks.  Retiring  a  short 
time,  he  prepared  the  following  address,  which  for  appro- 
priateness, comprehension,  grasp  of  thought,  brevity,  beauty, 
the  sublime  in  sentiment  and  expression,  has  scarcely  its 
equal  in  English  or  American  literature. 

"When  Everett  had  concluded  his  oration,  the  tall,  homely 
form  of  Lincoln  rose;  simple,  rude,  majestic,  unconscious  of 
himself,  he  slowly  adjusted  his  spectacles,  and  drew  from  his 
pocket  a  manuscript  and  commenced  reading.  Before  the 
first  sentence,  commencing  "Four  score  and  seven  years 
ago"  was  completed,  the  words  arrested  attention,  and  in- 
stantly the  magnetic  influence  of  a  grand  idea  uttered  by 
a  sympathetic  nature  pervaded  the  vast  assembly : 

"  Four  score  and  seven  years  ago,  our  fathers  brought  forth 
on  this  continent,  a  new  Nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and 
dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

"  Now,  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war  testing  whether 
that  Nation,  or  any  Nation,  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated, 
can  long  endure.  "We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that 
war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field,  as  a 
final  resting  place  for  those,  who  here  gave  their  lives  that 
that  Nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper 
that  we  should  do  this. 

"  But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate — we  cannot 
consecrate — we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men, 
living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far 
above  our  poor  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little 
note,  nor  long  remember  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never 
forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us  the  living,  rather,  to 
be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they  who 
fought  here  have  thus  far,  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather 
for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before 
us,  that  from  these  honored  dead,  we  take  increased  devotion 
to  that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  de- 
votion, that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not 
have  died  in  vain;  that  this  Nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a 


424  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

new  birth  of  freedom;  and  that  Government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  and  for  the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the 
earth."  * 

These  twenty  lines  contain  more  than  many  a  volume. 
There  is  nothing  finer  in  Fisher  Ames'  oration  on  the  death 
of  "Washington,  nor  in  the  masterly  address  of  Daniel  "Web- 
ster, in  laying  the  corner  stone  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment. There,  above  the  remains  of  those  who  died  that 
the  Nation  might  live,  he  renewed  the  high  resolve  that  the 
dead  should  not  have  died  in  vain ;  that  this  Nation,  under 
God  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  a  Govern- 
ment "  of  the  people,  by  the,  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not 
perish  from  the  earth." 

Everett's  oration  was  a  polished  specimen  of  consummate 
oratorical  skill.  It  was  perfectly  committed  to  .memory,  and 
pronounced  without  a  note.  Yet  it  was  so  cold,  artistic,  and 
becured  such  admiration  for  the  orator,  as  to  make  the  audi- 
ence at  times,  forget  even  the  dead,  to  admire  his  well  turned 
periods,  but  it  did  not  deeply  touch  the  heart. 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  uttered  the  words  "  the  world  will  little 
note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never 
forget  what  they  did  here,"  he. seemed  so  absorbed  in  the  he- 
roic sacrifices  of  the  soldiers,  as  to  utterly  forget  himself,  but 
his  hearers  were  fully  conscious  that  he  was  the  greatest  actor 
in  all  the  drama,  and  that  he  was  utterin'g  words  which  would 
Live  as  long  as  the  language.  The  magnetism  of  those  who 
heard  him,  extended  to  the  vast  crowds  beyond  the  reach  of 
his  voice,  and  tears,  and  sobs,  and  cheers,  spoke  the  emotions 
which  deeply  moved  the  assemblage,  with  grand,  patriotic, 
heroic  thoughts,  the  sublime  in  action  and  sentiment. 

Closing,  he  turned  to  Mr.  Everett  and  congratulating  him 
on  his  success;  the  orator  gracefully  replied:  "  Ah!  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, how  gladly  I  would  exchange  all  my  hundred  pages,  to 
have  been  the  author  of  your  twenty  lines." 

•Copied  from  the  original. 


OHAPTEE    XIX. 


MILITARY  OPERATIONS  AND  EVENTS  TO  CLOSE  OF  1863. 

RESULTS  OP  GETTYSBURG  VICTORY — LEE'S  RETREAT — ATTEMPT  TO 
RECAPTURE  FORT  DONELSON — CHATTANOOGA — CHICKAMAUGA — 
GRANT  ASSUMES  COMMAND  OF  OHIO,  TENNESSEE,  AND  THE 
CUMBERLAND — BATTLES  OP  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN  AND  MISSION- 
A.RY  RIDGE — SHERMAN  RELIEVES  NASHVILLE — OPERATIONS 
AGAINST  CHARLESTON — MASSACRE  AT  LAWRENCE — THE  DRAPT 
RIOTS  IN  NEW  YORK — NEGRO  SOLDIERS — RETALIATION — LIN- 
COLN'S LETTER  TO  ILLINOIS — ELECTIONS  OP  1863. 

npHE  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  in  its  results  one  of  the 
J-  most  decisive  of  the  war.  The  slaveholder's  army  elated 
by  their  victory  at  Chancellorville,  invaded  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania,  with  the  most  lively  hopes  of  transferring 
the  war  to  the  soil  ofthe  free  States.  They  were  as  they 
boasted,  about  to  water  their  horses  in  the  Susquehanna 
and  the  Delaware.  The  rich  granaries  and  the  prolific  pas- 
tures of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  were  now  about  to 
afford  them  abundant  supplies.  The  vast  stores,  the  wealth 
and  the  plunder  of  the  great  Northern  cities,  were  passing 
vividly  before  the  gloating  imaginations  of  the  soldiers  of 
the  invaders. 

The  savage  threats  made  by  Jefferson  Davis  at  Stevenson, 
Alabama,  on  his  way  to  Montgomery  to  assume  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  confederacy*  when  he  said :  "  We  will  carry 
the  war  where  it  is  easy  to  advance, — where  food  for  the 
sword  and  torch  wait  our  army  in  the  densely  populated 
cities,"  were  now,  they  believed,  about  to  be  realized.  This 
proud  and  arrogant  host  was  met  on  the  hills  of  Gettys- 
burg and  hurled  back,  never  again  in  force  to  cross  the 
border. 

*  Greely's  American  Conflict,  vol.  1,  page  415. 

425 


426      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  losses  on  both  sides  were  very  severe ;  the  entire  Union 
loss  was  2,834  killed,  13,790  wounded  and  6,643  n.ksing. 
Total  23,267.  The  slaveholder's  army  lost  much  more 
heavily.  4,500  dead,  were  buried  by  the  Union  troops,  26,500 
of  their  wounded  troops  were  taken,  besides  13,621  prisoners. 
Total  44,621. 

The  three  day's  fighting  at  Gettysburg  had  nearly  exhaust- 
ed the  ammunition  of  Lee.  His  troops  began  to  withdraw 
on  Saturday,  July  4th,  and  at  dark  Saturday  night,  the  re- 
mains of  his  army  were  nearly  all  in  motion,  retiring  by 
South  Mountain  and  Waterloo  Gap.  He  reached  Hagers- 
town  on  Monday.  On  Tuesday  his  advance  had  gone  six 
miles  south  of  that  place.  General  Meade  lost  by  inactivity 
a  grand  opportunity  of  annihilating  the  army  of  Lee.  He 
did  not  start  himself  in  pursuit  of  Lee  until  after  the  sixth ; 
and,  as  he  says,  on  the  12th  of  July,  he  was  again  in  front 
of  the  enemy,  but  no  immediate  attack  was  made.  General 
Halleck  justly  says :  "  Instead  of  attacking  Lee  in  this  po- 
sition, with  the  swollen  waters  of  the  Potomac  in  his  rear, 
without  any  means  of  crossing  his  artillery,  and  when  a  de- 
feat must  have  caused  the  surrender  of  his  entire  army,  he 
was  allowed  to  construct  a  pontoon  bridge,  with  lumber  col- 
lected from  canal  boats  and  the  ruins  of  wooden  houses."* 
"  The  13th,"  says  Meade,  "  was  occupied  in  reconnoisance 
of  the  enemy's  position  and  preparations  for  an  attack ;  but 
on  advancing  on  the  morning  of  the  14th,  it  was  ascertained 
that  he  had  retired  the  night  previous  by  Falling  Waters,  and 
the  ford  at  Williamsport."  Some  prisoners  were  taken,  but 
the  pursuit  was  not  vigorous  enough  to  be  at  all  decisive. 
July  14th,  General  Meade  telegraphed  to  General  Halleck 
that  "  the  enemy  are  all  across  the  Potomac." 

When  this  dispatch  was  read  to  the  President,  he  could 
not  entirely  restrain  his  impatience.  He  said  :  "  It  seems  as 
though  General  Meade,  like  others,  was  satisfied  in  driving 
the  rebel  army  across  the  Potomac.  Is  not  the  south  side  as 
much  our  country  as  the  other  ?"  But  then  he  immediately 
added  in  substance,  "Meade  has  fought  a  great  battle  and  won 

~~*~8ee  Halleck's  Report,  1862. 


MOVEMENTS   OF   KOSECRANS.  427 

a  great  victory  for  the  country,  and  perhaps  there  are  reasons 
for  his  delays  unknown  to  us." 

Lee  retired  to  the  Rapidan,  and  the  Union  army  took  po- 
sition oh  the  line  of  the  Rappahannock. 

The  two  decisive  events  of  1863,  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  and 
the  victory  of  Gettysburg,  have  been  more  fully  described 
than  is  consistent  with  the  general  plan  of  this  work  in  re- 
gard to  military  operations,  because  those  events  marked  the 
triumphs  of  the  Union  cause  in  the  East,  and  in  the  West. 

Let  us  now  return  to  that  mountainous  middle  country, 
where  love  of  the  Union  and  the  old  flag  was  tested  by  suf- 
fering and  persecution  never  surpassed  in  any  land — Middle 
Tennessee. 

General  Rosecrans,  after  the  battle  of  Stone  River  near 
Murfeesboro',  encamped  near  the  latter  place.  On  the  3d 
of  February,  the  rebels  under  Wheeler,  Forrest  and  Wharton, 
invested  Fort  Donelson,  held  by  Colonel  Harding  of  Illinois, 
and  demanded  its  surrender.  Although  having  only  a  single 
regiment,  he  had  not  the  least  idea  of  surrender,  but  gallant- 
ly defended  the  post  against  repeated  assaults  of  greatly  su- 
perior numbers,  and  finally  beat  off  the  assailants  with  a  loss 
to  them,  equal  to  his  whole  command.  General  Rosecrans 
did  not  commence  a  forward  movement,  until  the  25th  of 
June.  His  long  delay,  his  failure  to  attack  Bragg  while  it 
was  supposed  he  had  weakened  his  army  to  aid  Vicksburg  had 
not  been  satisfactory,  either  to  Halleck  or  the  Secretary  of 
War.  By  a  series  of  skilful  movements,  he  then  compelled 
the  rebel  commander  Bragg,  to  retreat  across  the  Cumber- 
land mountains  upon  Chattanooga,  which  was  strongly 
fortified.  On  the  16th  of  August,  he  was  again  in  mo- 
tion, and  advanced  across  the  Cumberland  mountains, 
Chattanooga  being  the  objective  point.  The  army  suc- 
cessfully crossed  the  Tennessee  in  the  face  of  the  enemy. 
By  skilful  maneuvering  and  marches,  and  occupying  the 
gaps  of  the  mountains,  he  compelled  the  evacuation  of 
Chattanooga.  Meanwhile,  General  Burnside,  who  had 
been  sent  to  the  West,  had  occupied  without  any  serious  re- 
sistance, East  Tennessee. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  the  llth  and  12th  army  corps 


428  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

under  General  Hooker,  were  detached  from  the  army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  sent  to  Tennessee,  Longstreet's  corps  having 
been  sent  to  Bragg  previous  to  this  time.  It  was  discovered 
that  Bragg's  army  had  been  increased  also,  by  the  prisoners 
taken  and  paroled  by  Grant  at  Vicksburg,  thus  shamefully 
violating  their  faith  on  the  part  of  the  chiefs  of  the  slave- 
holders rebellion. 

On  the  19th  of  September  was  commenced  the  battle  of 
Chiokamauga.  The  right  of  the  Union  army  under  Me 
Cook,  the  centre  under  Crittenden,  and  the  left  under  that 
most  admirable  soldier,  faithful  patriot  and  true  gentleman, 
General  George  H.  Thomas.  The  rebels  first  attacked  the 
left,  and  were  repulsed.  Then  the  centre,  which  after  yield- 
ing for  a  short  time  was  reenforced,  and  maintained  its 
ground.  The  battle  ceased  at  night,  and  both  armies  slept 
upon  their  arms.  The  morning  dawned  to  see  the  battle  fu- 
riously renewed  upon  the  Union  left  and  centre.  Owing  to 
a  misapprehension  of  orders,  a  gap  was  left  in  the  Union 
lines  through  which  the  rebels  poured.  Piercing  the  line, 
the  Union  right,  and  right  centre  were  cut  off  and  driven 
back,  and  the  indomitable  Thomas  was  left  to  breast  the  tide 
of  battle  against  the  whole  rebel  army.  The  right  and  cen- 
tre were  broken,  and  fled  in  confusion  to  Chattanooga,  carry- 
ing along  Generals  McCook,  Crittenden  and  Rosecrans  him- 
self. His  Chief  of  Staff,  General  Garfield  joined  Thomas, 
who  still  held  his  position  immovable  against  the  as- 
saults made  upon  him.  Gradually  his  lines  assumed 
a  crescent  form ;  placing  his  back  against  the  mountains, 
and  with  his  flanks  protected  by  the  spurs  of  the  rocky  hills, 
like  a  lion  at  bay,  he  withstood  the  terrible  onsets  of  the 
enemy.  Finally  in  the  afternoon,  a  gap  was  found  by  which 
the  foe  could  reach  his  rear,  and  Longstreet's  legions  began 
to  pour  through. 

Fortunately,  at  this  critical  moment,  General  Gordon  Gran- 
ger who  had  marched  to  the  sound  of  the  cannon,  came  upon 
the  field,  and  on  Thomas  pointing  out  the  gap  to  him,  he 
rapidly  threw  upon  the  columns  of  Lougstreet,  Steedman's 
brigade  of  cavalry.  Swift  was  the  charge,  and  terrible  was 
the  conflict ,  but  the  enemy  was  broken  and  the  gap  seized. 


GRANT   ARRIVES   AND   ASSUMES   COMMAND.  429 

Two  of  Longstreet's  divisions  still  confronted  the  gap,  deter- 
mined to  carry  the  pass.  A  Union  battery  of  six  guns  played 
into  the  gorge,  up  which  they  marched,  carrying  death  into 
their  ranks ;  still  they  charged  nearly  up  to  the  mouth  of  the 
cannon ;  but  grape,  canister  and  musketry  swept  them 
away.  At  sunset,  they  made  their  last  charge.  The  Union 
soldiers  had  exhausted  their  ammunition;  but  with  cold 
steel  they  charged  Longstreet's  veterans,  scattered  them,  and 
the  conflict  was  over,  the  victory  won.  At  night,  the  enemy 
fell  back,  leaving  Thomas  victorious,  with  all  the  honors  of 
this  hard  fought  field.  The  enemy  did  not  renew  the  attack, 
and  he  joined  the  right  and  centre  at  Chattanooga.  The  loss 
of  the  enemy,  as  stated  in  the  rebel  papers,  was  18,000.  The 
Union  loss  was  about  16,351. 

On  the*19th  of  October  General  Grant  arrived  at  Louis- 
ville and  assumed  command  of  the  Departments  of  Tennes- 
see, the  Cumberland  and  Ohio ;  thus  securing  co-operation, 
the  want  of  which  was  obvious ;  General  Sherman  assumed 
command  of  the  Department  of  the  Cumberland,  and  Thomas 
that  of  the  Tennessee. 

When  Thomas  followed  Rosecrans  to  Chattanooga  after 
the  desperate  fight  at  Chickamauga,  the  rebels  advanced  and 
occupied  the  passes  and  heights  of  Lookout  mountain,  and 
Missionary  Ridge,  and  substantially  invested  Chattanooga. 

Lougstreet  was  sent  to  drive  Burnside  out  of  East  Tennes- 
see. Supplies  for  the  Union  army  were  now  obtained  with  the 
greatest  difficulty.  The  troops  were  on  half  rations,  and  ten 
thousand  animals  were  lost  for  want  of  forage.  Rosecrans 
had  been  relieved,  and  fears  were  entertained  that  Thomas 
might  feel  compelled  to  fall  back  from  the  most  important 
position  of  Chattanooga ;  but  Grant  on  the  18th  of  October, 
telegraphed  to  him  to  hold  the  place  at  all  hazards,  and  that 
he  would  be  there  as  soon  as  possible.  The  brave  and  loyal 
Virginian  replied  :  "  I  will  hold  the  town  until  we  starve." 
Grant  arrived  on  the  22d  and  losing  no  time,  the  next  morn- 
ing with  Thomas  made  a  reconnoisance  of  the  situation, 
with  a  view  of  driving  the  enemy  out  of  the  overlooking 
mountains,  and  regaining  the  use  of  the  river  as  a  means  of 
supply.  He  had  around  him  his  tried  and  faithful  lieuten- 


430  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

ants, — those  with  whom  he  had  been  accustomed  to  march 
to  victory.  Sherman  was  there,  sagacious,  energetic,  rapid, 
persistent.  Thomas,  of  the  army  of  the  Cumberland,  a  dig- 
nified soldier,  worthy  of  Virginia  in  her  earlier,  prouder 
days,  before  her  honor  had  been  tarnished  with  slave  breed- 
ing. Sheridan,  the  most  impetuous,  indefatigable,  uncon- 
querable soldier  of  the  war ;  as  a  cavalry  officer  equal  to 
Murat,  and  not  inferior  to  Marshall  McDonald  upon  a 
charge ;  and  there  was  Hooker,  as  a  fighting  division  or  corps 
commander,  without  a  superior  East  or  West ;  and  there  too 
were  Howard  and  Blair,  and  many  others.  With  these,  and 
their  gallant  subordinates,  Grant  determined  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  river,  and  to  storm  and  carry  the  rocky  bights 
of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  November,  8,000  men  were 
placed  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee  river,  fortified  in 
rifle  trenches.  By  12  M.  the  whole  of  Sherman's  forces 
crossed  ;  and  by  3  o'clock  P.  M.  the  northern  extremity  of 
Missionary  Ridge  was  in  possession  of  the  soldiers.  Hooker 
scaled  the  western  slope  of  Lookout  Mountain,  drove  the 
enemy  from  his  rifle  pits,  capturing  many  prisoners,  following 
the  enemy,  when  he  and  his  troops  emerged  in  sight  on  the 
Northern  extremity  of  Lookout  Mountain.  Carlin  was  ordered 
to  form  a  junction  with  him.  On  the  morning  of  the  25th, 
Hooker  took  possession  of  the  Mountain  top  and  then  swept 
across  the  Chattanooga  valley  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy.  Sher- 
man's and  Thomas'  soldiers  fought  with  the  greatest  steadi- 
ness, charging  up  the  mountains  overcoming  all  resistance, 
and  by  12  at  night  Lookout  Mountain,  Chattanooga  Valley  and 
Missionary  Ridge  were  in  possession  of  the  Union  army,  and 
the  divisions  of  Bragg  were  in  full  retreat.  A  large  number 
of  guns,  small  arms,  and  many  prisoners  were  captured. 
Thomas  pursued  the  enemy,  fought  him  again  at  Ringgold, 
beat  him,  and  drove  him  to  Tunnel  Hill,  twenty  miles  from 
Chattanooga.  Meanwhile  Burnside  was  at  Knoxville,  be- 
sieged by  Longstreet;  and  Sherman  with  his  worn  and 
weary  soldiers  were  dispatched  by  forced  marches  to  his  relief. 
His  approach  on  the  3d  of  December,  sent  Longstreet  retreat- 
ing towards  Virginia,  and  thus  closed,  gloriously,  tri- 


OPERATIONS   AGAINST    CHARLESTON.  _43l 

umphantly,  the  Campaign  in  Tennessee.  The  battle  of 
Chattanooga,  the  storming  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission- 
ary Ridge  in  which  the  Union  troops  stormed  and  carried 
peaks  above  the  clouds,  was  perhaps  the  most  dramatic  scene 
of  the  war.  Tbe  losses  of  the  Union  army  in  these  battlesj 
was  757  killed,  4,529  wounded,  and  only  330  missing.  The 
rebel  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  did  not  exceed  the  Union ; 
but  the  slaveholders  lost  in  prisoners  6,242,  forty  pieces  of 
artillery,  and  700  stand  of  arms. 

The  relief  of  the  cruelly  persecuted  loyal  Tennesseans, 
was  peculiarly  grateful  to  the  heart  of  the  President.  On 
the  receipt  of  information  that  the  insurgents  were  driven 
out,  he  issued  a  proclamation  appointing  a  day  of  public 
thanksgiving,  praise,  and  gratitude  to  Almighty  God  for  this 
great  advancement  of  the  National  cause. 

From  the  attack  upon,  and  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter  which 
commenced  the  war,  the  people  and  the  President  had  been 
extremely  anxious  to  recapture  this  fort,  and  to  take  the  city 
of  Charleston,  long  the  nest  of  nullification,  secession  and 
treason.  Various  military  and  naval  attacks  had  been  made, 
but  it  had  been  very  strongly  fortified  in  the  beginning  by 
Beauregard,  and  these  fortifications  strengthened  from  time 
to  time.  It  was  blockaded,  besieged  and  bombarded,  but 
successfully  resisted  all  attacks  made  upon  it. 

On  the  18th  of  July  1863,  another,  and  more  formidable 
attack  was  made  under  General  Gilmore,  commanding  the 
land,  and  Admiral  Dahlgren  the  naval  forces.  A  most  gal- 
lant assault  on  Fort  "Wagner  was  made.  The  troops,  includ- 
ing the  54th  Massachusetts  colored  regiment  led  by  the  de- 
voted and  chivalric  Colonel  Shaw,  went  forward  rapidly 
and  in  silence,  until  they  were  within  two  hundred  yards 
of  the  work,  when  the  men  of  the  54th,  with  a  furious  yell, 
rushed  up  the  glacis,  closely  followed  by  the  other  regiments. 
The  enemy  poured  into  their  ranks  a  furious  fire  of  grape, 
canister,  and  musketry.  The  negroes  however,  bravely 
rushed  forward,  and  many  of  them  crossed  the  ditch  and 
gained  the  parapet.  They  were  forced  back,  leaving  one- 
third  of  their  number,  including  their  brave  young  colonel, 
dead  upon  the  field.  Instances  of  unsurpassed  heroism  were 


432      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

exhibited  by  these  colored  soldiers.  A  son  of  Fred  Douglas, 
an  eloquent  champion  of  his  race,  a  color  bearer  of  the  reg- 
iment, was  brought  to  the  hospital,  with  his  right  arm  shat- 
tered, and  with  the  colors  in  his  left,  declaring  "  the  stars 
never  touched  the  earth."  Other  regiments  and  brigades 
came  on,  gained  the  fort,  held  it  for  some  time,  but  were 
finally  repulsed  with  great  loss. 

Gilmore  then  proceeded  -to  bombard  Fort  Wagner,  Sum- 
ter  and  Charleston.  On  the  7th  of  September,  Fort  Wagner 
and  Battery  Gregg  were  evacuated,  and  Fort  Sumter  was 
nearly  battered  down.  The  Union  forces  however,  did  not 
then  succeed  in  capturing  Fort  Sumter,  nor  in  compelling 
the  surrender  of  Charleston. 

In  August  1863,  the  whole  nation  was  horror  stricken,  by  an 
attack  and  massacre  by  the  rebels  under  a  monster  by  the  name 
of  Quantrell,  bearing  the  commission  of  Jefferson  Davis  con-' 
stituting  him  a  colonel  in  the  Confederate  service,  upon  the 
city  of  Lawrence,  Kansas.  The  citizens  were  massacred  in 
cold  blood,  the  city  plundered  and  burned,  including  several 
churches,  to  which  the  inhuman  wretches  had  a  special 
aversion.  Two  hundred  and  five  citizens  were  murdered, 
and  property  destroyed  estimated  to  be  of  the  value  of  two 
millions  of  dollars.  The  city  had  been  settled  by  emigrants 
from  New  England ;  its  people  were  distinguished  for  their 
morality,  intelligence,  love  of  liberty  and  hatred  of  slavery, 
and  therefore  the  more  an  object  of  vengeance  to  the  chiefs  of 
the  slaveholder's  rebellion.  Hence  the  motive  of  this 
infamous  outrage. 

The  final  results  of  the  years'  operations,  were  as  decisive 
and  important  as  any  perhaps  which  ever  attended  any  com- 
bination of  military  and  naval  movements,  where  the  theatre 
of  operations  was  so  vast. 

Under  the  law  of  March  3d,  1 863,  providing  for  an  enroll- 
ment of  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States,  the  enroll- 
ment was  completed,  and  in  June,  a  draft  for  300,000  men 
was  ordered  by  the  President.  Time  was  however  given  to 
each  State  to  fill  up  its  quota,  and  thus  prevent  a  resort  to 
drafting.  There  was  great  pride  and  emulation  among  the 
different  towns,  cities,  and  states,  as  to  which  should  make 


RIOTS  IN  NEW  YORK.  433 

up  its  quota  of  troops  first;  and,  especially,  that  the  quota 
of  each  should  be  filled  without  a  resort  to  the  draft. 
Hence,  large  local  bounties  were  offered,  and  much  the  larger 
portion  of  the  troops  called  for  were  obtained  without  the 
draft. 

All  who  were  opposed  to  the  war,  and  who  sympathized 
with  the  rebels,  availed  themseves  of  the  draft,  to  excite  pre- 
judfoe  against,  and  opposition  to,  the  administration.  Every 
means  were  resorted  to  by  this  party  to  oppose  enlistments, 
and  stir  up  if  possible,  violent  resistance  to  the  draft.  Among 
the  most  active  of  these  agents  was  Yallandigham.  The  pa- 
triotism and  loyalty  of  the  people,  however,  was  in  most 
parts  of  the  country  too  strong  to  be  seduced,  and  no  form- 
idable opposition  to  the  execution  of  the  law  manifested 
itself,  except  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Here  there  was  a 
larger  number  of  rebel  sympathizers  and  Southern  emigrants, 
and  the  emissaries  of  the  rebellion  succeeded  in  creating  a 
formidable  opposition  to  the  law. 

Orders  were  given  to  proceed  with  the  draft  on  the  llth 
of  July.  The  first  day's  proceedings  passed  off  quietly;  but 
on  Monday  the  13th,  the  business  was  arrested  by  a  violent 
and  excited  mob,  which  broke  into,  and  burned  the  building 
in  which  the  Marshal's  office  was  situated.  Then  refusing  to 
permit  the  firemen  to  extinguish  the  fire,  the  whole  contigu- 
ous block  was  consumed.  The  Superintendent  of  Police  was 
attacked  and  beaten  nearly  to  death.  The  troops,  and  many 
of  the  State  militia  were  absent  in  Pennsylvania  to  aid  in  re- 
sisting Lee's  invasion;  and  it  was  found  difficult  to  raise  a 
force  to  suppress  the  riot.  It  was  joined  by  the  worst  and 
.  most  degraded  elements  of  that  great  city,  and  marched  from 
street  to  street,  murdering,  pillaging,  and  burning.  The  ani- 
mus of  the  rioters,  was  hatred  of  the  negro,  and  its  especial 
purpose  was  to  murder  and  rob  negroes  and  abolitionists. 
The  infuriated  mob  attacked  the  colored  half-orphan  Asylum, 
a  charitable  institution,  which  furnished  a  home  for  seven  or 
eight  hundred  colored  children.  With  inhuman  yells,  and 
a  spirit  which  can  find  its  parallel  only  among  the  fiends  of 
the  most  cruel  and  inhuman  plantations  in  the  Gulf  States, 
the  mob  abused  and  scattered  the  children,  set  fire  to  the 
28 


434  LINCOLN  AND    THE   OVERTHROW   OF   SLAVERY. 

building  itself,  and,  maddened  with  crime,  caught  and  hung 
every  negro  they  could  find.  In  one  instance,  a  negro  was 
first  hung,  and  then  a  fire  kindled  beneath  him,  the  heat  of 
which  restored  the  poor  sufferer  to  consciousness,  while  the 
smoke  stifled  him.  The  police  did  their  duty  manfully,  but 
were  overpowered.  Governor  Seymour  was  in  New  York  at 
the  time,  and  addressed  these  rioters  in  the  Park,  and  mildly 
urged  them  to  forbearance.  The  remedy  needed  was  fcold 
steel  and  musket  balls,  rather  than  civil  words.  On  the  14th 
of  July,  he  issued  a  proclamation  calling  upon  all  persons 
engaged  in  the  riot  to  disperse.  This  produced  as  little  effect 
as  his  speech,  and  the  second  day  was  as  bad, or  worse  than 
the  first.  The  militia  were  recalled  from  Pennsylvania;  other 
troops  were  sent  to  New  York,  and  the  riots  were  suppressed. 
The  design  of  the  rebel  emissaries  who  stirred  up  the  riot, 
was  to  create  a  formidable  diversion  in  favor  of  the  rebel 
armies.  It  did  cause  the  weakening  of  the  army  of  Meade, 
by  the  withdrawal  of  troops,  and  enabled  Davis  to  send 
Longstreet  to  reenforce  Bragg,  in  Tennessee.  There  was 
also  a  riot  in  Boston,  but  it  was  so  promptly  met,  as  to  gain 
no  considerable  head.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  rebel  in- 
cendiaries fomented  and  urged  on  the  riots  of  New  York, 
and  hoped  by  violence  to  make  a  strong  diversion  in  the  free 
States  in  favor  of  the  insurgents.  They  so  far  succeeded  as 
to  raise  a  mob,  which  rioted  in  violence  and  plunder  from 
Monday  until  Thursday,  and  gave  to  the  rebel  sympathizing 
citizens  of  that  city,  a  taste  of  anarchy.  They  discovered 
that  a  mob  once  in  motion,  was  as  likely  to  destroy  friend  or 
neutral,  as  foe. 

The  American  people  are  a  law  abiding  people,  and  no 
rash  counsels  could  succeed  in  stirring  up  violent  resistance 
to  law,  outside  the  purlieus  of  a  great  city.  To  the  American 
citizen,  the  ballot  and  not  the  bullet  is  the  remedy  for  politi- 
cal evils  and  wrongs.  If  defeated  to  day  at  the  ballot-box, 
he  appeals  to  the  next  election,  and  trusts  to  reason  and 
intelligence  to  bring  a  majority  to  his  side. 

We  have  already  traced  the  gradual  progress  of  public 
opinion  and  Executive  policy,  in  the  employment  of  the  ne- 
groes as  soldiers.  General  Hunter,  at  Hilton  Head,  and 


NEGRO  SOLDIERS  435 

General  Butler,  at  New  Orleans  had  organized  them  into  regi- 
ments, drilled,  and  prepared  them  for  active  service.  Con- 
gress and  the  Executive  had  not  only  sanctioned,  but 
encouraged  such  employment.  When  the  States  were  called 
on  to  furnish  their  quotas  of  troops  under  the  several  calls, 
and  learned  that  negroes  would  be  credited,  vigorous  means 
were  taken  by  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and 
other  States  to  recruit  free  colored  men.  In  furtherance  of  the 
policy  of  placing  as  many  negroes  as  possible  in  the  service, 
General  Thomas,  Adjutant  General  of  the  United  States,  vis- 
ited the  Southwest,  charged  with  the  organization  of  colored 
troops;  and  from  this  time,  the  number  rapidly  increased. 
Large  numbers  were  recruited  in  Tennessee,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  Maryland, 
and  the  District  of  Columbia.  By  November,  1863,  there  had 
already  been  organized  and  were  in  active  service,  over  50,000 
colored  men,  besides  nearly  an  equal  number  employed  as  la- 
borers,* teamsters,  etc.  Stimulated  by  the  proclamation  of 
emancipation,  the  negroes  flocked  in  crowds  into  the  Union 
army  to  secure  the  freedom  of  their  race. 

Emancipation  now  became  the  clear,  open,  and  avowed 
policy  of  the  administration.  How  would  these  colored 
soldiers  be  treated,  if  taken  prisoners  by  the  rebels? 

The  issue  of  the  emancipation  proclamation  by  President 
Lincoln,  and  the  employment  of  negroes  as  soldiers,  had 
created  deep  anxiety  and  excitement  in  the  rebellious  States. 
It  was  at  first  proposed  by  the  rebel  press  and  Congress,  to 
make  slaves  of  all  free  negroes,  to  put  to  death  all  slaves 
found  in  arms,  and  to  punish  their  officers  with  death. 
Finally,  the  subject  was  referred  by  the  Confederate  Congress 
to  their  President,  Davis. 

Jefferson  Davis,  by  proclamation,  announced  that  the 
colored  troops  and  their  white  officers,  if  captured,  would 
not  be  treated  as  prisoners  of  war,  but  would  be  turned  over 
for  punishment  by  State  authority.  The  question  became  a 
practical  one,  when  members  of  the  gallant  Fifty-fourth  Mas- 
sachusetts colored  troops,  in  their  brave,  but  unsuccessful 
assault  on  Fort  Wagner,  at  Charleston,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  rebels  as  prisoners  of  war.  From  the  threats  which 


436  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

had  been  made  as  to  their  treatment,  and  the  treatment  of 
other  negro  soldiers  taken  prisoners  by  the  rebels,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln felt  it  his  duty  on  the  10th  of  July,  1863,  to  issue  the 
following  order: 

"  It  is  the  duty^of  every  Government  to  give  protection  to  its  citizens, 
of  whatever  class,  color,  or  condition,  and  especially  to  those  who  are 
duly  organized  as  soldiers  in  the  public  service.  The  law  of  Nations 
and  the  usages  and  customs  of  war  as  carried  on  by  civilized  powers, 
permit  no  distinction  as  to  color,  in  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war  as 
public  enemies.  To  sell  or  enslave  any  captured  person  on  account  of 
his  color,  and  for  no  offense  against  the  -laws  of  war,  is  a  relapse  into 
barbarism,  and  a  crime  against  the  civilization  of  the  age. 

"  The  Government  of  the  United  States  will  give  the  same  protection 
to  all  its  soldiers;  and  if  the  enemy  shall  sell  or  enslave  any  one  because 
of  his  color,  the  offense  shall  be  punished  by  retaliation  upon  the  ene- 
my's prisoners  in  our  possession.  It  is  therefore  ordered,  that  for  every 
soldier  of  the  United  States,  killed  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  war,  a 
rebel  soldier  shall  be  executed;  and  for  every  one  enslaved  by  the  enemy, 
or  sold  into  slavery,  a  rebel  soldier  shall  be  placed  at  hard  labor  on  public 
works,  and  continued  at  such  labor,  until  the  other  shall  be  released, 
and  receive  the  treatment  due  to  a  prisoner  of  war."  * 

In  this  connection,  what  Mr.  Lincoln  said  at  Baltimore, 
April  18th,  1864,  may  appropriately  be  quoted  as  expressive 
of  his  views: 

"  At  the  commencement  of  the  war,  it  was  doubtful  whether  black 
men  would  be  used  as  soldiers  or  not.  The  matter  was  examined  into 
very  carefully,  and  after  mature  deliberation,  the  whole  question,  resting 
as  it  were  with  myself,  in  my  judgment,  I  decided  that  they  should. 
I  was  responsible  for  the  act  to  the  American  people,  to  a  Christian 
world,  to  the  future  historian,  and  above  all  to  my  God,  to  whom  I 
shall  have  one  day  to  render  an  account  of  my  stewardship.  I  would 
now  say  that  in  my  opinion,  the  black  soldier  should  have  the  same 
protection  as  the  white  soldier,  and  he  shall  have  it."  f 

General  Grant,  with  the  directness  of  the  soldier,  pursued 
the  same  course.  In  a  communication  addressed  to  General 
Lee,  dated  October  29th,  1864,  he  said: 

*  McPhersou,  p.  280. 
fMcPherson,  p.180. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  CONFEDERATES.  437 

"  I  shall  always  regret  the  necessity  of  retaliating  for  wrongs  done 
our  soldiers;  but  regard  it  my  duty  to  protect  all  persons  received  into 
the  army  of  the  United  States,  regardless  of  color  or  Nationality.  When 
acknowledged  soldiers  of  the  Government  are  captured,  they  must  be 
treated  as  prisoners  of  war,  or  such  treatment  as  they  receive,  will  be 
inflicted  upon  an  equal  number  of  prisoners  held  by  us. 

"  In  answer  to  the  question  at  the  conclusion  of  your  letter,  I  have 
to  state,  that  all  prisoners  of  war  falling  into  my  hands,  shall  receive 
the  kindest  treatment  possible,  consistent  with  securing  them,  unless  I 
have  good  authority  for  believing  any  number  of  our  men  are  being 
treated  otherwise.  Then,  painful  as  it  may  be  to  me,  I  shall  inflict  like 
treatment  on  an  equal  number  of  Confederate  prisoners."  * 

The  power  of  the  slaveholding  .Confederacy  grew  weak 
under  the  blows  inflicted  at  Gettysburg,  at  Arkansas  Post, 
at  Port  Hudson,  at  Yicksburg  and  Chattanooga ;  and  near 
the  close  of  1863,  their  Congress  in  its  desperation,  enacted 
a  law  declaring  every  man  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
fifty-five  to  be  in  the  military  service  for  the  war.  Thus, 
every  man  between  those  ages  became  subject  to  the  articles 
of  war,  to  military  discipline  and  penalties,  and  on  failure  to 
report  for  duty  within  a  certain  time,  became  liable  to  the 
penalty  of  death  as  a  deserter.  This  measure  indicated  the 
desperate  fortunes,  and  the  approaching  dissolution  of  the 
Confederacy.  Desertion,  absenteeism  and  straggling,  under 
such  means  of  filling  their  army,  prevailed  to  such  an  extent, 
that  the  rebel  Secretary  of  War  reported  that  the  effective 
force  of  their  army  was  not  more  than  one-half  or  two-thirds 
of  the  men,  whose  names  appeared  on  the  muster  rolls. 

Depreciation  of  their  currency,  and  the  loss  of  credit,  par- 
alyzed the  Confederate  cause.  The  paper  money  issued  by 
the  Richmond  Government,  depreciated  so  as  to  be  worth 
only  five  or  six  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  credit  of  the  Gov- 
ernment was  gone,  and  the  agriculturists  refused  to  sell  their 
products  for  Confederate  notes.  The  destruction  of  their  army 
for  lack  of  supplies  was  inevitable,  and  the  Confederates  were 
compelled  to  seize  and  impress  all  the  food  and  supplies 
necessary  to  carry  on  the  war.  These  embarrassments  were 
enhanced  by  the  wearing  out  of  the  Southern  railways,  and 

*  McPherson,  p.  445. 


438       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

railway  stock.  They  could  not  procure  an  adequate  supply 
of  iron  and  skilled  labor,  to  repair  and  renew  the  stock  and 
tracks.  The  failure  of  the  crops,  and  the  desolation  of  war 
produced  great  suffering  and  want  among  the  people. 

Meanwhile,  the  confidence  of  the  loyal  men  of  the  United 
States  in  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  administration,  was  be- 
coming deep  and  pervading.  His  success  in  the  field,  his 
continued  triumph  over  the  most  formidable  financial  diffi- 
culties, the  great  ability  and  success  with  which  our  foreign 
relations  were  managed,  and  above  all,  the  moral  power 
arising  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  open,  unequivocal  position  in 
favor  of  universal  justice  and  liberty,  had  secured  the  favor 
of  the  great  masses  of  the  loyal  people.  Abraham  Lincoln 
had  gradually  secured  the  respect,  love,  and  veneration  of 
nearly  all,  by  his  integrity,  his  unselfishness,  his  simplicity,  his 
wisdom,  and  his  love  of  justice  and  right.  Their  verdict 
through  the  ballot  box,  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  was  every- 
where favorable.  The  President  in  his  letter  to  a  mass 
meeting  of  the  Union  men  of  Illinois,  held  in  September, 
1863,  explained,  in  his  own  frank,  clear,  and  masterly  manner, 
the  condition  of  the  country,  and  the  policy  he  was  pursuing. 
To  these  old  friends  and  neighbors  he  said: 

"  There  are  those  who  are  dissatisfied  with  me.  To  such  I  would 
say :  You  desire  peace,  and  you  blame  me  that  we  do  not  have  it.  But 
how  can  we  obtain  it?  There  are  but  three  conceivable  ways:  First, 
to  suppress  the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms.  This  I  am  trying  to  do. 
Are  you  for  it?  If  you  are,  so  far  we  are  agreed.  If  you  are  not  for 
it,  a  second  way  is  to  give  up  the  Union.  I  am  against  this.  Are  you 
for  it?  If  you  are,  you  should  say  so  plainly.  If  you  are  not  for/brce, 
nor  yet  for  dissolution,  there  only  remains  some  imaginable  compromise. 

"  I  do  not  believe  that  any  compromise  embracing  the  maintenance 
of  the  Union  is  now  possible.  All  that  I  learn  leads  to  a  directly  op- 
posite belief.  The  strength  of  the  rebellion  is  its  military,  its  army.  That 
army  dominates  all  the  country  and  all  the  people  within  its  range. 
Any  offer  of  terms  made  by  any  man  or  men,  within  that  range,  in  op- 
position to  that  army,  is  simply  nothing  for  the  present;  because  such 
man  or  men  have  no  power  whatever  to  enforce  their  side  of  a 
compromise,  if  one  were  made  with  them." 


LINCOLN'S  LETTER  TO  THE  ILLINOIS  CONVENTION.        439 

He  thus  vindicates  his  policy  in  regard  to  the  negro,  and 
emancipation : 

"  But  to  be  plain.  You  are  dissatisfied  with  me  about  the  negro. 
Quite  likely  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  between  you  and  myself 
upon  that  subject.  I  certainly  wish  that  all  men  could  be  free,  while 
you,  I  suppose  do  not.  Yet  I  have  neither  adopted,  nor  proposed  any 
measure,  which  is  not  consistent,  with  even  your  view,  provided  that 
you  are  for  the  Union.  I  suggested  compensated  emancipation ;  to 
which  you  replied  you  wished  not  to  be  taxed  to  buy  negroes.  But  I 
had  not  asked  you  to  be  taxed  to  buy  negroes,  except  in  such  way  as  to 
save  you  from  greater  taxation  to  save  the  Union  exclusively  by  other 
means.  You  dislike  the  emancipation  proclamation,  and  perhaps  would 
have  it  retracted.  You  say  it  is  unconstitutional.  I  think  differently. 
I  think  the  Constitution  invests  its  Commander-in-Chief  with  -the  law 
of  war,  in  time  of  war.  The  most  that  can  be  said,  if  so  much,  is,  that 
slaves  are  property.  Is  there,  has  there  ever  been  any  question,  that  by 
the  law  of  war,  property,  both  of  enemies  and  friends,  may  be  taken 
when  needed  ?  And  is  it  not  needed  whenever  it  helps  us,  and  hurts 
the  enemy?  Armies  the  world  over,  destroy  enemies'  property  when 
they  cannot  use  it;  and  even  destroy  their  own  to  keep  it  from  the  en- 
emy. Civilized  belligerenfs  do  all  in  their  power  to  help  themselves  or 
hurt  the  enemy,  except  a  few  things  regarded  as  barbarous  or  cruel. 
Among  the  exceptions  are  the  massacre  of  vanquished  foes  and  non- 
combatants,  male  and  female.  But  the  proclamation,  as  law,  either  is 
valid  or  is  not  valid.  If  it  is  not  valid,  it  needs  no  retraction.  If  it  is 
valid,  it  cannot  be  retracted,  any  more  than  the  dead  can  be  brought  to 
life.  Some  of  you  profess  to  think  its  retraction  would  operate  favor- 
ably for  the  Union.  Why  better  after  the  retraction  than  before  the 
issue  ?  There  was  more  than  a  year  and  a  half  of  trial  to  suppress  the 
rebellion  before  the  proclamation  was  issued,  the  last  one  hundred  days 
of  which,  passed  under  an  explicit  notice  that  it  was  coming,  unless 
averted  by  those  in  revolt  returning  to  their  allegiance.  The  war 
has  certainly  progressed  as  favorably  for  us  since  the  issue  of  the 
Proclamation  as  before." 

He  then  states  that  the  Emancipation  proclamation,  and 
the  employment  of  negro  troops  had  been  the  heaviest  blowa 
given  to  the  rebel  cause,  and  that  at  least  one  of  the  successes 
of  the  Union  army  could  not  have  been  achieved  without  the 
aid  of  the  black  soldiers. 


440  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

He  concluded  this  admirable  paper  as  follows : 

"  You  say  that  you  will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  '  Some  of  them/ 
gaid  he  with  severe  reproach,  "  seem  willing  to  fight  for  you;  but  no 
matter.  Fight  you,  then,  exclusively,  to  save  the  Union?  I  issued  the 
Proclamation  on  purpose  to  aid  you  in  saving  the  Union.  Whenever  you 
shall  have  conquered  all  resistance  to  the  Union,  if  I  shall  urge  you  to 
continue  fighting,  it  will  be  an  apt  time,  then,  for  you  to  declare  you 
will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  I  thought  that,  in  your  struggle  for  the 
Union  to  whatever  extent  the  negroes  should  cease  helping  the  enemy, 
to  that  extent  it  weakened  the  enemy  in  his  resistance  to  you.  Do  you 
think  differently?  I  thought  whatever  negroes  can  be  got  to  do  as 
soldiers,  leaves  just  so  much  less  for  white  soldiers  to  do  in  saving  the 
Union.  Does  it  appear  otherwise  to  you?  But  negroes,  like  other  peo- 
ple, act  upon  motives.  Why  should  they  do  anything  for  us,  if  we  will 
do  nothing  for  them  ?  If  they  stake  their  lives  for  us,  they  must  be 
prompted  by  the  strongest  motive,  even  the  promise  of  freedom.  And 
the  promise,  being  made,  must  be  kept. 

"  The  signs  look  better.  The  '  Father  of  Waters '  again  goes  unvexed 
to  the  sea.  Thanks  to  the  great  Northwest  for  it,  nor  yet  wholly  to 
them.  Three  hundred  miles  up,  they  met  New  England,  Empire,  Key- 
stone, and  Jersey,  hewing  their  way  right  and  left.  The  army  South, 
too,  in  more  colors  than  one  also  lent  a  helping  hand.  On  the  spot,  their 
part  of  the  history  was  jotted  down  in  black  and  white.  The  job  was  a 
great  National  one,  and  let  none  be  slighted  who  bore  an  honorable  part 
in  it.  And  while  those  who  have  cleared  the  great  river  may  well  be 
proud,  even  that  is  not  all.  It  is  hard  to  say  that  anything  has  been 
more  bravely  and  well  done  than  at  Antietam,  Murfreesboro,  Gettysburg, 
and  on  many  fields  of  less  note.  Nor  must  Uncle  Sam's  web-feet 
be  forgotten.  At  all  the  watery  margins,  they  have  been  present,  not 
only  on  the  deep  sea,  the  broad  bay  and  the  rapid  river,  but  also  up  the 
narrow  and  muddy  bayou  and  wherever  the  ground  was  a  little  damp, 
they  have  been  and  made  their  tracks.  Thanks  to  all.  For  the  great 
Republic — for  the  principle  it  lives  by,  and  keeps  alive  —  for  man's  vast 
future,  thanks  to  all. 

"  Peace  does  not  appear  so  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will  come  soon, 
and  come  to  stay;  and  so  come  as  to  be  worth  the  keeping  in  all  future 
time.  It  will  then  have  been  proved  that  among  freemen  there  can  be 
no  successful  appeal  from  the  ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that  they  who 
take  such  appeal  are  sure  to  lose  their  case  and  pay  the  cost.  And  there 
will  be  some  black  men  who  can  remember,  that  with  silent  tongue,  and 
clenched  teeth  and  steady  eye,  and  well  poised  bayonet,  they  have  helped 


LINCOLN'S  LETTER  TO  THE  ILLINOIS  CONVENTION.        441 

mankind  on  to  this  great  consummation,  while  I  fear  there  will  be  some 
white  ones  unable  to  forget  that  with  malignant  heart  and  deceitful 
speech,  they  have  striven  to  hinder  it. 

"  Still  let  us  not  be  over  sanguine  of  a  speedy,  final  triumph.  Let  us 
be  quite  sober.  Let  us  diligently  apply  the  means,  never  doubting  that 
a  just  God,  in  His  own  good  time,  will  give  us  the  rightful  result."  * 

Every  State  in  which  elections  were  held,  except  New  Jer- 
sey, gave  majorities  for  the  administration.  In  Ohio,  Vallan- 
digham,  who  had  been  nominated  for  Governor,  was  defeated 
by  a  majority  in  favor  of  the  Union  candidate  of  nearly 
one  hundred  thousand  votes. 

It  was  under  these  hopeful  circumstances,  that  the  first 
session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  assembled,  and  the 
year  1863,  closed. 

*  McPhereon,  p.  835-6. 


OHAPTEE    XX. 

FIRST  SESSION  OF  38TH  CONGRESS,— 1868-4. 

PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE — REPEAL  or  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAWS — PAT 
OP  COLORED  SOLDIERS — FREEDOM  GIVEN  TO  THEIR  FAMI- 
LIES— CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  ABOLISHING  AND  PROHIBIT- 
ING SLAVERY  THROUGHOUT  THE  REPUBLIC — DEBATES  UPON  IT 
IN  THE  SENATE  AND  IN  THE  HOUSE. 

ON"  the  meeting  of  the  38th  Congress,  December  7th,  1863, 
Schuyler  Colfaxof  Indiana,  was  elected  speaker,  Edward 
McPherson  of  Pennsylvania  clerk,  and  Dr.  Channing  a  rad- 
ical abolitionist,  a  nephew  of  the  great  anti-slavery  writer, 
Dr.  William  E.  Channing,  was  elected  Chaplain  of  the  House. 

There  were  elected  to  the  Senate  and  returned  to  the 
House,  constituting  the  38th  Congress,  several  new  mem- 
bers of  very  distinguished  ability.  Among  others  were  Gov- 
ernor E.  D.  Morgan  of  New  York,  elected  to  the  Senate  in 
place  of  Preston  King;  Reverdy  Johnson,  long  at  the  head 
of  the  bar  of  his  State,  and  a  leading  statesman  of  Mary- 
land in  place  of  Kennedy. 

From  Missouri,  was  elected  to  the  Senate  the  brilliant  lead- 
er of  the  anti-slavery  party  of  that  State,  B-  Gratz  Brown. 
From  California  came  the  staunch  Union  man,  and  able  de- 
bater John  Conness,  in  place  of  Latham.  From  Minnesota, 
Governor  Alexander  Ramsey  in  place  of  Rice. 

To  the  House  of  Representatives  were  elected,  James  W. 
Patterson  a  learned  scholar  and  college  professor  from  New 
Hampshire,  and  Frederick  W.  Woodbridge  an  able  lawyer 
from  Vermont. 

From  Massachusetts  George  S.  Boutwett,late  Governor  of  that 
State,  and  an  able,  earnest,  and  radical  anti-slavery  man,  also 
John  D.  Baldwin,  a  very  distinguished  editor  and  journalist. 

442 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.  443 

From  Rhode  Island,  Thomas  A.  Jenckes  a  very  prominent 
lawyer.  From  Connecticut  Messrs.   Deming  and  Brandegee. 

Among  the  new  members  from  New  York  were  Henry  G. 
Stebbins,  an  able  financier;  John  Y.  L.  Pruyn,  John  A. 
Griswold,  C.  F.  Hulburd,  Francis  Kernan,  Freeman  Clark, 
and  John  Ganson.  Among  those  from  Pennsylvania  were 
John  M.  Broomall,  Glenni  "W.  Schofield  and  Thomas  "Wil- 
liams. From  Maryland  were  the  brilliant  orator  Henry 
"Winter  Davis,  and  A.  J.  Creswell.  From  Ohio,  General 
Robert  C..  Schenck,  Rufus  A.  Spaulding,  and  General 
James  A.  Garfield.  From  Kentucky  were  Anderson,  Yea- 
man,  Green  Clay  Smith,  and  Brutus  J.  Clay.  There  were 
also  among  many  other  able  new  members,  G.  S.  Orth  from 
Indiana,  John  A.  Kasson  from  Iowa,  and  General  John  F. 
Farnsworth  from  Illinois. 

The  President's  message,  commenced  by  expressing  the 
profoundest  gratitude  to  God,  for  health,  abundant  harvests, 
and  the  improved  condition  of  National  affairs.  The  efforts 
to  involve  the  Republic  in  foreign  wars  in  aid  of  the  rebel- 
lion, had  failed.  He  announced  that  the  operations  of  the 
treasury  had  been  successfully  conducted.  The  National 
banking  law  had  proved  a  valuable  support  to  the  National 
credit.  All  demands  upon  the  Treasury,  including  the  pay 
of  the  army  and  navy  had  been  promptly  met.  The  burdens 
of  taxation,  and  others  incident  to  a  great  war  had  been  most 
cheerfully  borne  by  the  people.  The  receipts  for  the  fiscal 
year  had  been  $901,125,674.86.  The  expenditures  $895,796,- 
630.65.  He  stated  that  the  naval  force  of  the  United  States 
at  that  time  consisted  of  five  hundred  and  eighty-eight  ves- 
sels, completed  and  in  the  course  of  construction,  and  of 
these,  seventy-five  were  iron-clad  or  armored  steamers. 

The  President  then  proceeded  to  contrast  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  country  with  what  it  was  at  the  opening  of 
Congress,  a  year  previous.  Then,  the  war  had  lasted  nearly 
twenty  months,  and  there  had  been  many  conflicts  on  land 
and  sea,  with  varying  results.  The  rebellion  had  been  press- 
ed back  into  narrower  limits,  but  the  tone  of  public  feeling 
indicated  uneasiness,  and  amid  much  that  was  cold  and  men- 
acing from  abroad,  the  kindest  words  were  uttered  in  accents 


444  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  pity  that  we  were  too  blind  to  surrender  a  hopeless  cause. 
Our  commerce  was  suffering  greatly  by  armed  vessels  built 
upon  and  furnished  from  foreign  shores,  and  we  were  threat- 
ened with  such  additions  as  would  sweep  our  trade  from  the 
sea,  and  raise  the  blockade. 

The  proclamation  of  emancipation  came  in  January — with 
the  announcement  that  colored  men  would  be  received  into 
the  military  service.  The  policy  of  emancipation  and  the 
employment  of  black  soldiers  gave  to  the  future  a  new  as- 
pect, about  which  hope,  and  'fear,  and  doubt  contended  in  un- 
certain conflict.  It  had  all  the  while  been  deemed  possible 
that  the  necessity  of  emancipation  as  a  military  measure 
might  come.  It  came,  and  was  followed  by  dark  and  doubt- 
ful days.  "  Eleven  months"  said  the  President,  "having  now 
passed,  we  are  permitted  to  take  another  review.  The  rebel 
borders  are  pressed  still  further  back,  and  by  the  complete 
opening  of  the  Mississippi,  the  country  dominated  by  the  re- 
bellion is  divided  into  distinct  parts,  with  no  practical  com- 
munication between  them.  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  have 
been  substantially  cleared  of  insurgent  control,  and  influen- 
tial citizens  in  each,  owners  of  slaves  and  advocates  of  slav- 
ery at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion,  now  declare  openly  for 
emancipation  in  their  respective  States.  Of  those  States  not 
included  in  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  Maryland  and 
Missouri,  neither  of  which  three  years  ago  would  tolerate 
any  restraint  upon  the  extension  of  slavery  into  new  territo- 
ries, only  dispute  now  as  to  the  best  mode  of  removing  it 
within  their  own  limits. 

Of  those  who  were  slaves  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion, 
full  one  hundred  thousand  are  now  in  the  United  States  mil- 
itary service  about  one-half  of  which  number  actually  bear  arms 
in  the  ranks,  thus  giving  the  double  advantage  of  taking  so 
much  labor  from  the  insurgent  cause,  and  supplying  the 
places  which  otherwise  must  be  filled  with  so  many  white 
men.  So  far  as  tested,  it  is  difficult  to  say  they  are  not  as 
good  soldiers  as  any.  No  servile  insurrection,  or  tendency 
to  violence  or  cruelty,  has  marked  the  measure  of  emanci- 
pation and  arming  the  blacks.  These  measures  have  been 
much  discussed  in  foreign  countries,  and  contemporary  with 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE — RECONSTRUCTION.  445 

such  discussion,  the  tone  of  public  sentiment  there  is  much 
improved.  At  home,  the  same  measures  have  been  fully 
discussed,  supported,  criticised,  and  denounced,  and  the  an- 
nual elections  following  are  highly  encouraging  to  those 
whose  official  duty  it  is  to  bear  the  country  through  this  great 
trial.  Thus,  we  have  the  new  reckoning.  The  crisis  which 
threatened  to  divide  the  friends  of  the  Union  is  past."* 

The  near  approach,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  now  hoped,  of  the  pe- 
riod when  the  rebellion  would  be  suppressed,  led  him»to 
study  the  difficult  problem  of  reconstruction.  Upon  this 
subject  he  said  : 

"  Looking  now  to  the  present  and  future,  and  with  reference  to  the  re- 
sumption of  the  National  authority  within  the  states  wherein  that  author- 
ity has  been  suspended,  I  have  thought  fit  to  issue  a  proclamation,  a 
copy  of  which  is  herewith  transmitted.  On  examination  of  this  pro- 
clamation, it  will  appear,  as  is  believed,  that  nothing  will  be  attempted 
beyond  what  is  amply  justified  by  the  Constitution.  True,  the  form  of 
an  oath  is  given,  but  no  man  is  coerced  to  take  it.  The  man  is  only 
promised  a  pardon  in  case  he  voluntarily  takes  the  oath.  The  Consti- 
tution authorizes  the  Executive  to  grant  or  withhold  the  pardon  at  his 
own  absolute  discretion ;  and  this  includes  the  power  to  grant  it  on 
such  terms  as  is  fully  established  by  judicial  and  other  authorities. 

"  It  is  also  proffered  that  if,  in  any  of  the  States  named,  a  State  Gov- 
ernment shall  in  the  mode  prescribed  set  up  a  State  government,  it  shall 
be  recognized  and  guaranteed  by  the  United  States,  and  that  under  it  the 
State  shall  on  constitutional  conditions,  be  protected  against  invasion 
and  domestic  violence.  The  constitutional  obligation  of  the  United 
States  to  guarantee  to  every  state  in  the  Union,  a  republican  form  of 
government  and  to  protect  the  State  in  the  cases  stated,  is  explicit  and 
full.  But  why  tender  the  benefits  of  this  provision  only  to  a  State 
government  set  up  in  this  particular  way  ?  This  section  of  the  consti- 
tution contemplates  a  case  wherein  the  element  within  a  State  favor- 
able to  republican  government  in  the  Union,  may  be  too  feeble  for 
an  opposite  and  hostile  element  external  to,  or  even  within  the  State ; 
and  such  are  precisely  the  cases  with  which  we  are  now  dealing. 

"  An  attempt  to  guarantee  and  protect  a  revived  State  government, 
constructed  in  whole  or  in  prepondering  part,  from  the  very  element 
against  whose  hostility  and  violence  it  is  to  be  protected,  is  simply  ab- 
surd. There  must  be  a  test  by  which  to  separate  the  opposing  element, 

•  MoPherson,  page  147 


446  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

so  as  to  build  only  from  the  sound  ;  and  that  test  is  a  sufficiently  liberal 
one,  which  accepts  as  sound,  whoever  will  make  a  sworn  recantation  of 
his  former  unsound  ness. 

"  But  if  it  be  proper  to  require  as  a  test  of  admission  to  the  political 
body,  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  the  Union  under  it,  why  not  also  to  the  laws  and  proclam- 
ations in  regard  to  slavery  ?  Those  laws  and  proclamations  were  en- 
acted and  put  forth  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  suppression  of  the 
rebellion.  To  give  them  their  fullest  effect,  there  had  to  be  a  pledge 
for^heir  maintenance.  In  my  judgment  they  have  aided  and  will  fur- 
ther aid  the  cause  for  which  they  were  intended.  To  now  abandon 
them  would  be  not  only  to  relinquish  a  lever  of  power,  but  would  also 
be  a  cruel  and  an  astounding  breach  of  faith."* 

Mr.  Lincoln  never  overlooked  the  pledge  of  the  national 
faith  to  the  colored  men,  made  by  the  Executive  and  Con- 
gress, to  maintain  their  freedom.  To  abandon  the  "freedmen 
to  their  late  masters,  would,  in  his  judgment  be  an  astound- 
ing breach  of  that  faith."  "  I  may  add,"  said  he, "  that  while 
I  remain  in  my  present  position,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  mod- 
ify or  retract  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  nor  shall  I  re- 
turn to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free  by  the  terms  of  that 
proclamation,  or  by  any  of  the  acts  of  Congress."  He  closes 
this  able  state  paper  by  saying : 

"  Our  chief  care  must  still  be  directed  to  the  army  and  the  navy,"}" 
who  have  thus  far  borne  their  harder  part  so  nobly  and  well,  and  it 
may  be  esteemed  fortunate  that  in  giving  the  greatest  efficiency  to  these 
indispensable  arms,  we  do  also  honorably  recognize  the  gallant  men  from 
commander  to  sentinel,  who  compose  them,  and  to  whom,  more  than  to 
others  the  world  must  stand  indebted  for  the  home  of  freedom,  disen- 
thralled, regenerated,  enlarged  and  perpetuated." 

At  the  period  of  the  opening  of  the  38th  Congress,  the 
conviction  had  become  almost  universal  among  the  loyal 
people  that  slavery  must  die  that  the  republic  might  live.  To 
this  end,  Congress  went  to  work  vigorously  and  earnestly,  to 
aid  the  President  in  the  great  work  of  emancipation,  and  ex- 
tirpati*  ^f  the  cause  of  the  rebellion ;  to  remove  from  the  Stat- 
ute Bo  iv,  every  relic  of  this  barbarous  institution,  and  to 

*  McPherlon,  page  146. 
t  McPherson,  page  147. 


REPEAL  OF  THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAWS.        447 

crown  the  whole  by  a  Constitutional  Amendment,  abolishing 
and  prohibiting  slavery  forever. 

There  still  remained  upon  the  Statute  Book  several  laws  en- 
acted to  secure  and  strengthen  slavery,  among  these  and 
the  most  disgraceful  statute  ever  enacted  by  the  Ameri- 
can Congress,  was  the  fugitive  slave  law  of  1850,  introduced 
by  the  haughty  traitor  and  imperious  slave  holder  Mason,  as 
a  humiliation  to  the  free  states.  An  arrogant  and  defiant 
party,  controlled  by  slave  holders,  in  their  pride  of  power, 
had  forced  this  bill  through  Congress.  All  the  power  of  the 
Federal  Government  had  been  used  for  its  enforcement, 
against  the  resistance  of  the  manly  and  generous  sentiments 
of  the  people.  It  had  been  a  most  efficient  means  of  arous- 
ing popular  feeling  against  slavery. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  immediately  after  the 
announcement  of  the  standing  committees  by  the  Speaker, 
on  the  14th  of  December  1863,  Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania, 
introduced  a  bill  to  repeal  the  Fugitive  Slave  act  of  1850, 
and  the  act  of  1783.  Mr.  Ashley  on  the  same  day  introduced 
a  bill  to  repeal  the  fugitive  slave  law  of  1783,  and  the  act 
amendatory  thereof,  of  1850.  Other  bills,  having  for  their 
object  the  same  purpose  were  introduced.  These  bills  were 
referred  to  the  committee  on  the  judiciary.  Bills  for  the 
same  purpose  had  been  introduced  into  the  Senate  in  1861 , 
by  Senator  Howe  of  Wisconsin  ;  in  1862  by  Senator  Wilmot 
of  Penns}7lvania,  and  by  Senator  Wilson  of  Massachusetts. 

On  the  8th  of  February  1864,  Senator  Sumner  introduced 
a  bill  to  repeal  all  laws  for  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves. 
On  motion  of  Senator  Sherman,  the  act  of  1783  was  except- 
ed  from  the  repeal. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Mr.  Morris,  from  the  Ju- 
diciary Committee  reported  "  A  bill  to  repeal  the  fugitive 
slave  law  of  1850,  and  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  for  the  ren- 
dition of  fugitive  slaves."  When,  on  the  13th  of  June,  the 
bill  came  up  for  discussion,  its  passage  was  urged  on  the 
ground,  that  when  the  republic  was  struggling  for  life  against 
the  slaveholders  rebellion,  when  one  hundred  thousand  black 
men  were  fighting  for  the  flag,  and  not  one  voluntarily 
against  it,  every  law  for  the  maintenance  of  slavery  should 


448  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

be  repealed.  The  bill  passed  the  House  by  a  very  large  ma- 
jority. It  passed  the  Senate  on  the  23d,  and  received  the  ap- 
proval of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  28th  of  June  1864. 

Thus  passed  away  forever  this  relic  of  barbarism.  A  law 
which  by  its  inhuman  provisions,  its  violations  of  the  great 
principles  of  English  and  American  justice  as  secured  by 
Magna  Charta  and  the  common-Jaw,  and  still  more  perfectly 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  cruelty  and  in- 
humanity which  marked  its  execution,  had  done  more  to 
arouse  hatred  of  slavery  than  almost  any  other  agency. 

In  discussing  a  bill  providing  that  colored  soldiers  should 
receive  the  same  pay  and  bounty  as  white,  full  testimony  in 
addition  to  that  contained  in  the  President's  message  was 
borne  to  their  merits  as  soldiers,  and  it  was  established  that 
the  negroes  when  organized  as  troops  were  industrious  and 
obedient ;  that  they  made  the  best  scouts,  knowing  the  coun- 
try well,  and  that  in  every  particular  they  performed  their 
duty  faithfully;  and  why  should  they  not  ?  They  fought  for 
the  elevation  and  emancipation  of  their  race,  as  well  as  for 
our  country.  The  bill  after  much  discussion  finally  became 
a  law. 

In  the  debate  upon  the  bill  to  make  free  the  wives  and 
children  of  colored  soldiers,  Senator  Johnson  made  these  very 
remarkable  statements  in  f  egard  to  the  morality  and  Chris- 
tianity of  slavery.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Senator  John- 
son represented  the  slave  State  of  Maryland ;  himself  a 
slaveholder,  speaking  of  w^at  he  personally  knew  to  be 
true — -his  testimony  proving  as  will  be  seen  that  the  family 
relation  was  not  recognized  among  four  millions  of  human 
beings  living  in  this  Christian  land!  That  among  the  colored 
people,  the  mothers  had  no  husbands,  and  the  children  no 
legal  fathers ;  and  not  only  this,  but  that  as  to  slavery  in  Mary- 
land where  the  institution  existed  perhaps  in  its  mildest  form, 
there  was  many  a  slave  in  South  Carolina  and  the  Gulf 
States,  who  might  well  claim  to  have  a  wife,  perhaps  wives 
and  children  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  Let  the  Christian 
world  remember  that  the  slaveholders  rebellion  was  designed 
to  establish,  secure,  and  perpetuate  this  institution!  For 
this  cause  men  violated  oaths  and  deserted  their  flag,  and  yet 
prayed  for  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God ! 


KEVERDY  JOHNSON'S   SPEECH.  449 

In  this  work  the  author  has  honestly  endeavored  not  so  much 
to  make  (in  the  language  of  Vice  President  Johnson)  "  trea- 
son odious,"  as  to  make  its  cause  (slavery)  odious.  He  has 
sought  to  impress  the  American  people  with  the  unchristian 
and  barbarous  character  of  the  institution,  and  to  show  that 
its  tendency  has  been  to  debase  and  degrade  the  noble  type 
of  white  men,  which  inhabit  the  lately  rebellious  slave  States. 

His  justification  will  be  found,  he  thinks,  in  the  following 
statements  of  the  eminent  senator  from  Maryland.  He  says  : 

"  I  doubt  very  much  if  any  member  of  the  Senate  is  more  anxious 
to  have  the  country  composed  of  free  men  and  free  women  than  I  am. 
I  understand  the  bill  to  provide  that  upon  the  enlistment  as  a  soldier  of  any 
man  of  African  descent,  his  wife  and  children  are  at  once  to  be  free. 
No  provision  is  made  to  compensate  the  owner  of  the  wife  and  chil- 
dren if  they  happen  to  be  slaves,  and  it  of  course  only  applies  to  such 
wives  and  children  as  are  slaves,  those  who  are  to  be  set  free,  and  not 
those  who  are  now  free. 

"  The  bill  provides  that  a  slave  enlisted  anywhere,  no  matter  where 
he  may  be,  whether  he  be  within  Maryland  or  out  of  Maryland,  whether 
he  be  within  any  other  of  the  loyal  States  or  out  of  the  loyal  States  al- 
together, is  at  once  to  work  the  emancipation  of  his  wife  and  his  children. 
He  may  be  in  South  Carolina ;  and  many  a  slave  in  South  Carolina,  I 
am  sorry  to  say  it,  can  well  claim  to  Tuive  a  wife  and  perhaps  wives  and 
children,  within  the  limits  of  Maryland.  .It  is  one  of  the  vices,  and 
the  horrible  vices  of  the  institution,  one  that  has  shocked  me  from  in- 
fancy to  the  present  hour,  the  whole  marital  relation  is  disregarded. 
They  are  made  to  be  practically  and  by  education,  forgetful  or  igno- 
rant of  that  relation.  When  I  say  they  are  educated,  I  mean  to  say 
they  are  kept  in  absolute  ignorance,  and  out  of  that,  immorality  of  ev- 
ery description  arises,  and  among  the  other  immoralities  is  that  the 
connubial  relation  does  not  exist."* 


The  war  thus  made  to  perpetuate  slavery,  he  hoped  through 
the  justice  of  God  would  strike  down  the  institution  forever. 
He  said: 

"  The  men  who  were  here  preaching  their  treason  from  the«<e  desks, 
telegraphing  from  these  desks — I  saw  it,  though  I  was  not  a  member, 
and  my  heart  burned  within  me — for  their  minions,  or  the  deluded 

*  Vol.  50  Congressional  Globe,  38th  Congress,  page  396. 

29 


450  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

masses  at  home,  to  sieze  upon  the  public  property  of  the  United  States, 
its  forts,  its  means,  its  treasure,  its  material  of  war,  and  who  were 
seeking  to  seduce  from  their  allegiance  officers  of  the  army  and  navy 
of  the  United  States ;  they  have  done  it ;  and  they  were  told  that  such 
would  be  the  result.  They  did  not  believe  it.  They  believed  that  your 
representatives  would  not  have  the  firmness  to  try  the  wager  of  battle. 
They  believed,  I  have  heard  them  say  so,  that  a  southern  regiment 
could  march  without  resistance,  successfully  from  Washington  to  Bos- 
ton, and  challenge  for  themselves  independence  in  Faneuil  Hall.  Sad 
delusion !  Gross  ignorance  of  the  character  of  your  people  !  You 
were  free  and  you  knew  its  value.  You  are  free,  and  you  are  brave 
because  you  are  free ;  and  as  I  have  told  them  over  and  over  again, 
let  the  day  come  when  in  their  madness  they  should  throw  down  the 
gage  of  battle  to  the  free  States  of  the  Union,  and  the  day  of  their 
domestic  institution  will  have  ended.  They  have  done  it.  I  have  said 
it  was,  as  against  them,  retributive  justice.  Hoping  and  believing  that 
their  effort  will  be  fruitless,  that  their  treason  will  fail  in  its  object,  that 
the  authority  of  the  government  will  be  sustained,  and  the  Union  be 
preserved,  I  thank  God  that  as  a  compensation  for  the  blood,  the  trea- 
sure and  the  agony  which  have  been  brought  into  our  households,  and 
into  yours,  it  has  stricken  now  and  forever  this  institution  from  its  place 
among  our  states." 

Thus  spoke  a  loyal  Senator,  though,  a  southern  slaveholder. 

On  the  3d  of  February  1863,  Mr.  Sherman,  the  distin- 
guished Senator  from  Ohio,  announced  his  conversion  to 
emancipation.  He  said : 

•  "  I  believe  that  the  employment  of  negro  slaves  in  the  Southern  States 
will  result  in  emancipation  in  all  those  States,  and  as  the  amendment 
of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  proposes  to  employ  negro  slaves  in 
the  army  and  navy,  and  to  invite  them  by  bounties,  by  high  pay,  by 
uniform,  by  all  the  inducements  now  held  out  to  our  own  soldiers  and 

sailors,  the  result  will  be  universal  emancipation  in  this  country.* 

*  *  ***** 

"  The  most  eloquent,  the  most  gifted,  the  wise,  the  learned,  each  and 
all  of  the  great  names  that  have  adorned  American  history  in  conven- 
tion and  in  either  House  of  Congress,  have  expended  their  eloquence, 
their  learning,  all  the  artillery  of  excited  debate  on  the  slavery  question, 
as  it  effected  a  single  slave  or  an  unpopulated  territory.  It  devolves 
upon  us  now  to  pass  upon  a  guarantee,  a  pledge,  which,  if  made,  honor 
and  public  faith  will  never  hereafter  allow  the  Nation  to  withdraw  ;  a 

*  Volume  50,  Congressional  Globe,  paxe  438. 


SENATOR  SHERMAN'S  SPEECH.  451 

pledge,  which  if  redeemed,  will  directly  emancipate  a  majority  of  the 
slaves  in  this  country,  and  in  its  logical  consequences,  within  a  short 
time,  will  make  every  human  being  within  our  limits  free,  unless  he  for- 
feits his  freedom  by  his  crime. 

(>  The  race  whose  military  service  we  require,  has  yielded  forced  labor, 
unrequited  toil  to  ours,  for  generations.  If  we  induce  them  to  incur 
the  risk  of  death  and  wounds  in  war,  upon  the  promise  of  emancipa- 
tion, and  do  not  redeem  that  promise,  we  add  perfidy  to  wrong.  The 
soldier  who  has  worn  our  uniform,  and  served  under  our  flag,  must  not 
hereafter  labor  as  a  slave.  Nor  would  it  be  tolerable  that  his  wife,  his 
mother,  or  his  child  should  be  the  property  of  another.  The  instinct- 
ive feeling  of  every  man  of  generous  impulse  would  revolt  at  such  a 
spectacle.  The  guarantee  of  freedom  for  himself,  his  mother,  his  wife 
and  his  child,  is  the  inevitable  incident  of  the  employment  of  a  slave 
as  a  soldier.  If  you  have  not  the  power,  or  do  not  mean  to  emanci- 
pate him,  and  those  with  whom  he  is  connected  by  domestic  ties,  then 
in  the  name  of  God  and  humanity,  do  not  employ  him  as  a  soldier. 
Let  him  in  his  servitude  at  least,  be  free  from  the,  danger  incident  to 
a  free  man.  If  I  had  doubts  about  the  power  to  emancipate  the  slave 
for  military  service,  I  certainly  would  not  vote  to  employ  him  as  a 

(soldier.  '* 
After  an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  review  of  the  action  of 
the  United  States  and  other  nations  in  regard  to  the  employ- 
ment of  slaves  he  said  : 

"  I  have  thus  Mr.  President,  perhaps  at  the  risk  of  being  wearisome, 
shown  that  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times,  by  all  civilized  nations,  by 
our  own  country  and  by  our  enemies  in  all  of  our  wars,  negro  soldiers, 
both  free  and  slave,  have  been  used  in  the  military  service,  and  in  every 
case  where  slaves  have  been  so  used,  they  have  been  secured  their  lib- 
erty. It  would  be  an  intolerable  injustice  to  which  no  people  would 
ever  submit;  to  serve  in  the  military  service  without  securing  that 
greatest  of  boons.  My  answer  then,  to  the  main  question,  whether 
the  employment  of  negroes,  free  or  slave,  is  justified  by  the  laws  of 
war,  is,  that  by  the  practice  of  all  nations  it  is  justified."  *  *  * 

"  I  believe  the  war  has  been  protracted  so  long,  because  we  have 
feared,  through  prejudice,  and  probably  on  account  of  old  party  rela- 
tions, to  exercise  the  great  powers  that  are  invested  in  us.  I  believe 
that  from  the  beginning,  when  the  rebels  assumed  the  position  of  en- 
emies, we  should  have  armed  against  them  the  whole  negro  population 

*  Volume  50,  Congressional  Globe,  page  439 


452  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  (heir  country.  They  need  not  tell  me  that  if  we  aria,  the  negroes, 
they  will  arm  them.  They  cannot  arm  their  negroes  unless  they  prom- 
ise them  their  freedom.  If  they  promise  them  their  freedom,  their 
whole  confederacy  crumbles  into  dust.  Their  whole  confederacy  is 
built,  as  Mr.  Stephens  said,  on  the  idea  that  man  should  own  property 
in  man ;  that  the  negro  is  inferior  and  must  be  held  subordinate  to  the 
white  race ;  that  he  must  be  held  a  slave. 

"  To  all  the  slaves  in  all  the  rebel  States,  I  would  secure  freedom  to 
the  last  man,  woman  and  child.  I  never  would  allow  the  men  who  have 
rebelled  against  the  best  government  Grod  ever  gave  to  man,  to  own  a 
slave,  or,  I  was  about  to  say,  to  own  any  other  property.  They  are 
outcasts.  They  have  rebelled.  Their  rebellion  was  causeless.  I  have 
no  pity  for  them  in  all  the  suffering  that  may  be  heaped  upon  them,  in 
their  own  generation.  For  those  men  who  domineered  in  this  Senate, 
who  domineered  in  the  other  House,  who  converted  our  political  bodies 
into  arenas  for  the  defense  of  slavery,  for  those  men  who  when  fairly 
beaten  in  a  political  contest,  took  up  arms  to  overthrow  the  Govern- 
ment, I  have  not  the  slightest  sympathy  or  respect.  They  are  not  only 
enemies  but  they  are  traitors,  and  I  will  enforce  against  them  not  only 
the  laws  of  war,  but  the  municipal  laws  of  our  own  country  as  to 
treason.* 

"  On  the  subject  of  emancipation,  I  am  ready  now  to  go  as  far  as  any 
one.  Like  all  others,  I  hesitated  at  first,  because  I  could  not  see  the  ef- 
fect of  the  general  project  of  emancipation.  I  think  the  time  has  now 
arrived,  when  we  must  meet  this  question  of  emancipation  boldly  and 
fearlessly.  There  is  no  other  way.  Slavery  is  destroyed,  not  by  your 
act,  sir,  or  mine,  but  by  the  act  of  this  rebellion.  I  think,  therefore, 
the  better  way  would  be  to  wipe  out  all  that  is  left  of  the  whole  trouble, 
the  dead  and  buried  and  wounded  of  this  system  of  slavery.  It  is 
obnoxious  to  every  manly  and  generous  sentiment.  The  idea  that  one 
man  may  hold  property  in  the  life  of  another,  may  sell  him  like  cattle, 
is  obnoxious  to  the  common  sentiment  of  all.  Now,  when  the  power  is 
in  our  hands,  when  these  rebels  have  broken  down  the  barriers  of  the 
Constitution,  when  they  must  be  treated  by  the  laws  of  war,  when  we 
dictate  those  laws,  not  the  President,  let  us  by  law  meet  this  question 
of  emancipation  boldly  and  fearlessly.  I  am  prepared  to  do  it,  and  to 
vote  to-day,  to-morrow,  or  any  day  for  a  broad  and  general  system  of 
emancipation."  f 

On  the  8th  of  March,  the  young  and  brilliant  Senator  from 


•  Vol.  50  Congressional  Globe,  page  444. 
t  Vol.  60,  Congressional  Globe,  page  446. 


SENATOR   BROWN'S     SPEECH.  453 

Missouri,  who  had  'led  the  emancipation  movement  in  that 
State,  made  a  most  able  and  philosophic  speech  in  favor  of 
universal  emancipation.  He  said  : 

"  The  supremest  truth  of  our  time  is  this  :  that  it  is  a  revolution  in 
whose  whirls  we  are  eddying,  and  with  whose  currents  we  have  to 
contend ;  a  revolution  the  grandest  ever  yet  essayed  by  man,  and  des- 
tined to  give  its  watchword  to  other  lands  and  people ;  a  revolution  in  all 
its  great  outlines  of  enkindled  faith,  of  continued  development,  of  over- 
turned thralldoms,  of  liberated  hope.  The  strata  of  this  nation's 
sediment,  coldness,  and  oppression  has  been  broken  through.  Human 
nature  once  more,  by  the  grace  of  God,  has  become  volcanic  and  erup- 
tive, and  the  precious  truths  of  freedom  and  fraternity,  are  swelling 
up  from  their  deep  foundations,  away  below  the  defacements  of  men. 
It  is  a  revolution  full  of  promise.* 

"  There  are  striking  indications  that  point  out,  if  they  do  not  deter- 
mine the  ending.  There  are  vaguely  outlined  groupings,  that  shape 
themselves  into  more  definite  forms  as  they  are  scrutinized.  Especial- 
ly are  there  three  great  central  ideas,  raying  forth  into  the  darkness 
of  the  future  their  broad  beams  of  light,  and  illuminating  the  paths 
that  are  to  be  trodden  by  this  people  in  their  "  marching  on" — three 
impending  necessities  as  it  were,  distinct,  yet  related,  which  may  be  set 
forth  as  first  j  a  realization  and  establishment  in  truth,  and  not  merely 
in  name,  of  absolute  freedom  policies  throughout  the  whole  land ;  second, 
the  building  up  from  its  sure  foundation,  of  a  nationality  that  shall 
represent  the  aspirations  of  the  whole  people  for  a  democratic  unity ; 
and  third,  the  conforming  of  our  Government  in  its  administration  as 
in  its  recognitions,  to  those  divine  truths  that  go  to  constitute  and  in- 
spire a  devout  Christian  State  holding  itself,  "  as  ever  in  the 
great  Taskmaster's  eye.f 

"  Without  doubt,  the  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  all  the  states 
of  this  Union  by  general  statute,  such  as  now  proposed,  must  be  in- 
itial measure  to  any  freedom  policies  reposing  on  national  authority  as 
their  guarantee  j  for  until  the  slave  code  shall  be  thus  canceled  in  fact, 
no  constitutional  amendment  covering  that  ground  will  ever  be  had. 

"  The  second  marked  characteristic  in  the  great  progress  which  is 
swelling  forward,  overturning  old  modes  of  thought,  conscripting  con- 
stitutions, anid  remodeling  the  functions  of  government  in  an  enkin- 
dled nationality.  Out  of  the  very  burning  and  fire  froth  of  sectional- 
ism,  springs  the  ideal  of  a  true  nation.^ 

*  Vol.  51,  Congressional  Globe,  page  985-988. 
t  Vol.  51,  Congressional  Globe,  page  986. 
JVol.  81,  Congressional  Globe,  page  987. 


454  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"  The  lowly  must  be  exalted,  the  depressed  raised  up,  the  ignorant 
educated,  the  slave  freed,  the  chattle  humanized,  and  a  democratic 
equality  before  the  laws,  obtained  for  all  men.  The  people  must  have 
fraternity,  as  well  as  solidity  only. 

"  The  third  and  completing  symbol  of  the  outcome  of  these  times, 
will  be  found  to  indicate  the  instauration  here  of  Christian  Govern- 
ment, founded  upon,  in  dwelling  with,  and  springing  out  of  the  di- 
vine justices — Government  recognizing  that  in  the  affairs  of  nations, 
as  in  those  of  individuals,  there  is  one  equality  that  comes  of  the 
equality  of  creation,  there  is  one  right  avenger  on  compromises,  which 
is  the  supreme  right,  there  is  one  law  which  must  ever  be,  as  it  ever 
has  been,  a  higher  law.  And  they  are  to  become  practice,  not  merely 
theory.  These  are  earnest  days  in  the  life  experiences  of  our  people, 
and  in  this  Senate,  as  abroad  throughout  the  land,  the  most  impor- 
tant fact  around  and  about  you  is  not  always  your  law  of  yesterday, 
or  your  tax  of  to-morrow,  or  your  conscription  of  the  month  hence; 
it  is  not  the  vote  here  nor  the  battle  yonder ;  but  it  is  the  spirit 
of  this  nation  that  upholds  these  things,  and  out  of  which  they 
flow — the  spirit  which  buoys  you  Senators,  into  this  upper  air,  with- 
out which,  or  false  to  which,  you  will  sink  as  empty  collapsed  bladders. 

These  grand,  old  mother  words  of  justice,  and  truth,  and  brother- 
hood, begin  to  have  meaning  anew,  kindled  up  in  them  by  the  light 
that  is  breaking  out  around.  The  nation  is  putting  on  its  Puritanism. 
Thanksgivings  appoint  themselves  unitedly.  Days  of  supplication  are 
become  somewhat  more  than  holidays.  The  bowing  down  has  ceased 
to  be  a  mockery,  in  the  presence  of  the  multitudinous  remembered 
dead ;  and  even  they  who  heretofore  have  been  accounted  most  indif- 
ferent, begin  to  hold  to  a  realizing  conviction  that  God  does  direct 
the  affairs  of  nations  by  His  special  providences.  The  scoffers  have 

had  their  generation,  and  we  have  returned  upon  a   period  of  faith. 

******* 

It  was  a  declaration  that  led  up  to  much  thought,  and  was  signifi- 
cant of  much  which  has  since  transpired,  that  this  Nation  could  not 
endure  '  half  free  and  half  slave/  that  one  or  the  other  would  be 
supreme. 

"  Lastly,  in  taking  an  initiative,  and  proposing  an  act  of  direct  abo- 
lition, I  do  so  in  the  name  of  the  great  State  which  has  honored  me 
with  a  seat  in  this  Senate,  and  which,  although  still  a  slave  State  under 
the  local  law,  will  be  proud  and  grateful  to  receive  emancipation  at  the 
hands  of  the  Federal  Government.  Missouri,  which  was  consecrated 
to  slavery  more  than  forty  years  ago  by  a  National  Congress,  conies 
this  day,  and  asks  a  National  Congress  to  right  that  wrong,  and 


SENATOR   BROWN'S   SPEECH.  455 

confer  upon  her,  freedom,  as  the  only  sure  guarantee  of  Republican 
institutions." 

There  had  been  various  other  miscellaneous  acts  of  Con- 
gress hostile  to  slavery  enacted  by  the  37th  and  38th  Congress. 
Among  others  a  joint  resolution  for  the  discharge  from  ar- 
rest and  imprisonment  of  all  persons  confined  as  fugitives 
from  labor  in  the  Washington  jail.  The  National  Capital 
had  long  been  disgraced  by  a  place  of  confinement  of  fugi- 
tives, comparable  only  to  the  Bastile  of  Paris,  or  the  dun- 
geons of  Venice.  A  set  of  officials,  speculators  in  human 
beings,  and  men  who  made  gain  by  preying  upon  human  lib- 
erty, had  grown  up,  and  their  business  had  legitimately  con- 
verted them  into  fiends — hyenas  in  human  shape.  These 
men  had  seized,  and  confined  negroes,  persons  tainted  to  any 
extent  with  African  blood,  and  whether  bond  or  free,  had 
sold  them  into  slavery. 

The  laws  of  procedure  were  so  amended,  that  no  witness 
should  be  excluded  in  the  courts  of  the  United  States  on  ac- 
count of  color.  A  law  was  also  passed  prohibiting  the  coast 
wise  slave  trade,  and  declaring  that  no  human  being  should 
be  transported  as  property,  in  any  vessel  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  United  States.  A  law  was  also  enacted,  declaring 
that  color  should  be  no  longer  a  disqualification  in  carrying 
the  United  States  mails. 

These  measures,  and  the  still  more  important  ones  of  the 
Executive,  including  the  great  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
all  looking  to  the  complete  overthrow  of  slavery,  were  to  be 
consummated  and  completed  by  an  amendment  of  the  organic 
law,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  abolishing  and 
prohibiting  slavery  forever.  Towards  this  end,  everything  had 
been  tending.  Towards  this  great,  this  radical  change,  to- 
wards this  complete  triumph  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence as  interpreted  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  everything  had  been  pro- 
gressing. This  great  moral  revolution,  the  result  of  a  free 
press,  free  speech,  civilization,  Christianity  and  the  war,  was 
now  to  be  completed.  Perhaps  there  is  no  more  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  growth  of  public  sentiment  and  the  conviction 

*  Congressional  Globe,  First  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congiess,  p.  988  9C. 


456  LINCOLN   AND    THE   OVERTHROW   OE   SLAVERY. 

of  the  loyal,  sound  judging  common  sense  of  the  people,  than 
is  found  in  the  letter  of  the  practical  soldier,  General  Grant, 
written  at  Vicksburg  in  August,  1863.  He  said: 

"  1  never  was  an  abolitionist,  nor  even  what  could  be  called  anti- 
slaveiy;  but  I  try  to  judge  fairly  and  honestly;  and  it  became  patent 
to  my  mind  early  in  the  rebellion,  that  the  North  and  South  could  never 
live  at  peace  with  each  other,  except  as  one  Nation  and  that  without 
slavery."  * 

On  the  14th  of  December,  1863,  as  soon  as  the  Speaker 
had  announced  the  Standing  Committees  of  the  House,  in 
regular  order  of  business,  he  proceeded  to  call  the  States  for 
resolutions.  As  Ohio  the  first  State  organized  under  the 
great  freedom  Ordinance  of  1787,  was  called,  one  of  her  repre- 
sentatives, James  M.  Asldey,  introduced  a  joint  Resolu- 
tion, submitting  to  the  States,  a  proposition  to  amend  the 
Constitution  by  abolishing  and  prohibiting  slavery. 

When  Iowa  was  called,  James  M.  Wilson,  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  introduced  a  joint  Resolution 
providing  for  the  submission  to  the  States,  of  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution,  in  these  words :  * 

"  SEC.  1.  Slavery  being  incompatible  with  a  free  Government,  is 
forever  prohibited  in  the  United  States;  and  involuntary  servitude, 
shall  be  permitted  only  as  a  punishment  for  crime. 

"  SEC.  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  the  foregoing  section 
of  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation/' 

Other  propositions  to  effect  the  same  object  were  intro- 
duced. In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Henderson,  of  Missouri,  and 
Sumner,  of  Massachusetts,  introduced  similar  propositions, 
which  were  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1864,  Mr.  Trumbull  reported  the 
joint  resolution  of  Mr.  Henderson,  amended  so  as  to  read  as 
follows : 

••  That  the  following  article  be  proposed  to  the  legislatures  of  the  sev- 
eral States,  as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 

»  McPherson's  Political  History.    Note  on  page  571.    The  letter  as  published,  Is 
erroneously  dated  August,  1862.    The  original  is  August,  1863. 
*  Wilson's  Anti-slavery  Measures  of  Congress,  p.  250. 


SENATOR  TRUMBULL'S  SPEECH. 

which,  when  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  said  legislatures  shall  be  valid, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  a  part  of  the  said  Constitution;  namely: 

"  ART.  13,  Sec.  1.  Neither  slavery,  nor  involuntary  servitude  except 
as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to 
their  jurisdiction. 

"Sec.  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by 
appropriate  legislation."  * 

On  the  28th  of  March,  the  Senate  proceeded  to  consider 
the  question,  and  the  debate  was  opened  by  Mr.  Trumbull, 
Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee.  He  sketched  with 
great  clearness  and  force,  the  struggle  between  freedom  and 
slavery  for  the  last  seventy  years,  and  showed  how  slavery 
was  at  the  bottom  of  all  our  difficulties.  He  said:  f 

"  If  these  halls  have  resounded  from  our  earliest  recollections  with 
the  strifes  and  contests  of  sections,  ending  sometimes  in  blood,  it  was 
slavery  which  almost  always  occasioned  them.  No  superficial  observer, 
even,  of  our  history  North  or  South,  or  of  any  party,  can  doubt  that 
slavery  lies  at  the  bottom  of  our  present  troubles.  Our  fathers  who 
made  the  Constitution  regarded  it  as  an  evil,  and  looked  forward  to  its 
early  extinction.  They  felt  the  inconsistency  of  their  position,  while 
proclaiming  the  equal  rights  of  all  to  life,  liberty,  and  happiness,  they 
denied  liberty,  happiness,  and  life  itself  to  a  whole  race,  except  in  sub- 
ordination to  them.  It  was  impossible  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  a 
Government  based  on  such  antagonistic  principles  could  permanently 
and  peacefully  endure,  nor  did  its  founders  expect  it  would.  They 
looked  forward  to  the  not  distant,  nor  as  they  supposed,  uncertain  period, 
when  slavery  should  be  abolished,  and  the  Government  become  in  fact 
what  they  made  it  in  name,  one  securing  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  all. 
The  history  of  the  last  seventy  years  has  proved  that  the  founders  of  the 
Republic  were  mistaken  in  their  expectations;  and  slavery,  so  far  from 
gradually  disappearing  as  they  had  anticipated,  had  so  strengthened 
itself,  that  in  1860,  its  advocates  demanded  the  control  of  the  Nation  in 
its  interests,  failing  in  which,  they  attempted  its  overthrow.  This  at- 
tempt brought  into  hostile  collision  the  slaveholding  aristocracy,  who 
made  the  right  to  live  by  the  toil  of  others  the  chief  article  of  their 
faith,  and  the  free  laboring  masses  of  the  North,  who  believed  in  the 
right  of  every  man  to  eat  the  bread  his  own  hands  had  earned." 

*  Wilson's  Anti-slavery  Measures,  p.  253. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  51  p.  1313. 


458       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

He  then  reviewed  the  action  of  Congress  and  of  the  Execu- 
tive, on  the  subject  of  slavery  during  the  war,  and  closed  the 
review  by  showing  that  the  only  way  of  ridding  the  country 
forever  of  slavery  so  that  it  never  could  be  resuscitated  either 
by  State  or  Congressional  action,  was  by  a  Constitutional 
amendment  prohibiting  it  forever  everywhere  within  the 
United  States.  His  practical  mind  then  discussed  the  pro- 
bability of  the  adoption  of  the  amendment,  and  on  this  point, 
came  to  this  conclusion: 

"I  think,  then,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  if  this  proposed 
amendment  passes  Congress,  it  will  within  a  year  receive  the  ratification 
of  the  requisite  number  of  States  to  make  it  a  part  of  the  Constitution. 
That  accomplished,  and  we  are  forever  freed  of  this  troublesome  ques- 
tion. We  accomplish  then,  what  the  statesmen  of  this  country  have 
been  struggling  to  accomplish  for  years.  We  take  this  question  entirely 
away  from  the  politics  of  the  country.  We  relieve  Congress  of  sectional 
strife,  and  what  is  better  than  all,  we  restore  to  a  whole  race,  that  free- 
dom which  is  theirs  by  the  gift  of  God,  but  which  we  for  generations 
have  wickedly  denied  them."  * 

Trumbull  was  followed  by  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts.  He 
commenced  by  quoting  from  the  great  apostle  of  free  speech 
and  the  right  of  petition,  John  Quincy  Adams.  "Our 
country,"  said  Adams,  "  began  its  existence  by  the  universal 
emancipation  of  man."  He  proceeded  to  point  out,  in 
eloquent  terms,  the  cause  of  the  war :  f 

"  Why  is  it,  Mr.  President,  that  this  magnificent  continental  Repub- 
lic is  now  rent,  torn,  dissevered  by  civil  war?  Why  is  it  that  the  land 
resounds  with  the  measured  tread  of  a  million  of  armed  men  ?  Why  is 
it  that  our  bright  waters  are  stained,  and  our  green  fields  reddened  with 
fraternal  blood  ?  Why  is  it  that  the  young  men  of  America  in  the  pride 
and  bloom  of  early  manhood,  are  summoned  from  homes,  from  the 
mothers  who  bore  them,  from  the  wives  and  sisters  who  love  them,  to 
the  fields  of  bloody  strife  ?  Why  is  it  that  millions  of  the  men  and  the 
women  of  Christian  America  are  sorrowing  with  aching  hearts  and  tear- 
ful eyes  for  the  absent,  the  loved  and  the  lost?  Why  is  it  that  the  heart 
of  loyal  America  throbs  heavily,  oppressed  with  anxiety  and  gloom  for 
the  future  of  the  country  ? 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  52,  p.  1314. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  52,  p.  1320. 


SENATOR  WILSON'S  SPEECH.  459 

"  Sir,  this  gigantic  crime  against  the  peace,  the  unity  and  the  life  of 
the  Nation,  is  to  make  eternal  the  hateful  dominion  of  man  over  the 
souls  and  bodies  of  his  fellow  men.  These  sacrifices  of  property,  of 
health  and  of  life,  these  appalling  sorrows  and  agonies  now  upon  us,  are 
all  the  merciless  inflictions  of  slavery,  in  its  gigantic  effort  to  found  its 
empire,  and  make  its  hateful  power  forever  dominant  in  Christian  Ame- 
rica. Yes,  slavery  is  the  conspirator  that  conceived  and  organized  this 
mighty  conspiracy  against  the  unity  and  existence  of  the  Republic. 
Slavery  is  the  traitor  that  madly  plunged  the  Nation  into  the  fire  and 
blood  and  darkness  of  civil  war.  Slavery  is  the  criminal,  whose  hands 
are  dripping  with  the  blood  of  our  murdered  sons.  Yes  sir,  slavery  is 
the  conspirator,  the  traitor,  the  criminal  that  is  reddening  the  sods  of 
Christian  America  with  the  blood  of  fathers  and  husbands,  sons  and 
brothers,  and  bathing  them  with  the  bitter  tears  of  mothers,  wives  and 
sisters. 

"  The  imperishable  records  of  the  Republic  will  bear  to  future  ages 
the  amplest  evidence  that  slavery  has  ever  been  hostile  to  the  spirit  of 
her  free  institutions.  Planted  in  America  by  the  commercial  and  colo- 
nial policy  of  the  British  Empire,  fostered  by  British  legislation,  pro- 
tected by  British  Kings  and  Queens,  Lords,  Judges  and  Prelates,  slav- 
ery, from  the  day  it  entered  the  harbor  of  Jamestown,  to  the  dawn  of 
the  Revolution,  was  an  alien  in  America,  an  enemy  to  law  and  order, 
liberty  and  progress.  The  pages  of  our  colonial  history  bear  to  us  the 
amplest  testimony  that  our  fathers  saw  its  malign  influence,  and  pro- 
tested against  the  slave  trade  and  the  slave  extending  policy  of  the 
British  Government.  * 

"  Sir,  under  the  new  Constitution  framed  to  secure  the  blessings  of 
liberty,  slavery  strode  into  the  chambers  of  legislation,  the  halls  of  jus- 
tice, the  mansions  of  the  Executive,  and  with  menaces  in  the  one  hand 
and  bribes  in  the  other,  it  awed  the  timid  and  seduced  the  weak. 
Marching  on  from  conquest  to  conquest,  crushing  where  it  could  not 
awe,  seduce,  or  corrupt,  slavery  saw  institutions  of  learning,  benevo- 
lence, and  religion,  political  organizations  and  public  men,  aye,  and  the 
people  too,  bend  before  it  and  acknowledge  its  iron  rule.  Seizing  on  the 
needed  acquisitions  of  Louisiana  and  of  Florida,  to  extend  its  bounda- 
ries, consolidate  its  power  and  enlarge  its  sway,  slavery  crossed  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  there  established  its  barbarous  dominion  against  the  too 
feeble  resistance  of  a  not  yet  conquered  people.*  Controlling  absolutely 
the  policy  of  the  South,  swaying  the  policy  of  the  nation,  impressing 
itself  upon  the  legislation,  the  sentiments,  and  opinions  of  the  North, 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  51,  p.  1320. 


460  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

slavery  moved  on  to  assured  dominion.  Under  its  aggressive  advances, 
emancipation  societies,  organized  by  the  men  of  the  revolutionary  era, 
in  the  first  bright  ar"dor  of  secured  liberty,  one  by  one  disappeared; — 
presses  and  churches  forgot  to  remember  those  in  bonds  as  bound  with 
them,  and  recreant  sons  disowned  the  sentiments,  opinions  and  princi- 
ples of  a  glorious  ancestry.  And  slavery,  in  the  pride  of  power  pro- 
claimed itself  in  the  Halls  of  Congress  through  its  apostles  and  champ- 
ions, its  Calhouns  and  McDufly's,  '  a  positive  good/  '  the  only  stable 
basis  of  Republican  institutions.'  '  the  corner  stone  of  the  Republican 
edifice.' "  * 

He  rapidly  sketched  the  anti-  slavery  -legislation  of  Con- 
gress, and  the  action  of  the  Executive,  and  thus  alluded  to 
the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation: 

"  On  the  1st  day  of  January,  1863,  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  '  invoking  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind,  and  the  gra- 
cious favor  of  Almighty  God,'  redeemed  this  solemn  pledge  of  the  22d 
of  September,  which  the  recording  angel  had  registered.  On  that  day 
the  irreversible  decree  was  sent  forth  to  master  and  slave,  to  earth  and 
heaven.  By  this  exercise  of  the  war  powers  of  the  Government,  all 
persons  held  as  slaves  in  any  State  or  part  thereof  in  rebellion,  were 
declared  to  be,  '  then,  thenceforward  and  forever  free,'  and  the  Execu- 
tive, the  military  and  naval  authorities  were  pledged  to  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons.  This  complete,  absolute,  and 
final  decree  of  emancipation  in  rebel  States,  born  of  military  necessity, 
proclaimed  by  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  is  the 
settled  and  irrepealable  law  of  the  Republic,  to  be  observed,  obeyed,  and 
enforced,  by  army  and  navy,  and  by  the  irreversible  voice  of  the  Nation. 
The  enforcement  of  this  proclamation  will  give  peace  and  order,  freedom 
and  unity  to  a  now  distracted  country;  the  failure  to  enforce  It  will 
bring  with  it,  discord  and  anarchy,  a  dissevered  Union  and  a  broken 
Nation.  ******** 

"  Slavery  in  America,  though  upheld  by  interests,  customs  and  usages, 
trenched  about  by  inhuman  statutes,  and  hedged  around  by  passionate, 
vehement  and  unreasoning  prejudice,  is  fast  crumbling  to  atoms  beneath 
the  blows  rained  upon  it  by  a  liberty  loving  and  patriotic  people.  But 
let  anti-slavery  men  listen  to  no  truce,  to  no  compromise,  to  no  cry  for 
mercy.  Let  them  now  be  as  inflexible  as  justice,  as  inexorable  as  destiny. 
Whenever  and  wherever  a  blow  can  be  dealt  at  the  vitals  of  the  retreat- 
ing fiend,  let  that  blow  be  struck  in  the  name  of  the  bleeding  Nation 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  61,  p.  1320. 


SENATOR  WILSON'S  SPEECH.  461 

and  of  the  '  dumb  toiling  millions  bound  and  sold.'  A  truce  with  slav- 
ery is  a  defeat  for  the  Nation.  A  compromise  with  slavery  is  a  present 
of  disaster  and  dishonor,  and  a  future  of  anarchy  and  blood.  Mercy  to 
slavery,  is  a  crime  against  liberty.  The  death  of  slavery  is  the  annihi- 
lation of  the  rebellion,  the  unity  of  the  Republic,  the  life  of  the  Nation, 
the  harmonious  development  of  republican  institutions,  the  repose, 
culture,  and  renown  of  the  people.* 

"  Engraving  on  every  rood  of  the  vast  territories  of  the  Republic,  on 
the  magnificent  forests  and  prairies,  valleys  and  mountains,  in  the  central 
regions  of  the  continent,  in  letters  of  light,  '  slavery  shall  be  forever 
prohibited/ — obliterating  slavery  and  annulling  the  slave  code  in  the 
Capital  of  the  Nation — decreeing  under  the  war  powers  more  than  three 
million  bondmen  in  the  rebel  States,  '  thenceforward  and  forever  free' — 
proclaiming  the  emancipation  of  the  slave  by  the  fiat  of  the  Nation  the 
instant  he  writes  his  name  on  the  muster  roll  of  the  defenders  of  the 
Republic,  has  riven  and  shivered  the  slave  system  into  broken  and  dis- 
membered fragments;  and  that  huge  and  ghastly  system  now  lies  pros- 
trate in  the  convulsive  throes  of  dissolution.  National  legislation,  Ex- 
ecutive action,  judicial  decision  may  still  further  wound  and  weaken, 
degrade  and  humiliate  the  now  impotent  system  that  once  in  the  pride 
of  power,  gave  law  to  Republican  America,  f 

"  But,  sir,  the  crowning  act  in  this  series  of  acts,  for  the  restriction 
and  extinction  of  slavery  in  America,  is  this  proposed  amendment  to 
the  Constitution,  prohibiting  the  existence  of  slavery  forevermore  in  the 
Republic  of  the  United  States.  If  this  amendment  shall  be  incorporated 
by  the  will  of  the  Nation  into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  it 
will  obliterate  the  last  lingering  vestiges  of  the  slave  system;  its  chat- 
telizing,  degrading,  and  bloody  codes;  its  dark,  malignant,  barbarizing 
spirit ;  all  it  was  and  is,  everything  connected  with  it,  or  pertaining  to 
it,  from  the  face  of  the  Nation  it  has  scarred  with  moral  desolation, 
from  the  bosom  of  the  country  it  has  reddened  with  the  blood,  and 
strewn  with  the  graves  of  patriotism.  The  incorporation  of  this  amend- 
ment into  the  organic  law  of  the  Nation,  will  make  impossible  forever- 
more,  the  reappearing  of  the  discarded  slave  system,  and  the  returning 
of  the  despotism  of  the  slavemaster's  domination. 

The  debate  was  continued  on  the  30th  of  March,  by  a  vio- 
lent speech  of  Senator  Davis  of  Kentucky,  against  the  amend- 
ment; and  on  the  31st,  by  a  still  more  violent  speech  by  Mr. 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  51,  p.  1323-24. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  51,  p.  1324. 


462  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Saulsbury,  in  opposition.  New  Hampshire  was  heard  in 
reply  through  the  eloquent  voice  of  Senator  Clark,  in  favor  of 
the  resolutions.  Then  the  young  State  of  Wisconsin,  spoke 
through  Senator  Howe,  for  the  amendment. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  a  memorable  speech  in  favor  of  the 
amendment  was  made  by  Reverdy  Johnson,  Senator  from 
Maryland.  A  Senator  from  a  State  just  throwing  off  the 
burden  of  slavery;  a  lawyer  of  great  eminence;  an  old  and 
experienced  statesman;  the  cotemporary  and  associate  of 
"Webster,  Clay,  and  Calhoun.  His  speech  attracted  marked 
attention  in  the  Senate  and  throughout  the  country.  He 
commenced  by  calling  attention  to  the  opinions  in  regard  to 
slavery  entertained  by  those  who  accomplished  the  Revolution. 
On  this  point  he  says :  * 

"  There  was  a  period  in  our  own  time  when  there  was  but  one  opinion 
upon  the  question  of  right,  or  almost  but  one  opinion  upon  that  ques- 
tion. The  men  who  fought  through  the  Revolution,  those  who  survived 
its  peril  and  shared  in  its  glory,  and  who  were  called  to  the  Convention 
by  which  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  drafted  and  recom- 
mended to  the  adoption  of  the  American  people,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, thought  that  slavery  was  not  only  an  evil,  to  any  people  among 
whom  it  might  exist,  but  that  it  was  an  evil  of  the  highest  character, 
which  it  was  the  duty  of  all  Christian  people  if  possible,  to  remove, 
because  it  was  a  sin  as  well  as  an  evil. 

"  I  think  the  history  of  those  times  will  bear  me  out  in  the  statement, 
that  if  the  men  by  whom  that  Constitution  was  framed,  and  the  people 
by  whom  it  was  adopted,  had  anticipated  the  times  in  which  we  live, 
they  would  have  provided  by  constitutional  enactment,  that  that  evil  and 
that  sin  should  at  some  comparatively  unremote  day  be  removed.  With- 
out recurring  to  authority,  the  writings  public  or  private  of  the  men  of 
that  day,  it  is  sufficient  for  my  purpose  to  state  what  the  facts  will  jus- 
tify me  in  saying,  that  every  man  of  them  who  largely  shared  in  the 
dangers  of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  and  who  largely  participated  in 
the  deliberations  of  the  Convention  by  which  the  Constitution  was 
adopted,  earnestly  desired,  not  only  upon  grounds  of  political  economy, 
not  only  upon  reasons  material  in  their  character,  but  upon  grounds 
of  morality  and  religion,  that  sooner  or  later  the  institution  should 
terminate." 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  51,  p.  1419. 


REVERDY  JOHNSON'S  SPEECH.  463 

He  thus  expresses  his  emphatic  concurrence  with  Jefferson, 
in  regard  to  the  injustice  of  slavery:  * 

"  T  concurred,  and  concur  still,  in  the  judgment  of  the  great  apostle 
of  American  liberty,  the  author  of  that  Declaration  which  is  to  live 
through  all  time  as  the  Magna  Charta  of  human  rights,  that  in  a  con- 
test between  the  slave  to  throw  off  his  thralldom,  and  the  master  who 
holds  him  to  it,  the  God  of  justice  could  take  no  part  in  favor  of  the 
latter.  And  as  I  have  said  to  the  Senate  already,  and  alluded  to  it  on 
a  former  occasion,  my  opinion  upon  the  institution  is  not  now  for  the 
first  time  announced." 

He  charges  that  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  so  far  from 
being  the  cause  of  the  rebellion,  was  hailed  with  joy  by  the 
conspirators,  as  furnishiag  an  occasion  for  the  execution  of 
their  long  concocted  conspiracy :  f 

"  The  present  incumbent  of  the  Presidential  Chair,  was  elected,  elected 
by  a  sectional  vote,  and  the  moment  the  news  reached  Charleston  where 
some  of  the  leading  conspirators  were,  and  here  in  this  Chamber 
where  others  were  to  be  found,  it  was  hailed  not  with  regret  but  with 
delight.  Why?  Because,  as  they  thought,  it  would  enable  them  to 
drive  the  South  to  madness,  by  appealing  to  the  danger  in  which  such 
an  event  involved  this  institution,  which  the  people  were  made  to  believe 
was  so  essential  to  their  power  and  to  their  happiness,  and  that  will  be 
repeated  over  and  over  again,  just  as  long  as  the  institution  is  suffered 
to  remain.  Terminate  it,  and  the  wit  of  man  will,  as  I  think,  be  unable 
to  devise  any  other  topic  upon  which  we  can  be  involved  in  a  fratricidal 
strife.  God  and  nature,  judging  by  the  history  of  the  past,  intend  us 
to  be  one.  Our  unity  is  written  in  the  mountains  and  rivers  in  which 
we  all  have  an  interest.  The  very  difference  of  climate  gender  each 
important  to  the  other  and  alike  important.  That  mighty  horde  which 
from  time  to  time  have  gone  from  the  Atlantic,  imbued  with  all  the 
principles  of  human  freedom  which  animated  their^fathers  in  running 
the  perils  of  the  mighty  deep,  and  seeking  liberty  here,  are  now  there, 
and  as  they  have  said,  they  will  continue  to  say,  until  time  shall  be  no 
more :  '  We  mean  that  the  Government  in  future  shall  be  as  in  the  past, 
one,  an  example  of  human  freedom  for  the  light  and  example  of  the 
world,  and  illustrating  in  the  blessings  and  the  happiness  it  confers,  the 
truth  of  the  principles  incorporated  into  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
that  life  and  liberty  are  man's  inalienable  right.'  " 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Vof!  51,  p.  1420. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  51,  p.  1424. 


464  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  young  and  prosperous  free-soil  State  of  Iowa,  through 
her  distinguished  Senator,  Harlan,  was  next  heard  in  favor 
of  the  amendment.  Mr.  Harlan  had  been  a  minister  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  and  he  discussed  with  great 
ability,  the  violation  of  morals  and  Christianity  growing  out 
of  slavery.  He  showed  that  the  prohibition  of  the  marital 
relation  was  a  necessary  incident  of  slavery  as  it  existed  in 
most  of  the  slave  States.  The  abrogation  of  the  conjugal 
relation  among  four  millions  of  human  beings  ought  never  to 
be  permitted  by  a  Christian  people.  Slavery  abrogated  prac- 
tically the  parental  relation ;  it  rendered  the  slave  incapable 
of  acquiring  or  holding  property ;  its  tendency  was,  to  reduce 
him  mentally  and  morally  to  the  condition  of  the  beast* 

Mr.  Saulsbury  of  Delaware,  advocated  slavery  as  a  divine 
institution.  Then  came  a  characteristic  speech  from  the 
old  anti-slavery  leader  John  P.  Hale.  He  said,  "the 
day  he  and  many  others  had  long  wished  for,  hoped  for, 
striven  for,  had  come.  The  Nation  was  now  to  commence 
a  new  life."  He  called  attention  to  the  contrast  between  the 
grandeur  and  sublimity  of  the  truths  embraced  in  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  and  the  degradation  and  infamy 
involved  in  the  practical  disregard  by  the  Nation,  of  these 
truths. 

Senator  McDougal  of  California,  upon  whom  did  not  fall 
the  mantle  of  the  martyred  Broderick,  but  who  in  his  better 
days  was  a  fine  scholar  and  dialectician,  misrepresented  the 
Pacific  coast  by  opposing  the  amendment. 

Senator  Henderson  of  Missouri,  announced  in  clear  lang- 
uage, the  issue  to  be,  "  the  Union  without  slavery,  or  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  Southern  Confederacy."  He  announced 
at  the  same  time,  that  he  was  a  slaveholder;  "  but,"  said  he, 
"  we  cannot  save  the  institution  if  we  would,  and  we  ought 
not  if  we  could."  He  closed  by  expressing  the  hope  that  the 
abolition  of  slavery  would  be  the  means  of  bringing  about 
a  lasting  peace,  upon  which  National  freedom  could  be  built 
upon  National  strength,  and  that  from  this  era,  we  might 
date  a  more  perfect  National  unity. 

The  Senators  from  Kentucky  opposed  vehemently  the 
amendment. 


DEBATE  ON  THE  CONSITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT.  465 

Charles  Sumner  on  behalf  of  Massachusetts,  and  of  the 
friends  of  the  amendment,  closed  the  great  debate.  He 
showed  clearly  that  slavery  found  no  warrant  for  its  exist- 
ence in  the  Constitution,  and  that  it  existed  in  defiance  of  its 
principles.  Yet  he  would  prohibit  it  by  express  enactment. 
He  brought  to  the  discussion  his  rich  stores  of  historical 
knowledge — the  writings  of  the  poets,  historians,  and  states- 
men of  the  past.  He  declared  that  the  amendment  would 
be  the  cap-stone  upon  the  sublime  structure  of  American 
liberty. 

On  the  8th  of  April,  the  amendment  was  adopted  in  the 
Senate  by  ayes  38,  noes  6.  Those  voting  in  the  negative  were 
Davis  and  Powell  of  Kentucky,  McDougal  of  California, 
Hendricks  of  Indiana,  and  Saulsbury  and  Riddle  of  Dela- 
ware. Let  us  now  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  amend- 
ment in  the  popular  branch  of  Congress. 

We  have  seen,  that  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  early 
in  the  session,  propositions  for  amending  the  Constitution, 
abolishing  and  prohibiting  slavery  were  introduced.  On  the 
15th  of  February  x  1864^  on  motion  of  Mr.  Arnold  of  Illinois, 
the  House  adopted  the  following  resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Constitution  should  be  so  amended,  as  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  United  States  wherever  it  now  exists,  and  to  prohibit  its 
existence  in  every  part  thereof,  forever."  * 

This,  it  is  believed,  was  the  first  resolution  ever  adopted  in 
Congress  in  favor  of  the  entire  abolition  of  slavery.  Although 
it  passed  by  a  decided  majority,  it  was  doubtful  whether  the 
amendment  offered,  could  obtain  the  two-thirds  vote  required 
by  the  Constitution  for  its  passage. 

The  very  decided  vote  in  its  favor  in  the  Senate,  the  pres- 
sure of  a  constantly  increasing  public  sentiment  demanding 
its  passage,  it  was  hoped  would  carry  it  through.  The  Pres- 
ident used  all  the  means  in  his  power  to  secure  its  success. 
He  personally  urged  all  on  whom  he  could  exert  an  influence, 
to  vote  for  it,  The  discussion  upon  the  proposition  be^an  on 
the  31st  of  May,  and  it  was  not  finally  brought  to  a  vote  until 
the  15th  of  June.  It  was  opposed  by  Messrs.  Holman  of 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  50,  p.  659. 

30 


466  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Indiana,  Pruyn  and  Fernando  Wood  of  New  York,  Ross  of 
Illinois,  Mallory  of  Kentucky,  and  Cox  and  Pcndleton  of 
Ohio,  and  by  nearly  all  the  democratic  me-mbers  of  the  House. 
It  was  earnestly  advocated  by  Wilson  of  Iowa,  Messrs. 
Arnold,  Farnsworth  and  Ingersoll  of  Illinois,  Higby  of 
California,  Kelly  of  Pennsylvania,  and  many  others. 
In  favor  of  its  passage  it  was  said :  * 

"  Slavery  to-day  is  an  open  enemy,  striking  at  the  heart  of  the  Re- 
public. It  is  the  soul,  and  body,  and  spirit  of  the  rebellion.  It  is  slavery 
which  marshals  yonder  rebel  hosts  which  confront  the  patriot  armies 
of  Grant  and  Sherman.  It  is  the  savage  spirit  of  this  barbarous  insti- 
tution which  starves  the  Union  prisoners  at  Richmond,  which  assassinates 
them  at  Fort  Pillow,  which  murders  the  wounded  on  the  field  of  battle, 
and  which  fills  up  the  catalogue  of  wrong  and  outrage  which  mark  the 
conduct  of  the  rebels  during  this  war.  In  view  of  all  the  long  catalogue 
of  wrongs  which  slavery  has  inflicted  upon  the  country,  I  demand  to- 
day of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  the  death  of  African  slavery. 
We  can  have  no  permanent  peace  while  slavery  lives.  It  now  reels  and 
staggers  towards  its  last  death  struggle.  Let  us  strike  the  monster  this 
last  decisive  blow. 

"  The  Thirty-seventh  Congress  will  live  in  history  as  the  Congress 
which  prohibited  slavery  in  all  the  territories  of  the  Union,  and  abolished 
it  at  the  National  Capitol.  The  President  of  the  United  States  will  be 
remembered  as  the  author  of  the  Proclamation,  of  Emancipation,  as  the 
liberator  of  a  race,  the  apostle  of  freedorj,  the  great  emancipator  of  his 
country.  The  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  if  we  pass  this  joint  resolution, 
will  live  in  history  as  that  which  consummated  the  great  vork  of  freeing 
a  continent  from  the  curse  of  human  bondage.  Never  since  the  day 
when  John  Adams  plead  for  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  has  BO 
important  a  question  been  submitted  to  an  American  Congress,  as  that 
upon  which  you  are  now  about  to  vote.  The  signing  of  the  immortal 
Declaration  is  a  familiar  picture  in  every  log  cabin  and  home,  all  over 
the  land.  Pass  this  resolution  and  the  grand  spectacle  of  this  vote 
which  knocks  off  the  fetters  of  a  whole  race,  will  make  this  scene 
immortal. 

"  Live  a  century,  nay  a  thousand  years,  and  no  such  opportunity  to 
do  a  great  deed  for  humanity,  for  liberty,  for  peace  and  for  your  country 
will  ever  again  present  itself.  Pass  this  joint  resolution  and  you  win  a 
victory  over  wrong  and  injustice,  lasting  as  eternity.  The  whole  world 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  53,  p.  2988-89. 


DEBATE  ON  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT.  467 

will  rise  up  to  do  you  honor.  Every  lover  of  liberty  in  Germany,  France, 
Italy,  Great  Britain,  the  world,  will  rise  up  and  call  you  blessed.  The 
gallant  soldiers  in  the  field  who  are  giving  their  lives  for  liberty  and 
Union  will  call  down  upon  you  the  blessings  of  heaven.  Let  the  light- 
nings of  God,  (fit  instruments  for  the  glorious  message,)  transmit  to  the 
toiling  and  struggling  soldiers  of  Sherman,  and  Hunter,  and  Butler,  and 
Grant,  the  thrilling  words  '  slavery  abolished  forever/  and  their  joyous 
shouts  wil.  strike  terror  into  the  ranks  of  the  rebels  and  traitors  fighting 
for  tyranny  and  bondage.  The  thousands  of  wounded  in  the  hospitals 
around  this  Capital,  would  hail  the  intelligence  as  a  battle  fought,  and 
a  great  victory  won. 

"  This  Constitutional  amendment  has  passed  the  Senate,  long  regarded 
as  the  citidel  of  the  slave  power;  how  strange  if  it  should  fail  in  the 
popular  branch  of  Congress !  The  people  and  the  States  are  eager  and 
impatient  to  ratify  it.  Will  those  who  claim  to  represent  the  ancient 
democracy  refuse  to  give  the  people  an  opportunity  to  vote  upon  it?  Is 
this  your  confidence  in  the  loyal  masses  ?  The  passage  of  this  resolution 
will  strike  the  rebellion  at  the  heart.  I  appeal  to  border  State  men  and 
democrats  of  the  free  States;  look  over  your  country;  see  the  bloody 
footsteps  of  slavery.  See  the  ruin  and  desolation  which  it  has  brought 
upon  our  once  happy  land;  and  I  ask,  why  stay  the  hand  now  ready  to 
strike  down  to  death,  the  cause  of  all  these  evils?  why  seek  to  prolong 
the  life,  to  restore  to  vigor,  the  institution  of  slavery,  now  needing  but 
this  last  act  to  doom  it  to  everlasting  death  and  damnation  ?  Gentle- 
men may  flatter  themselves  with  the  hope  of  a  restoration  of  the  slave 
power  in  this  country.  '  The  Union  as  it  was ! '  It  is  a  dream  never 
again  to  be  realized.  The  America  of  the  past,  is  gone  forever!  A  new 
nation  is  to  be  born  from  the  agony  through  which  the  people  are  now 
passing.  This  new  nation  is  to  be  wholly  free.  Liberty,  equality  before 
the  law,  is  to  be  the  great  corner  stone.  Much  yet  remains  to  be  done 
to  secure  this.  Many  a  battle  on  the  field  has  yet  to  be  fought  and  won 
against  the  mighty  power  which  fights  for  slavery,  the  barbarous  system 
of  the  past.  Many  a  battle  has  yet  to  be  won  on  the  higher  sphere  of 
moral  conflict.  While  our  gallant  soldiers  are  subduing  the  rebels  in  the 
field,  let  us  second  their  efforts  by  sweeping  from  the  statute  book 
every  stay,  and  prop,  and  shield  of  human  slavery,  the  scourge  of  our 
country,  and  let  us  crown  all  by  incorporating  into  our  organic  law,  the 
law  of  universal  liberty.  For  myself,  I  mean  to  fight  this  cause  of  the 
war,  this  cursed  cause  of  all  the  expenditure  of  blood  and  treasure, 
from  which  my  country  is  now  suffering,  this  institution  which  has  filled 
our  whole  land  with  desolation,  sorrow,  and  anguish.  I  mean  to  fight 
it,  until  neither  on  statute  book  nor  the  Constitution,  shall  there  be  left 


468  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

a  single  sentence  or  word  which  can  be  construed  to  sanction  the  stu- 
pendous wrong.  Let  us  now,  to-day,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  justice, 
and  of  God,  consummate  this  grand  revolution.  Let  us  to-day,  make  our 
country,  our  whole  country  '  the  home  of  the  free.' 

"  I  conclude  in  the  language  of  the  President :  '  So  much  good  has 
not  been  done  by  one  effort  in  all  past  time,  as  in  the  providence  of  God, 
it  is  now  your  high  privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not  have  to 
lament  that  you  have  neglected,  it. ' ' 

Mr.  Pendleton  of  Ohio,  in  a  closing  speech,  rallied  the  de- 
mocratic party  against  the  amendment.  The  vote  was  nine- 
ty-three in  favor  of  the  amendment,  sixty-five  against  it — 
not  voting,  twenty-three.  Not  having  a  majority  of  two- 
thirds,  the  resolution  failed.  The  democratic  party  voted 
nearly  solid  against  it.  Messrs.  Bailey  of  Pennsylvania,  Col- 
onel Cohb  of  Wisconsin,  Griswold  and  Odell  of  New  York, 
were  exceptions. 

Before  the  vote  was  announced,  James  M.  Ashley  of  Ohio, 
changed  his  vote  from  the  affirmative  to  the  negative,  for  the 
purpose  of  entering  a  motion  to  reconsider.  The  subject 
went  over  to  the  next  session.  Meanwhile,  the  adoption  of 
the  amendment,  and  the  longer  existence  of  slavery  passed 
into  an  issue  to  be  decided  at  the  approaching  Presidential 
election. 

During  the  struggle  on  the  Constitutional  amendment,  the 
President  manifested  the  utmost  anxiety  that  it  should  pass. 
On  the  1st  of  January,  1864,  he  received  his  friends,  and 
many  congratulations  were  expressed,  on  account  of  the  im- 
proved prospects  of  the  country.  The  decisive  victories  in 
the  West,  and  the  successes  in  the  East,  gave  a  more  buoyant 
tone  to  all  visiting  the  White  House.  One  of  the  most  de- 
voted friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  calling  upon  him,  after  exchang- 
ing congratulations  over  the  progress  of  the  Union  armies 
during  the  past  year,  said : 

"  I  hope  Mr.  President,  one  year  from  to-day  I  may  have  the  pleasure 
of  congratulating  you  on  the  consummation  of  three  events  which  seem 
now  very  probable.  '  What  are  they? '  said  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"  First,  That  the  rebellion  may  be  completely  crushed.  Second,  That 
slavery  may  be  entirely  destroyed,  and  prohibited  forever  throughout 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT.  469 

the  Union.  Third,  That  Abraham  Lincoln  may  have  been  triumphantly 
reelected  President  of  the  United  States. 

"  I  would  be  very  glad '  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye. 
1 1  think  I  would  compromise,  by  obtaining  the  first  two  propositions.'  " 

A  democratic  member  had  a  brother  mortally  wounded  at 
Chancellorsville.  Mr.  Lincoln's  kindness  to  him  while  in  the 
hospital  at  Washington,  visiting  him,  and  relieving  every 
want,  won  the  heart  of  the  Congressman,  and  sometime  after- 
wards, he  expressed  his  gratitude  so  warmly,  that  the  Presi- 
dent during  the  debate  in  the  House  on  the  Constitutional 
amendment,  and  while  the  result  was  doubtful,  at  a  reception, 
said  to  the  member,  "  your  brother  died  to  save  the  Republic 
from  death  by  the  slaveholders  rebellion.  I  wish  you  could  see 
it  to  be  your  duty  to  vote  for  the  Constitutional  amendment 
ending  slavery." 

No  selfish  consideration  was  suggested ;  but  the  appeal  to 
duty  coming  from  the  President  to  an  honest  and  grateful 
heart,  was  successful.  Party  ties  were  broken,  and  the  vote 
given  for  the  amendment. 


CHAPTEE    XXL 


BECONSTRUCTION— FREEDMEN'S     BUREAU— CENSURE    OF     HARRIS 

AND  LONG. 

RECONSTRUCTION — AMNESTY — HENRY  WINTER  DAVIS'  BILL — 
QUESTION  OF  ADMISSION  OF  SENATORS  FROM  ARKANSAS — FREED- 
MEN'S BUREAU — SPEECH  OF  BROOKS — EXPULSION  OF  LONG — 
CENSURE  OF  HARRIS — SPEECH  OF  WINTER  DAVIS. 

THE  subject  of  reconstruction  had  been  presented  to  Con- 
gress by  the  President  in  his  annual  Message  of  December 
1863.  He  said  that  looking  to  the  present  and  the  future, 
with  reference  t«  a  resumption  of  the  National  authority 
within  the  States  wherein  that  authority  had  been  suspend- 
ed, he  had  thought  fit  to  issue  a  proclamation  in  which  he 
thought  nothing  was  attempted  but  what  was  justified  by  the 
Constitution.  This  proclamation  proffered  a  full  pardon, 
with  the  restoration  of  all  rights  of  property  except  as  to 
\  slaves,  and  when  the  rights  of  third  persons  had  intervened, 
|  on  condition  of  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  support  to  all  acts  of  Congress  passed 
during  the  rebellion  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  also  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation.*  From  the  persons  to  whom 
this  oifer  of  pardon  was  extended,  were  excepted,  all  officers 
of  the  Confederate  Government,  all  who  left  judicial  stations 
under  the  United  States  to  aid  the  rebellion,  military  and 
naval  officers  of  the  rebel  government  above  the  rank  of  col- 
onel in  the  army  and  lieutenant  in  the  navy,  and  all  who  had 
been  engaged  in  treating  white  or  colored  persons  otherwise 
than  as  prisoners  of  war. 


*  Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  from  the  beginning,  Mr.  Lincoln  determir.ed  that  re- 
construction should  have  for  its  basis  universal  freedom. 

470 


RECONSTRUCTION.  471 

In  this  proclamation  Mr.  Lincoln  manifested  his  fixed  de- 
termination that  slavery  should  cease  in  the  reconstructed 
Union,  and  that  the  faith  of  the  Nation  pledged  to  the  colored 
race  should  be  fully  and  scrupulously  kept.  Fidelity, — fidel- 
ity to  the  freedmen,  breathed  through  every  paper  Mr.  Lin- 
coln ever  issued  on  the  subject-  In  regard  to  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  States  he  said  :  "  In  some  States,  the  elements  for 
resumption  seems  ready  for  action,  but  remain  inactive  for 
the  want  of  a  plan  of  action.  By  the  proclamation,  a  plan 
is  presented  which  the  people  are  assured  will  not  be  rejected 
by  the  Executive."  The  plan  suggested  was,  that  when  one 
tenth  of  the  voters  in  any  State  who  had  voted  in  1860,  should 
take  the  required  oath,  and  organize  and  reestablish  a  State 
government  which  should  be  republican  in  form,  and  no 
wise  contravening  said  oath,  it  would  be  recognized  by  the 
Executive  as  the  government  of  the  State.  He  further  sug- 
gested that  in  constituting  a  loyal  State  government,  the 
names  and  boundaries  of  the  old  States  might  be  properly 
and  conveniently  retained.  This  would  avoid  inconvenience 
and  confusion. 

Does  not  such  a  suggestion  negative  the  idea  that  the  State 
as  such  still  existed,  as  a  State,  in  the  Union,  and  a  component 
part  of  the  Government,  and  could  of  itself  resume  its  former 
relations  to  the  Union  ?  He  added,  in  presenting  the  subject 
to  Congress,  "  to  avoid  misunderstanding,  that  in  saying  re- 
construction will  be  accepted,  if  presented  in  a  specified  way 
— is  not  saying  it  would  be  rejected  if  presented  in  any  other 
way." 

There  was  a  wide  difference  of  opinion  among  the  friends 
of  the  President  in  regard  to  the  Amnesty  Proclamation. 
In  the  midst  of  the  fierce  passions  and  animosities  growing 
out  of  the  war,  many  thought  the  terms  much  too  favorable 
to  the  rebels.  But  the  conviction  of  the  President  was  clear 
that  when  there  was  sincere  repentance  manifested  by  action, 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  Executive  to  pardon.  He  said,  "  when 
a  man  is  sincerely  penitent  for  his  misdeeds,  and  gives 
satisfactory  evidence  of  it,  he  can  safely  be  pardoned." 

It  is  known  that  he  was  very  anxiously  seeking  the  resto- 
ration of  some  one,  or  more  of  the  seceded  States.  He 


472       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

earnestly  desired  to  make  a  beginning  in  this  direction.  He 
desired  a  model  for  the  seceded  states  to  follow,  and  he  looked 
impatiently  for  the  day  when  a  slave  and  rebellious  State 
might  return  as  a  free  and  loyal  member  of  the  Union. 

The  mode  of  governing  the  rebellious  States,  and  the 
manner  of  their  resuming  their  former  relations  to  the  gov- 
ernment, had  been  the  subject  of  discussion  in  Congress  in 
1861  and  1862,  but  no  definite  action  was  taken.  The  Pres- 
ident's Message  on  the  subject  was,  on  the  15th  of  December 
1863,  referred  to  a  select  committee,  of  which  Henry  Win- 
ter Davis  was  Chairman.  In  the  discussion  on  the  subject 
of  reconstruction  at  this  session  of  Congress,  began  those 
differences  of  opinion  which  have  since  been  promoted  by  bad 
temper,  intemperate  and  violent  language,  and  ambition,  and 
have  finally  resulted  in  the  alienation  which  has  grown  into 
open  hostility  between  Congress  and  the  Executive  during 
the  administration  of  Mr.  Johnson. 

As  has  been  stated  the  relations  of  the  rebel  States  to  the 
National  Government,  and  in  what  way  they  should  be  gov- 
erned during  the  period  which  should  intervene  before  their 
restoration  to  their  former  relations,  and  the  manner  in  which 
those  relations  should  be  restored,  early  became  a  subject  of 
anxious  consideration  by  the  thoughtful  statesmen  of  the  re- 
public. As  early  as  December  1861,  Senator  Harlan  intro- 
duced a  bill  to  establish  a  provisional  government  in  the  re- 
bellious States.  Mr.  Sumiier,  in  February  1862,  introduced 
a  series  of  resolutions  declaratory  of  his  views  of  the  relations 
between  the  United  States  and  the  territory  thus  "  usurped 
by  pretended  governments  without  legal  or  constitutional 
rights."  Various  bills  were  reported  to  the  House,  and  in- 
troduced into  the  Senate,  to  establish  provisional  governments 
over  the  territory  in  rebellion.  No  final  action  was  had  upon 
these  measures.  They  were  generally  regarded  as  premature, 
and  it  was  thought  that  while  in  the  condition  of  war,  mil- 
itary governments  were  perhaps  the  most  convenient  form  in 
which  proper  governmental  control  could  be  exercised.  The 
President,  under  the  military  power  had  appointed  provis- 
ional governors  in  North  Carolina,  Louisiana,  Tennessee  and 
Arkansas. 


RECONSTRUCTION.  473 

In  December  1863,  Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania  proposed 
the  formation  of  a  select  committee  to  which  should  be  re- 
ferred so  much  of  the  President's  message  as  relates  to  th« 
treatment  of  the  rebellious  States.  Henry  Winter  Davis, 
the  brilliant  orator  and  bold  leader  of  the  Union  party  in 
Maryland,  moved  to  amend  the  resolution  providing  for  a' 
select  committee,  to  which  should  be  referred  so  much  of  the 
President's  Message  as  relates  to  the  duty  of  the  United 
States  to  guarantee  a  republican  form  of  government  to  the 
several  States,  which  committee  should  report  the  bills  neces- 
sary to  prepare  to  carry  into  execution  that  guarantee.  The 
resolution  as  amended  by  Mr.  Davis  passed,  and  the  commit- 
tee was  raised,  and  the  mover  Mr.  Davis  as  has  been  stated, 
was  made  chairman. 

On  the  15th  of  February  1864,  the  committee  reported  "  a 
bill  to  guarantee  a  republican  form  of  government  to  certain 
States  whose  governments  have  been  overthrown."  The  bill 
among  other  things,  authorized  the  appointment  by  the  Pres- 
ident of  a  Provisional  Governor.  It  provided  that  as  soon 
as  military  resistance  should  be  overcome,  the  white  male 
citizens  should  be  enrolled,  and  conventions  to  frame  new 
constitutions  should  be  called.  No  person  who  had  exercised 
any  civil,  military,  state,  or  confederate  office  during  the 
rebellion,  or  who  had  voluntarily  borne  arms  against  the 
United  States,  should  vote,  or  be  eligible  as  a  delegate  to  such 
convention.  The  constitutional  conventions  were  required 
to  insert  provisions  providing  :  "1st,  that  no  person  who  had 
held  office  under  the  rebellious  government,  state  or  confed- 
erate except  military  officers  under  the  grade  of  colonel, 
should  vote  for,  or  be  eligible  for  a  member  of  the  legislature 
or  Governor.  2d,  slavery  should  be  forever  prohibited,  and 
freedom  secured  to  all ;  and  3d,  all  state  and  confederate 
debts  created  in  aid  of  the  rebellion  should  be  repudiated." 

This  bill  was  earnestly  advocated  as  a  bill  to  restore  civil 
government  in  States  where  no  governments  recognized  by 
the  United  States  existed.  The  suppression  of  the  rebellion 
and  the  overthrow  of  hostile  governments  existing  in  the 
rebel  S-tates  would  leave  the  territory  which  had  been  waging 
war  against  the  United  States,  without  any  civil  government 
which  Congress  could  recognize.  It  was  the  clear  duty  of 


474  LINCOLN   AND   THE    OVERTHROW   OF    SLAVE  RT. 

Congress  to  inaugurate  a  government,  republican  in  form, 
and  to  prescribe  such  conditions  as  would  give  security  in 
the  future.  The  bill  after  much  discussion  passed  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  but  being  presented  to  the  President 
less  than  one  hour  before  the  adjournment  it  was  not  signed 
by  him,  he  desiring  time  to  consider  the  very  grave  questions 
raised  by  the  act.  On  the  8th  of  July,  he  issued  a  proclam- 
ation calling  attention  to  the  provisions  of  the  bill  as  a  plan 
for  restoration,  which,  while  not  approving,  to  the  exclusion 
of  others,  and  as  inflexibly  committing  himself  to  this  single 
plan,  yet  he  presented  it  as  worthy  of  consideration,  and  ex- 
pressed his  willingness  to  give  it  the  Executive  sanction 
and  aid  ;  and  he  announced  that  as  soon  as  military  resist- 
ance should  be  overcome  in  any  State,  and  the  people  suffi- 
ciently returned  to  their  obedience  to  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States,  he  would  proceed  to  appoint  a  mil- 
itary governor  with  instructions  to  proceed  according  to  the 
provisions  of  the  bill.*  His  great  objection  to  the  bill  was 
that  it  abrogated  the  proceedings  by  which  free  State  govern- 
ments had  already  been  organized  in  Arkansas  and  Louisi- 
ana, and  would  require  that  the  people  of  those  States  should 
begin  again,  and  all  that  had  been  done  in  these  States  was  as 
nothing.  He  was  extremely  anxious  that  some  of  the  seceding 
States  should  as  soon  as  possible  be  again  recognized  and  repre- 
sented in  Congress, — believing  that  such  an  example  would  ex- 
ert a  powerful  influence  upon  the  others.  Had  the  existing  free 
State  governments  of  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas  been  recog- 
nized and  sanctioned  by  the  bill,  his  principal  objection  to  it 
would  have  been  removed.  The  failure  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
sign  this  bill  regulating  the  subject  of  reconstruction,  called 
forth  from  Senator  "Wade  of  Ohio,  and  Henry  Winter  Davis, 
a  paper  severely  censuring  him  for  the  omission ;  a  paper 
written  with  distinguished  ability,  but  with  a  temper  too  per- 
sonal for  the  discussion  of  a  question  so  grave.  Had  Mr. 
Lincoln  lived,  no  serious  evil  would  have  resulted  from  his 
failure  to  sign  the  bill  referred  to.  I  feel  fully  warranted 
from  his  whole  administration,  from  the  tone  of  his  procla- 
mation on  the  subject  of  this  bill,  from  his  uniformly  kind, 

*  McPherson,  page  318-319. 


RECONSTRUCTION.  475 

courteous  and  respectful  treatment  of  Congress,  and  from 
the  fact  that  there  was  really  no  serious  difference  of  opinion 
between  him  and  Congress,  in  saying  that  there  would  have 
been  no  division  between  Congress  and  himself  on  this  subject. 

Since  Mr.  Lincoln's  death,  all  who  have  appreciated  the 
great  national  misfortune  resulting  from  the  separation  of 
President  Johnson  from  the  men  who  elected  him  Vice  Pres- 
ident, and  his  estrangement  from  Congress,  must  deeply  re- 
gret that  this  bill,  or  some  bill  embodying  the  views  of  Con- 
gress, did  not  become  a  law  before  the  accession  of  Mr.  John- 
son to  the  Presidency. 

The  subject  of  reconstruction,  and  the  views  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln upon  the  subject,  were  still  further  disussed  in  the  Sen- 
ate on  the  presentation  of  the  credentials  of  Messrs  Fishback 
and  Baxter,  claiming  to  be  Senators  elect  from  the  State  of 
Arkansas.  On  the  13th  of  June  1864  a  joint  resolution  for 
the  recognition  of  the  free  State  government  of  Arkansas 
was  considered.  Mr.  Sumner  said :  * 

""William  M.  Fishback,  a  citizen  of  Arkansas,  appears  be- 
fore the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  claims  membership  therein. 
He  asserts  that  he  has  been  duly  chosen  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of 
Senator  Sebastian,  who  was  expelled  in  1861  for  complicity  with  the 
rebellion,  and  he  produces  a  certificate  purporting  to  be  signed  by  the 
Governor  of  Arkansas. 

"  Shall  this  claimant  be  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  ?  Such  is 
the  immediate  question.  But  I  have  said  that  there  are  other  ques- 
tions, of  the  most  far  reaching  character,  which  must  be  considered 
now  and  here ;  for  they  all  enter  into  the  present  case.  If  we  now 
admit  the  present  claimant,  we  must  also  now  admit  that  other  claim- 
ant who  has  presented  himself  with  like  credentials,  as  a  colleague.  The 
question  is  not,  therefore,  shall  Arkansas  have  one  vote  in  this  Senate? 
but  shall  it  have  two  ? 

"  Therefore,  sir,  I  repeat,  the  decision  of  the  question  now  before  us 
rules  all  the  questions  which  can  arise  upon  the  representation  of  Ar- 
kansas in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  also  the  other  ques- 
tion of  the  participation  of  Arkansas  in  the  election  of  President  and 
Vice  President  for  the  term  of  four  years  next  ensuing.  The  impor- 
tance of  such  a  subject  cannot  be  exaggerated." 

*  Congressional  Globe,  1st  session  38th  Congress,  page  2896. 


476  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  power  of  the  President  upon  the  question  of  institut 
ing  governments  in  the  Rebel  States,  is  that  which  he  pos- 
sesses as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  army.  This  is  provis- 
ional and  temporary.  Permanent  civil  government  to  last  be- 
yond the  war,  with  the  right  of  representation  in  Congress, 
and  in  the  electoral  college,  cannot,  Mr.  Sumner  contended, 
be  initiated  by  the  President.  The  National  safety  as  well 
as  the  theory  of  our  government  requires  that  it  should  be 
exercised  by  the  law  making  power  of  the  republic. 

What  were  Mr.  Lincoln's  views  on  the  subject?  He  ap- 
pointed military  governors,  and  most  earnestly  desired  the 
early  restoration  of  the  rebel  States.  But  his  proclamation 
by  its  very  terms  necessarily  implied  the  action  of  Congress 
in  the  restoration  of  a  State  to  the  Union.  Upon  this  question 
Mr.  Sumner  said : 

"  There  is  first  the  positive  declaration  that  '  whether  members  sent 
to  Congress  from  any  State  shall  be  admitted  to  seats  rests  constitution- 
ally, exclusively  with  the  respective  Houses,  and  not  to  any  extent  with 
the  Executive/  But  the  language  of  the  proclamation  and  of  the  ac- 
companying message  plainly  assumes  that  the  rebel  States  have  lost 
their  original  character  as  States  of  the  Union.*  Thus  in  one  place  the 
President  says  that  '  loyal  State  Governments  have  for  a  long  time  been 
subverted.'  But  if  subverted,  they  are  no  longer  States.  In  another 
place  he  proposes  '  to  re-inaugurate  loyal  State  Governments/  But  a 
proposition  to  re-inaugurate,  implies  a  new  start.  In  another  place  he 
proposes  to  reestablish  a  State  Government  which  shall  be  Republican.' 
But  we  do  not  reestablish  a  Government  which  continues  to  exist.  In 
another  place  he  proposes  to  '  set  up '  a  State  Government  in  the  mode 
prescribed.  But  whatever  requires  to  be  set  up  is  evidently  down.  In 
another  place  he  seeks  to  guarantee  and  protect  a  '  revived  State  Gov- 
ernment/ But  we  revive  only  what  is  dead,  or  at  least  faint.  There  is 
Still  another  place,  where  the  President  evidently  looks  to  the  possibility 
of  a  change  of  name,  boundary,  subdivision,  constitution,  and  general 
code  of  laws  in  the  restored  State.  These  are  his  identical  words :  '  And 
it  is  suggested  as  not  improper  that  in  constructing  a  loyal  State  Gov- 
ernment in  a  State,  the  name  of  the  State,  the  boundary,  the  subdi- 
visions, the  constitution,  and  the  general  code  of  laws,  as  before  the  re- 
bellion, be  maintained/  Thus  the  President  does  not  insist  that  even 
the  name  and  boundary  of  a  State  shall  be  preserved.  He  contents 

*  Encyclopedia  of  18&4,  p.  312-13. 


RECONSTRUCTION.  477 

himself  with  suggesting  that  it  will  not  be  '  improper '  to  preserve  them 
'  in  constructing  a  loyal  State  Government.' "  * 

The  Senate  finally  adopted  the  following  important 
resolution  on  the  subject : 

"  Resolved,  That  a  State  pretending  to  secede  from  the  Union,  and 
battling  against  the  National  Government  to  maintain  this  pretension, 
must  be  regarded  as  a  rebel  State,  subject  to  military  occupation,  and 
without  title  to  representation  on  this  floor  until  it  has  been  re-admitted 
by  a  vote  of  both  Houses  of  Congress;  and  the  Senate  will  decline  to 
entertain  any  application  from  any  such  rebel  State  until  after  such  vote 
of  both  Houses  of  Congress/'  f 

The  condition  of  the  Freedmen,  those  who  had  by  the  oper- 
ations of  the  war,  the  various  acts  of  Congress,  and  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  been  emancipated  and  made  free, 
early  attracted  the  attention  of  the  humane  and  the  patriotic. 
Having  been  bondmen,  they  had  acquired  no  property.  Edu- 
cation had  been  prohibited  to  them,  the  fruits  of  their  indus- 
try had  been  appropriated  by  their  masters,  and  thus 'a  whole 
race  hitherto  incapable  of  holding  property,  homeless,  and 
with  little  education,  must,  in  the  midst  of  civil  war,  and 
among  a  people  exasperated  against  them,  learn  to  take  care 
of  themselves.  It  was  obvious  that  they  needed  kindly  aid, 
guidance,  assistance.  The  benevolent,  religious  and  patriotic 
of  the  loyal  states  were  ready  to  aid,  and  voluntary  associa- 
tions did  aid  them  with  food,  clothing,  schools,  religious 
instruction  and  books.  But  as  they  were  the  wards  of  the 
Republic,  and  their  able  bodied  men  were  largely  in  the  army 
fighting  its  battles,  it  was  felt  that  the  Government  itself 
should  aid  and  protect  them.  Mr.  Elliot  of  Massachusetts, 
in  January,  1864,  reported  a  bill  providing  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Bureau  of  Emancipation.  He,  and  its  other  friends 
eloquently  urged  its  passage.  After  full  discussion  the  bill 
passed  the  House.  Going  to  the  Senate,  it  was  amended  and 
modified,  and  coming  back  again  to  the  House,  was  postponed 
to  the  next  session. 

It  was  during  the  discussion  in  the  House  on  this  bill  on 
the  19th  of  February,  1864,  that  James  Brooks,  a  democratic 

»  Encyclodia  of  1864,  p.  314. 

t  Congressional  Globe,  First  Session  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  2898. 


478        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

member  of  Congress  from  the  city  of  New  York,  in  a  speech 
of  great  vigor  and  comprehensiveness,  startled  his  demoratic 
brethren  by  announcing  the  death  of  salvery!  The  speech 
was  remarkable,  as  showing  the  progress  of  events  and  of 
public  sentiment  on  the  slavery  question.  Mr.  Brooks  had 
long  been  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Express;  he  was  a 
gentleman  of  fine  culture,  a  conservative  whig  in  the  days  of 
the  whig  party,  and  a  bitter  opponent  of  abolition.  But  he 
yielded  to  the  logic  of  events.* 

"  Sir,"  said  he,  "  the  abolition  of  slavery  is  a  fixed  fact,  a 
fact  accomplished.  I  must  accept  it.  I  cannot  close  my  eyes 
upon  it,  any  more  than  upon  the  sun,  or  upon  the  sunshine, 
the  tornado  or  the  storm.  What  is  written  is  written;  and  I 
must  be  blind  if  I  did  not  see  that  slavery  is  abolished.  I 
cannot  help  it,  I  cannot  avoid  it.  Massachusetts  has  ordained 
it,  and  the  country  accepts." 

The  eloquent  gentleman  exaggerated  the  power  and  influ- 
ence which  Massachusetts  had  secured  by  her  free  schools 
and  her  cultivated  intellect  when  he  exclaimed,  "Massachu- 
setts is  the  leading  power  in  this  land.  "Whatever  she  decrees 
is  in  all  probability  to  be  law.  She  exercises  the  same  control 
over  this  vast  country  which  stretches  from  the  Passama- 
quady  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the 
Pacific,  that  was  exercised  by  imperial  Rome  on  the  little 
Tiber,  from  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  to  the  Euphrates  and  the 
Tigris.  Boston,  her  Capital,  is  well  called  the  "  hub  "  of  our 
universe:  *  *  *  and  emancipation  is  a  Massachusetts 
thunderbolt.  "  And  I  know  the  spirit  of  Massachusetts.  I 
know  her  inexorable,  unappeasable,  demoniac  energy.  I 
know  that  what  she  decrees,  she  will  execute."  But  although 
Mr.  Brooks  announced  the  death  of  slavery,  it  still  lived  in 
Kentucky,  and  elsewhere,  although  it  was  in  a  dying  condi- 
tion. Mr.  Brooks  was  admonished  by  a  member  from  the 
West,  "  that  in  the  days  of  Cromwell,  it  was  supposed  that 
monarchy  was  dead  in  England,  yet  but  a  few  years  passed, 
and  Charles  IE,  sat  upon  the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  and 
monarchy  was  in  full  sway.  "  God  save  the  country,"  said 
he,  "  from  the  return  of  the  slave  Kings.  Therefore  let  us 

*  Congressional  Globe,  First  Session  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  Part  I,  p.  761. 


GAKFIELD  REBUKES  LONG.  479 

take  security  for  the  future  by  amending  the  Constitution, 
abolishing  slavery,  and  prohibiting  it  forever." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  debates  of  this  eventful  session 
arose  on  the  motion  made  by  Schuyler  Colfax,  the  Speaker 
of  the  House,  for  the  expulsion  of  Alexander  Long,  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  Ohio,  for  words  spoken  in  debate. 
Long  was  a  red  faced,  portly  gentleman,  of  violent  secession 
sympathies,  and  a  disciple  of  Yallandigham.  He  made  a 
speech  disapproving  the  war,  prophesying  disaster  and  de- 
feat, and  despotism,  and  declaring  himself  in  favor  of  recog- 
nizing the  Confederates  as  a  Nation !  General  Garfield,  his 
impulsive,  generous,  patriotic  colleague,  the  same,  who,  al- 
though a  Baptist  preacher,  had  volunteered  in  the  war  and 
served  with  courage,  and  ability  in  the  field,  and  had  distin- 
guished himself  particularly  as  Chief  of  General  Rosecrans' 
staff  at  Chickamauga,  immediately  on  Long's  taking  his  seat, 
rose  and,  asked  "  that  a  white  flag  might  be  placed  between 
his  colleague  and  himself."  He  then  recalled  an  incident 
of  the  war  occurring  on  the  field,  in  which  under  the  folds 
of  a  white  flag  he  had  approached  a  party  of  Confederates, 
and  extending  his  hand  to  one,  said  to  him  that  he  respected 
him  as  a  brave  man,  though  disloyal,  and  a  traitor.  "  I  be- 
held," said  he,  "a  brave  and  honest  soul."  "  So  of  my  col- 
league; I  honor  his  bravery,  his  candor  and  his  frankness." 
"  But  now,"  he  continued.  "  take  away  the  flag  of  truce,  and 
I  will  go  back  within  the  Union  lines  and  speak  of  what  he 
has  done."  Then  in  a  voice  of  eloquence  which  thrilled  the 
galleries  and  the  Hall,  he  exclaimed: 

"  Now,  when  hundreds  of  thousands  of  brave  souls  have  have  gone  up 
to  Grod  under  the  shadow  of  the  flag,  and  when  thousands  more,  maimed 
and  shattered  in  the  contest,  are  sadly  a  waiting  the  deliverance  of  death; 
now,  when  three  years  of  terrific  warfare  have  raged  over  us,  when  our 
armies  have  pushed  the  rebellion  back  over  mountains  and  rivers  and 
crowded  it  into  narrow  limits,  until  a  wall  of  fire  girds  it;  now,  when 
the  uplifted  hand  of  a  majestic  people  is  about  to  let  fall  the  lightning 
of  its  conquering  power  upon  the  rebellion;  now,  in  the  quiet  of  this 
Hall,  hatched  in  the  lowest  depths  of'a  similar  dark  treason,  there  rises 
a  Benedict  Arnold  and  proposes  to  surrender  us  all  up,  body  and  spirit, 
the  nation  and  the  flag,  its  genius  and  its  honor,  now  and  forever,  to 


480  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  accursed  traitors  to  our  country.  And  that  proposition  conies — 
God  forgive  and  pity  my  beloved  State! — it  comes  from  a  citizen  of  the 
honored  and  loyal  Commonwealth  of  Ohio. 

"  I  implore  you,  brethren  in  thiy  House,  not  to  believe  that  many 
births  ever  gave  pangs  to  my  mother  State,  such  as  she  suffered  when 
that  traitor  was  born.  I  beg  you  not  to  believe  that  on  the  soil  of 
that  State  another  such  growth  has  ever  deformed  the  face  of 
nature  and  darkened  the  light  of  God's  day.  [An  audible  whisper, 
'  Vallandigham.'] 

"  But  ah,  I  am  reminded  that  there  are  other  such.  My  zeal  and 
love  for  Ohio  have  carried  me  too  far.  I  retract.  I  remember  that  only 
a  few  days  since  a  political  convention  met  at  the  capital  of  my  State, 
and  almost  decided  to  select  from  just  such  material  a  Representative 
for  the  democratic  party  in  the  coming  contest;  and  to-day,  what  claim  to 
be  a  majority  of  the  democracy  of  that  State,  declare  that  they  were 
cheated,  or  they  would  have  made  that  choice.  I  therefore  sadly  take 
back  the  boast  I  first  uttered  in  behalf  of  my  native  State. 

"  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  this  contest,  it  is  proposed  in 
this  Hall,  to  give  up  the  struggle,  to  abandon  the  war,  and  let  treason 
run  riot  through  the  land !  I  will,  if  I  can,  dismiss  feeling  from  my 
heart,  and  try  to  consider  only  the  logic  of  the  speech  to  which  we  have 
just  listened.  * 

"  Suppose  the  policy  of  the  gentleman  were  adopted  to-day.  Let  the 
order  go  forth;  sound  the  '  recall'  on  your  bugles,  and  let  it  ring  from 
Texas  to  the  far  Atlantic,  and  tell  the  armies  to  come  back.  Call  the 
victorious  legions  back  over  the  battle-fields  of  blood,  forever  now  dis- 
graced. Call  them  back  over  the  territory  they  have  conquered  and 
redeemed.  Call  them  back,  and  let  the  minions  of  secession  chase  them 
with  derision  and  jeers  as  they  come.  And  then  tell  them  that  that  man 
across  the  aisle,  from  the  free  State  of  Ohio,  gave  birth  to  the  monstrous 
proposition. 

"  Almost  in  the  moment  of  final  victory  the  recall  is  sounded  by  a 
craven  people.  Every  man  who  would  sanction  such  a  sentiment  deserves 
to  be  a  slave." 

On  the  following  day,  the  Speaker,  Mr.  Colfax,  calling 
Mr.  Dawes.of  Massachusetts  to  the  Chair,  introduced  a  res- 
olution for  the  expulsion  of  Long,  for  the  reason  that  he 
had  "  declared  himself  in  favor  of  recognizing  the  inde- 
pendence and  the  nationality  of  the  so-called  confederacy, 
now  in  arms  against  the  United  States,  thereby  giving  aid, 


EXPULSION    OP    LONG.  481 

countenance  and  encouragement  to  persons  engaged  in 
armed  hostility  to  the  United  States." 

Colfax  was  a  man  of  fervid  eloquence,  of  great  personal 
kindness,  and  an  almost  universal  popular  favorite. 

He  stated  that  he  offered  the  resolution  in  performance  of 
a  high  public  duty  ;  a  duty  which  he  owed  not  only  to  his 
constituents  at  home,  but  to  the  thousands  who  were  in  the 
tented  fields,  meeting  in  deadly  conflict  the  armies  of  the 
confederacy,  and  exposing  their  lives  for  the  imperiled  Union. 
He  said  with  great  force,  that  if  the  sentiment  uttered  by  the 
member  from  Ohio  was  to  go  unrebuked,  then  the  republic 
would  have  no  right  to  complain  of  any  foreign  government 
which  should  recognize  the  independence  of  the  confederacy. 
"You  should,"  said  he,  "if  such  expressions  are  tolerated, 
stop  shooting  deserters  from  the  Union  army,  for  they  had 
not  turned  their  backs  upon  the  flag,  any  more  influentially 
than  he  who  rises  in  his  place  in  Congress,  and  declares  in 
favor  of  recognizing  the  confederacy  as  one  of  the  nations  of 
the  earth." 

Mr.  Cox,  an  adroit,  ready  debater  from  Ohio,  opposed  the 
resolution.  Taking  pains  most  emphatically  to  disavow  on 
the  part  of  himself  and  colleagues,  the  sentiments  of  Long, 
he  plead  for  the  freedom  of  discussion.  Harris  of  Maryland 
said : 

"  I  am  a  peace  man,  a  radical  peace  man,  and  I  am  for  peace  by  the 
recognition  of  the  confederacy.  I  am  for  acquiescense  in  the  doctrine 
of  secession.  I  thought  I  was  alone  ;  but  now,  thank  God  !  there  is 
another  soul  saved.  I  am  glad  to  have  such  able  aid." 

He  went  on  to  say : 

"  The  South  asked  you  to  let  them  go  in  peace.  But  no,  you  said 
you  would  bring  them  into  subjection.  That  is  not  done  yet,  and  God 
Almighty  grant  that  it  may  never  be.  I  hope  that  you  may  never 
subjugate  the  South." 

"Washburne  of  Illinois,  indignant  at  the  expression  of  such 
sentiments,  immediately  called  him  to  order;  the  words  were 
taken  down  by  the  clerk  and  made  the  basis  of  a  motion  by 
31 


482      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"Washburne  to  expel  Harris,  upon  which  motion  the  vote  was 
81  ayes  to  58  noes  ;  not  being  two-thirds  the  motion  failed. 
General  Schenck  immediately  introduced  a  motion  declaring 
Harris  to  be  an  "  unworthy  member"  and  severely  censuring 
him,  which  passed  by  a  vote  of  93  to  18,  many  of  the  dem- 
ocrats voting  for  it. 

Perhaps  the  most  impressive  speech  in  favor  of  the  reso- 
Ition  was  made  by  the  fiery,  impetuous,  yet  elegant  and  clas- 
sic Henry  "Winter  Davis.  He  always  commanded  the  full 
attention  of  the  House  and  galleries,  and  on  this  occasion 
the  members  gathered  around  him,  and  the  usually  noisy 
House  of  Representatives  was  hushed  into  complete  silence. 
He  said  :* 

"  The  question  which  we  are  bound  as  gentlemen  and  as  legislators 
to  determine  is,  whether  a  gentleman,  acknowledged  to  be  respectable, 
believed  to  be  sincere,  entertaining  and  avowing  purposes  which  do  not 
differ  from  those  of  the  chief  of  the  rebel  confederacy,  or  of  the  men 
in  armed  array  beyond  the  Potomac,  bent  on  ejecting  us  from  this  Hall, 
is  the  fit  companion  of  gentlemen  here,  a  fit  depository  of  his  constit- 
uent's vote,  a  safe  person  to  be  entrusted  here  with  the  secrets  of  the 
United  States,  a  worthy  guardian  of  the  existence  of  the  Republic  ? 
Are  we  to  be  seriously  told  that  the  freedom  of  speech  screens  a  traitor 
because  he  puts  his  treasonable  purposes  in  words  ?  Does  the  Consti- 
tution secure  the  right  of  our  avowed  enemies  to  vote  in  this  Hall  ? 
May  a  man  impudently  declare  that  his  purpose  here  is  so  to  vote  as 
to  promote  the  success  of  the  rebellion,  to  embarrass  and  paralyze  the 
Government  in  its  suppression,  to  secure  its  triumph  and  our  over- 
throw, to  bring  the  armed  enemy  to  Washington,  or  arrest  our  army 
lest  it  exterminate  that  enemy :  then  why  do  not  the  Congress  at 
Richmond  adjourn  to  Washington,  push  us  from  our  stools,  and  by  par- 
liamentary tactics  under  the  Constitution,  arrest  the  wheels  of  Govern- 
ment ?  You  could  not  expel  them  !  Sir,  that  picture  is  history,  recent 
history.  In  1860,  that  side  of  the  House  swarmed  with  the  avowed 
enemies  of  the  Republic.  One  after  one  as  their  stars  dropped  from 
the  firmanent  of  the  Union,  they  went  out ;  some  with  tears  in  their 
eyes  over  the  miseries  they  were  about  to  inflict;  some  of  them  with 
exultation  over  the  coming  calamities  ;  some  of  them  with  contempt- 
uous bitterness  to  the  members  in  the  Hall ;  some  staid  behind  to  do 
the  traitor's  business  in  the  disguise  of  honest  legislators  in  both 
Houses  as  long  as  they  dared.  One  disgraced  the  Senate  for  one  long 

*  Congressional  Globe.  1st  Sess.  38  Congress,  p.  1550. 


SPEECH  OF  HENRY  WINTER  DAVIS.          483 

session  after  armed  men  were  soaking  their  native  soil  with  their  blood, 
and  now  he  is  in  the  ranks  of  our  enemies.  *  * 

'•Suppose  that  in  the  French  Assembly,  when  the  life  of  France  was  at 
stake,  as  the  life  of  this  Nation  is  now  at  stake,  and  when  heroic  men 
were  struggling  to  maintain  it,  some  one  had  arisen  and  proposed  to  call 
back  the  Bourbons,  and  place  the  reins  of  Government  in  their  hands 
— how  long  would  he  have  remained  a  member  of  that  body  ?  Sup- 
pose that  the  day  before  the  battle  of  Culloden,  or  the  day  after 
the  battle  of  Preston  Pans,  some  Jacobite  had  arisen  in  the  House  of 
Commons  of  England,  and  declared  himself  of  the  opinion  that  the 
pretender  could  not  be  expelled  without  the  extermination  of  the  Jaco- 
bites, and  that  therefore  they  should  place  him  on  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land !  Do  you  think  the  traditional  liberty  of  speech  in  England  would 
have  saved  him  from  summary  expulsion  ?  Do  you  think  there  is  any 
law  in  England  that  could  have  stood  between  him,  and,  not  expulsion, 
but  death  ?  Would  not  the  act  have  been  considered  a  crime,  and  the 
declaration  of  it  in  Parliament  have  been  considered  but  an  aggravation 
of  the  crime,  demanding  his  expulsion  ?  Would  not  the  vote  of  that 
body  have  been  instantaneous,  and  his  execution  swifter  than  that  vote  ? 

"  Are  we  to  be  told  here  that  men  are  to  rise  in  this  Hall,  when  the 
guns  of  the  impending  battle  will  echo  in  our  ears,  when  we  only  sit 
here  because  we  have  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  bayonets  between 
us  and  the  enemy ;  when  Washington  is  a  great  camp,  the  center  of 
thirty  miles  of  fortifications  stretching  around  us  for  our  protection ; 
are  we  to  be  told  that  here,  within  this  citadel  of  the  Nation,  an  enemy 
may  beckon  with  his  hand  to  the  armed  foe,  assuring  him  of  friends 
within  the  people's  Hall,  at  the  very  center  of  power,  and  we  cannot 
expel  him  ?" 

There  are  few  if  any  finer  things  than  the  following  illus- 
tration of  the  freedom  of  opinion,  and  its  limitations  : 

"  Surely,  sir,  opinion  is  the  life  of  our  nation.  It  is  the  measure  of 
every  right,  the  guarantee  of  every  privilege,  the  protection  of  every 
blessing.  It  is  opinion  which  creates  our  rulers.  It  is  opinion  that 
nerves  or  palsies  their  arms.  It  is  opinion  which  casts  down  the  proud 
and  elevates  the  humble.  Its  fluctuations  are  the  rise  and  fall  of  par- 
ties ;  its  currents  bear  the  nation  on  to  prosperity  or  ruin.  Its  free 
play  is  the  condition  of  its  purity.  It  is  like  the  ocean,  whose  tides 
rise  and  fall  day  by  day  at  the  fickle  bidding  of  the  moon ;  yet  it  is  the 
great  scientific  level  from  which  every  height  is  measured — the  horizon 
to  which  astronomers  refer  the  motion  of  the  stars.  But,  like  the 
ocean,  it  has  depths  whose  eternal  stillness  is  the  condition  of  its 


484  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

stability.  Those  depths  of  opinion  are  not  free,  and  it  is  they  that  are 
touched  by  the  words  which  have  so  moved  the  House.  Men  must 
not  commit  treason  and  say  its  guilt  is  a  matter  of  opinion,  and  its  pun- 
ishment a  violation  of  its  freedom.  Men  cannot  swear  to  maintain 
the  integrity  of  the  nation,  and  avow  their  intention  to  destroy 
it,  and  cover  that  double  crime  by  the  freedom  of  speech.  That 
is  to  break  up  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  on  which  all  govern- 
ment is  borne,  and  to  pour  its  flood  in  revolutionary  ruin  over  the  land. 
To  punish  that  is  not  a  violation  of  the  freedom  of  opinion  or  its  ex- 
pression. It  is  to  protect  its  normal  ebb  and  flow,  its  free  and  healthy 
fluctuations,  that  we  desire  to  relieve  it  from  the  approbrium  of  being 
confounded  with  the  declarations  of  treasonable  purposes  here,  in  the 
high  and  solemn  assemblage  of  the  Union." 

Then  in  a  voice  that  thrilled  through  the  Representative 
Hall,  and  which  brought  the  leaping  pulse,  and  the  deep 
breath  of  emotion,  he  exclaimed: 

"  When  a  Democrat  shall  darken  the  White  House  and  the  land ; 
when  a  democratic  majority  here  shall  proclaim  that  freedom  of  speech 
secures  impunity  to  treason,  and  declare  recognition  better  than  exter- 
mination of  traitors ;  when  McClellan  and  Fitz  John  Porter  shall  have 
again  brought  the  rebel  armies  within  sight  of  Washington  city,  and 
the  successor  of  James  Buchanan  shall  withdraw  our  armies  from  the 
unconstitutional  invasion  of  Virginia  to  the  north  of  the  Potomac ; 
when  exultant  rebels  shall  sweep  over  the  fortifications,  and  their  bomb- 
shells shall  crash  against  the  dome  of  the  Capitol;  when  thousands 
throughout  Pennsylvania  shall  seek  refuge  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie 
from  the  rebel  invasion,  cheered  and  welcomed  by  the  opponents  of  ex- 
termination; when  Vallandigham  shall  be  Governor  of  Ohio,  and 
Bright  Governor  of  Indiana,  and  Woodward  Governor  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  Seymour  Governor  of  Connecticut,  and  Wall  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  and  the  gentleman  from  New  York  city  sit  in  Seymour's  seat, 
and  thus,  possessed  of  power  over  the  great  centre  of  the  country,  they 
shall  do  what  they  attempted  in  vain  before  in  the  midst  of  rebel  tri- 
umphs— to  array  the  authorities  of  the  States  against  those  of  the 
United  States ;  to  oppose  the  militia  to  the  army  of  the  United  States ; 
to  invoke  the  habeas  corpus  to  discharge  confined  traitors;  to  deny  to 
the  Government  the  benefit  of  the  laws  of  war,  lest  it  exterminate  its 
enemies;  when  the  Democrats,  as  in  the  fall  of  1862,  shall  again  with 
more  permanent  success,  persuade  the  people  of  the  country  that  the  war 
should  not  be  waged  till  the  integrity  of  the  territory  of  the  Union  is 
restored,  cost  what  it  might,  but  that  such  a  war  violates  the  spirit  of 


SPEECH    OF  HENRY    WINTER  DAVIS.  485 

free  institutions,  which  those  who  advocate  it  wish  to  overthrow,  it 
should  stop,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Democratic  party,  somewhere  this 
side  of  absolute  triumph,  lest  there  be  no  room  for  a  compromise ;  when 
gentlemen  of  that  party  in  New  York  shall  again,  as  in  November  1862, 
hold  illegal  and  criminal  negotiations  with  Lord  Lyons,  and  avow  their 
purposes  to  him,  the  representative  of  a  foreign  and  unfriendly  power, 
and  urge  him  to  arrange  the  time  of  proffering  mediation  with  a  view 
to  their  possession  of  power  and  their  preparation  of  the  minds  of  the 
public  tq  receive  suggestions  from  abroad ;  and  when  mediation  shall 
appear  by  the  event,  to  be  the  first  step  toward  foreign  intervention, 
swiftly  and  surely  followed  by  foreign  armed  enemies  upon  our  shores 
to  join  the  domestic  enemies;  when  the  war  in  the  cars  shall  begin, 
which  was  menaced  at  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  friends  of 
Seymour  shall  make  the  streets  of  New  York  run  with  blood,  on  the  eve 
of  another  Gettysburg  less  damaging  to  their  hopes ;  when  the  people, 
exhausted  by  taxation,  weary  of  sacrifices,  drained  of  blood,  betrayed 
by  their  rulers,  deluded  by  demagogues,  into  believing  that  peace  is  the 
way  to  Union,  and  submission  the  path  to  victory,  shall  throw  down 
their  arms  before  the  advancing  foe ;  when  vast  chasms  across  every 
State  shall  make  apparent  to  every  eye,  when  too  late  to  remedy  it,  that 
division  from  the  South  is  inauguration  of  anarchy  at  the  North,  and 
that  peace  without  Union  is  the  end  of  the  Republic — THEN  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  South  will  be  an  accomplished  fact,  and  gentlemen 
may,  without  treason  to  the  dead  republic,  rise  in  this  migratory  House, 
wherever  it  may  then  be  in  America,  and  declare  themselves  for  recog- 
nizing their  masters  at  the  South,  rather  than  exterminating  them ! 
Until  that  day,  in  the  name  of  the  American  nation  ;  in  the  name  of 
every  house  in  the  land  where  there  is  one  dead  for  the  holy  cause ;  in 
the  name  of  those  who  stand  before  us  in  the  ranks  of  battle ;  in  the 
name  of  the  liberty  our  ancestors  have  confided  to  us,  I  devote  to  eter- 
nal execration  the  name  of  him  who  shall  propose  to  destroy  this 
blessed  land,  rather  than  its  enemies. 

But  until  that  time  arrive  it  is  the  judgment  of  the  American  peo- 
ple there  shall  be  no  compromise  ;  that  ruin  to  ourselves  or  ruin  to  the 
Southern  rebels  are  the  only  alternatives.  It  is  only  by  resolutions  of 
this  kind  that  nations  can  rise  above  great  dangers  and  overcome  them 
in  crisis  like  this.  It  was  only  by  turning  France  into  a  camp,  resolved 
that  Europe  might  exterminate,  but  should  not  subjugate  her,  that 
France  is  the  leading  empire  of  Europe  to-day.  It  is  by  such  a  re- 
solve that  the  American  people  coercing  a  reluctant  Government  to 
draw  the  sword,  and  stake  the  National  existence  on  the  integrity  of  the 
Republic,  are  now  anything  but  the  fragments  of  a  nation  before  the 

rid,  the  scorn  and  hiss  of  every  petty  tyrant.  It  is  because  the  people 


486  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  the  United  States,  rising  to  the  height  of  the  occasion,  dedicated 
this  generation  to  the  sword,  and  pouring  out  the  blood  of  their  chil- 
dren as  of  no  account,  and  avowing  before  high  Heaven  that  there 
should  be  no  end  to  this  conflict  but  ruin  absolute,  or  absolute  triumph, 
that  we  now  are  what  we  are;  that  the  banner  of  the  Republic  still 
pointing  onward,  floats  proudly  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  that  vast  re- 
gions are  reduced  to  obedience  to  the  laws,  and  that  a  great  host  in  armed 
array  now  presses  with  steady  step  into  the  dark  regions  of  the  rebel- 
lion. It  is  only  by  the  earnest  and  abiding  resolution  of  the  people, 
that  whatever  shall  be  our  fate,  it  shall  be  grand  as  the  American  na- 
tion, worthy  of  that  Republic  which  first  trod  the  path  of  Empire,  and 
made  no  peace  but  under  the  banners  of  victory,  that  the  American 
people  will  survive  in  history. 

"  And  that  will  save  us.  We  shall  succeed  and  not  fail.  I  have  an 
abiding  confidence  in  the  firmness,  the  patience,  the  endurance  of  the 
American  people  ;  and,  having  resolved  to  stand  in  history  on  the  great 
resolve  to  accept  of  nothing  but  victory  or  ruin,  victory  is  ours.  And 
if  with  such  heroic  resolve  we  fall,  we  fall  with  honor,  and  transmit  the 
name  of  liberty  committed  to  our  keeping,  untarnished,  to  go  down  to 
future  generations.  The  historian  of  our  decline  and  fall,  contemplat- 
ing the  ruins  of  the  last  great  Republic,  and  drawing  from  its  fate  les- 
sons of  wisdom  on  the  waywardness  of  men,  shall  drop  a  tear  as  he  re- 
cords with  sorrow  the  vain  heroism  of  that  people  who  dedicated  and 
sacrificed  themselves  to  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  by  their  example  will 
keep  alive  its  worship  in  the  hearts  of  men,  till  happier  generations 
shall  learn  to  walk  in  her  paths.  Yes,  sir,  if  we  must  fall,  let  our  last 
hours  be  stained  by  no  weakness.  If  we  must  fail,  let  us  stand  amid 
the  crash  of  the  falling  Republic,  and  be  buried  in  its  ruins,  so  that  his- 
tory may  take  note  that  men  lived  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury worthy  of  a  better  fate,  but  chastised  by  God  for  the  sins  of  our 
forefathers.  Let  the  ruins  of  the  Republic  remain  to  testify  to  the  lat- 
est generations  our  greatness  and  our  heroism.  And  let  Liberty,  crown- 
less  and  childless,  sit  upon  these  ruins,  crying  aloud  in  a  sad  wail  to 
the  nations  of  the  world,  "  I  nursed  and  brought  up  children,  and  they 
have  rebelled  against  me." 

Mr.  Pendleton  of  Ohio,  closed  the  debate  on  the  demo- 
cratic side  of  the  House.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  fine  culture, 
of  graceful  manners,  and,  as  the  candidate  of  his  party  for 
Vice  President,  in  1864,  one  of  the  most  popular  young  men 
of  his  party.  His  speech  in  reply  to  Winter  Davis  was  very 


SPEECH  OF  PENDLETON.  487 

able.     He  said,  alluding  to  the  freedom  of  debate  in  the 
British  Parliament :  * 

"  I  had  intended  to  go  back  to  those  splendid  demonstrations  of  Eng- 
lish liberty  which  occurred  at  the  time  of  our  Revolution.  I  had  in- 
tended to  recall  to  you  the  words  of  Lord  Chatham  uttered  time  and 
again  in  the  British  Parliament  against  the  then  pending  war  in  Ame- 
rica. The  inexorable  hour  rule  bids  me  be  brief.  In  January,  1776, 
he  said : 

"  '  The  gentleman  tells  us  America  is  obstinate,  America  is  almost  in 
open  rebellion.  I  rejoice  that  America  has  resisted.  Three  million 
people  so  dead  to  all  the  feelings  of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  submit  to 
be  slaves,  would  have  been  fit  instruments  to  make  slaves  of  the  rest/ 

."  And  Mr.  Burke,  in  1781,  after  the  surrender  of  Yorktown  had 
secured  the  defeat  of  the  British  in  America,  exclaimed : 

"  '  The  noble  lord  said  the  war  was  not  disgraceful;  it  was  only  un- 
fortunate. For  my  part  I  must  continue  to  call  it  disgraceful,  not  un- 
fortunate. I  consider  them  all  alike,  victories  and  defeats;  towns  taken 
and  towns  evacuated ;  new  generals  appointed  and  old  generals  recalled ; 
they  are  all  alike  calamities;  they  all  spur  us  on  to  this  fatal  business. 
Victories  give  us  hopes;  defeats  make  us  desperate;  and  both  instigate 
us  to  go  on/  *  *  *  *  <  Q-iye  ^  back  our  force  nor  protract  this 
burdensome,  disgraceful,  for  it  is  not  an  unfortunate  war/ 

"  And  yet,  were  they  censured  ?  Did  the  '  first  gentleman  of  England* 
leave  the  Speaker's  chair  to  move  a  vote  of  censure  or  expulsion  ? 

"  But  why  go  so  far  back?  Within  this  year,  in  the  Frerich  Chamber, 
Thiers,  returning  after  twelve  years  of  exile  from  office  and  honors, 
raised  his  voice  for  the  liberty  of  France  :  '  Give  us  a  free  press ;  give 
us  free  ballot;  give  us  free  debate  in  these  halls — these  are  the  essen- 
tials of  free  government — and  I  will  be  a  grateful  and  obedient  subject 
of  the  empire.  If  you  will  not,  I  warn  you,  that  as  the  Dauphin  did 
not  succeed  Louis  XVI,  as  the  Duke  of  Reichstadt  did  not  succeed  the 
great  Napoleon,  as  the  sons  of  Louis  Philippe  are  now  in  exile,  so  neither 
will  this  imperial  Prince  succeed  to  the  throne  of  his  father  and  per- 
petuate the  dynasty  of  the  second  Napoleon.'  And  when,  in  the  same 
debate,  Count  Morny,  the  President,  rudely  assailed  a  speaker  who  ut- 
tered like  sentiments,  and  a  Councilor  of  State  followed  it  up  by  the 
use  of  the  word  '  traitor,'  the  indignant  members  with  one  accord  rose 

*  Congressional  Globe,  First  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  1586-87. 


488  LINCOLN   AND   THE   OVERTHROW    OF   SLAVERY. 

in  their  places  and  with  irresistible  authority  demanded  that  the  inso- 
lent menial  of  despotic  power  should  recall  and  apologize  for  the 
offensive  word. 

"  And  shall  it  be  said  that  in  the  American  Congress  there  is  less  free- 
dom of  debate  than  in  England  under  the  house  of  Hanover,  or  in 
France,  when  she  lies  a  helpless  victim,  scarce  palpitating,  in  the  grasp 
of  a  Bonaparte? 

•'  The  gentleman  from  Maryland,  [Mr.  DAVIS,]  told  us  last  night,  in 
terms  of  eloquence  which  I  cannot  emulate,  that  when  Lord  Chatham, 
aged,  feeble,  wrapped  in  flannel  and  suffering  from  disease,  came  resting 
upon  the  arm  of  his  still  greater  son,  to  address  for  the  last  time  the 
British  House  of  Lords,  and  to  die  upon  the  floor,  he  came  to  speak 
against  the  dismemberment  of  the  British  empire.  It  is  true,  and  what 
did  he  say?  '  I  told  you  this  war  would  be  disastrous;  I  predicted  its 
consequences;  I  told  you  you  could  not  conquer  America;  I  begged 
you  to  conciliate  America;  you  would  not  heed  my  advice.  You  have 
exhausted  the  country;  you  have  sacrificed  its  men;  you  have  wasted 
its  treasures;  you  have  driven  these  colonies  to  declare  their  independ- 
ence ;  you  have  driven  them  into  the  arms  of  our  ancient  and  hated 
enemy,  and  now,  without  striking  a  blow,  without  firing  a  shot,  cowardly 
under  difficulties  as  you  were  truculent  in  success,  you  propose  to  yield 
through  fear  to  Prance  what  you  have  refused  as  justice  to  America." 
Did  it  not  occur  to  the  gentleman  from  Maryland  that  possibly  at  a 
future  day  when  the  history  of  that  civil  strife  shall  have  been  repro- 
duced in  this  land,  another  Chatham  may  come  to  this  House  and  hurl 
against  those  who  are  now  in  power  these  bitter  denunciations  because 
they  have  shown  themselves  unable  to  make  an  honorable  peace,  even 
as  they  have  been  unable  to  make  a  victorious  war  ? 

"  The  gentleman  from  Maryland  paid  a  splendid  tribute  to  the  power 
of  public  opinion.  He  compared  it  to  the  sea,  whose  tidal  waves  obey 
the  fickle  bidding  of  the  moon,  and  roll  and  swell  and  sway  with  rest- 
less and  resistless  force,  and  yet  constitute  the  level  from  which  all 
height  is  measured.  '  But,  like  the  ocean,'  said  he,  '  it  has  depths  whose 
eternal  stillness  is  the  condition  of  its  stability.  Those  depths  of  opinion 
are  not  free.'  Did  he  forget  what 

"  Woo'd  the  slimy  bottom  of  the  deep 

And  mocked  the  dead  bones  which  lay  scattered  by  ?" 

******** 
"  What  sights  of  ugly  death  within  mine  eyes  ! 

Methought  I  saw  a  thousand  fearful  wrecks ! " 
******** 

"  All  scattered  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea." 


SPEECH  OF  PENDLETON.  489 

p 

"  Sir,  if  there  be  depths  of  public  opinion  where  eternal  stillness 
reigns,  there  gather,  even  as  festering  death  lies  in  those  ocean  depths, 
the  decaying  forms  of  truth,  and  right,  and  freedom.  Eternal  motion 
is  the  condition  of  their  purity.  Did  he  think  this  resolution  would  for 
one  instant  retard  its  progress  ?  Did  he  not  know  that  the  surging 
waves  would  wash  away  every  trace  of  its  existence?  Did  he  suppose 
this  puny  effort  would  avail  him  ?  The  rocks  of  the  eternal  hills  alone 
can  stay  the  waves  of  the  ever  rolling  sea.  Nothing  but  the  principles 
of  truth  and  right  can  stay  the  onward  progress  of  public  opinion  in 
this  our  country  as  it  swells  and  sways  and  surges  in  this  mad  tempest 
of  passion,  and  seeks  to  find  a  secure  resting  place." 

Before  the  vote  was  taken,  the  resolution  was  modified  so 
as  to  make  it  a  resolution  of  censure,  instead  of  expulsion, 
and  in  that  shape  it  passed  by  a  large  majority.  Long  and 
Harris  certainly  deserved  the  severest  censure  of  the  House, 
and  the  failure  to  expel  them,  shows  how  jealously  the  Ame- 
merican  Congress  guarded  the  freedom  of  debate. 

The  victories  of  liberty  had  been  achieved  by  freedom  of 
speech,  and  liberty  of  the  press.  These  are  the  agencies  by 
which  the  friends  of  freedom  in  the  old  world  and  in  the  new, 
have  combated  arbitrary  power.  By  free  speech  and  a  free 
press,  the  free  States  were  prepared  to  resist  and  subjugate 
the  slave  power.  The  slaveholders  ever  feared  these  great 
principles  of  American  liberty.  They  suppressed  by  violence, 
free  discussion  in  the  slave  States.  The  slaveholders'  rebel- 
lion was  an  appeal  from  the  rostrum  and  the  ballot  box  to 
the  sword.  Freedom  of  discussion  and  slavery  could  not 
exist  together.  The  slaveholders  instinctively  felt  this ;  hence 
they  suppressed  by  a  mob,  the  free  press  of  Cassius  M.  Clay, 
and  murdered  Lovejoy  at  Alton.  They  attempted  to  sup- 
press free  debate  in  the  Capitol,  in  the  persons  of  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Giddings  and  Charles  Sumner.  The  Repub- 
lican party  have  ever  been  jealous  of  all  encroachments  upon 
freedom  of  debate.  It  came  into  power  with  "  free  speech,  free 
press  and  free  soil"  inscribed  upon  its  banners.  Mr.  Lincoln 
tolerated  the  extremest  liberty  of  the  press,  even  during  the 
war. 

It  was  during  this  session  of  Congress,  that  the  pioneer 
abolitionist  of  Illinois,  Owen  Lovejoy  died.  He  was  deeply 


490       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

mourned  by  his  associates  in  Congress,  and  by  the  people, 
but  by  none  more  than  by  Mr.  Lincoln ;  although  in  many 
respects  they  were  very  unlike,  yet  there  was  a  warm  personal 
attachment  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Lovejoy.  Mr. 
Lovejoy,  though  an  extreme  radical  and  ultra  abolitionist, 
early  appreciated  the  President,  and  always  had  full  confi- 
dence in  his  anti-slavery  policy.  He  defended  the  President 
from  the  attacks  made  upon  him  by  some  of  the  impatient 
anti-slavery  men  of  the  country  who  did  not  know  Mr.  Lin- 
coln as  he  did.  Only  a  few  days  before  his  death,  Mr. 
Lovejoy,  in  writing  to  a  friend,  said:  * 

"  I  have  known  something  of  the  facts  inside  during  his,  (Lincoln's) 
administration,  and  I  know  that  he  has  been  just  as  radical  as  any  of 
his  Cabinet.  *  *  *  It  is  manifest  that  the  great  mass  of  the  Union- 
ists prefer  him  for  reelection;  and  it  seems  to  me  certain  that  the 
providence  of  God  during  another  term  will  grind  slavery  to  powder." 

Mr.  Lincoln  fully  reciprocated  the  friendship  of  Mr. 
Lovejoy.  In  a  letter  written  soon  after  his  death,  he  said: 

"  My  personal  acquaintance  with  him,  (Lovejoy,)  commenced  only 
about  ten  years  ago,  since  when  it  has  been  quite  intimate;  and  every 
step  in  it  has  been  one  of  increasing  respect  and  esteem,  ending  with 
his  life,  in  no  less  affection  on  my  part.  It  can  be  truly  said  of  him, 
that,  while  he  was  personally  ambitious,  he  bravely  endured  the  obscu- 
rity which  the  unpopularity  of  principles  imposed,  and  never  accepted 
official  honors  until  those  honors  were  ready  to  admit  his  principles 
with  him.  Throughout  my  heavy  and  perplexing  responsibilities  here, 
to  the  day  of  his  death,  it  would  scarcely  wrong  any  other,  to  say  he 
was  my  most  generous  friend.  Let  him  have  the  marble  monument, 
along  with  the  well-assured  and  more  endearing  one  in  the  hearts  of 
those  who  love  liberty  unselfishly  for  all  men."  f 

The  vast  military  operations  which  were  being  carrid  on, 
over  a  territory,  continental  in  its  magnitude,  and  with  forces 
upon  land  and  water,  unparallelled  for  their  extent,  required 
expenditures  so  vast,  as  to  call  forth  the  predictions  of  the 
financiers  of  the.  old  world,  that  the  republic  would  break 

*  Letter  to  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  dated  February  22d,  1864. 

t  See  letter  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  John  H.  Bryant,  dated  May  30th,  1864. 


THE  FINANCES.  491 

down  under  the  pecuniary  burdens  imposed.  But  the  people 
with  the  same  patriotic  zeal  which  sent  into  the  Union  army 
during  the  war,  nearly  two  millions  of  men,  placed  their 
property  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government. 

The  revenues  of  the  country,  were  increased  by  taxation, 
self-imposed,  seven  fold  during  the  war.  The  popular  loans, 
diffused  through  all  the  people,  amounted  to  twenty  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars. 

To  meet  the  accruing  interest  upon  the  public  debt,  and  to 
defray  expenses,  the  tariff  of  duties  on  imports  was  largely 
increased;  and  the  system  of  internal  revenue  by  taxation, 
so  amended  as  greatly  to  increase  the  revenues  of  the 
Government. 

It  was  at  the  first  session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress, 
that  the  Bureau  of  National  currency  was  created,  and  Hugh 
McCulloch,  a  distinguished  banker  of  Indiana  was  placed 
by  President  Lincoln  at  the  head  of  it. 

The  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  was  established,  and  Joseph 
Holt,  a  distinguished  Unionist  of  Kentucky  placed  at  its 
head. 


OHAPTEE    XXII. 


SANITARY  AND  CHRISTIAN  COMMISSIONS— PRESIDENTIAL  CON- 
VENTIONS  IN  1864— EMANCIPATION  IN  THE  BORDER  STATES. 

SANITARY  AND  CHRISTIAN  COMMISSIONS — BALTIMORE  AND  PHIL- 
ADELPHIA FAIRS — THE  PRESIDENCY — BALTIMORE  CONVENTION — 
LINCOLN  NOMINATED — CHICAGO  CONVENTION^MCCLELLAN  NOMI- 
NATED— CHASE  RESIGNS — FESSENDEN  APPOINTED  SECRETARY — 
LINCOLN'S  VIEWS  UPON  RECONSTRUCTION — EMANCIPATION  IN 
LOUISIANA,  MARYLAND  AND  MISSOURI. 

EARLY  in  the  war,  there  had  been  organized  a  sanitary 
commission  of  intelligent,  humane,  Christian  gentlemen, 
who  undertook  the  special  duty,  in  conjunction  with  the  regular 
medical  officers  of  the  army,  of  looking  after  and  improving 
the  sanitary  condition  of  the  soldier.  Dr.  Bellows  of  New  York, 
a  sincere  and  earnest  Christian,  whose  idea  of  Christianity 
-  consisted  in  doing  good  to  others,,  of  broad  and  generous 
patriotism,  was  one  of  the  leading  minds  in  organizing  this 
efficient  help  to  the  Government,  and  was  made  President  of 
the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission. 

Everything  which  could  contribute  to  the  maintenance  and 
preservation  of  the  health  of  the  army,  its  wholesome  food, 
the  comfort  and  hygiene  of  its  camps;  its  hospitals,  clothing  and 
medical  stores,  received  the  constant,  careful  and  enlighten- 
ed consideration  of  the  Commission.  Voluntary  associations 
to  aid  this  work  were  organized  in  every  section  of  the  loyal 
States,  and  the  whole  people  with  generous  liberality,  placed 
in  the  hands  of  this  Commission  and  in  the  hands  of  a  kin- 
dred association  called  the  Christian  Commission,  money, 
medicines,  food,  clothing,  delicacies,  wine,  nurses,  books,  sec- 
ular and  religious  instruction,  and  everything  which  could 
contribute  to  the  welfare  and  relieve  thewants  of  the  soldiers  ; 

492 


THE   SANITARY  AND   CHRISTIAN   COMMISSION.  493 

limited  only  by  the  extent  to  which  they  could  be  usefully  and 
judiciously  used.  Sanitary  stores,  surgeons  and  kind  nurses, 
following  the  soldiers  to  every  battle-field,  where  the  wounded 
were  most  tenderly  cared  for  and  nursed,  and  the  dying  soothed 
and  their  last  messages  carefully  transmitted  to  family  and 
friends.  By  these  means  they  robbed  the  battle-field  of  half  its 
horrors,  and  every  soldier  felt  that  kindness,  skill  and  care 
would  constantly  attend  him,  and  would  leave  nothing  un- 
done to  relieve  his  sufferings,  to  restore  him  to  health ;  and 
if  it  was  his  fate  to  die  for  his  country,  his  last  hours  would 
be  soothed  by  affection  and  Christian  sympathy.  'No  appeal 
was  ever  made  by  these  organizations  for  money  or  aid, 
which  was  not  promptly  responded  to  by  the  American  peo- 
ple. Contributions  from  the  mite  of  the  widow  and  humble 
day  laborer,  the  pittance  of  the  child,  to  the  products  of  the 
farm,  and  the  shop,  and  the  jewels  and  the  gold  of  the  rich, 
flowed  in  so  lavishly  that  many  millions  were  contributed 
during  the  war. 

The  Christian  Commission  expended  more  than  six  mil- 
lions two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  of  these  gener- 
ous contributions,  and  sent  five  thousand-  clergymen,  select- 
ed from  the  best  and  ablest  in  the  land,  to  the  camps  and  bat- 
tlefields of  this  war.  The  Sanitary  Commission  had  seven 
thousand  societies,  and  through  an  unpaid  board  of  directors 
distributed  of  these  most  patriotic  offerings,  fifteen  millions 
of  dollars  in  supplies  and  money. 

When  the  telegraph  flashed  over  the  land  news  of  a  battle, 
the  ablest  and  most  skillful  surgeons  hastened  to  the  battle- 
field, to  give  their  brethren  of  the  army  the  utmost  of 
their  skill  and  experience.  The  most  practical  and  useful, 
as  well  as  the  gentlest  and  most  refined  of  women,  those  of 
the  highest  culture,  and  social  position,  left  homes  of  luxury 
and  ease  to  minister  as  nurses  to  the  wounded  and  the  sick. 
The  minister  of  God  was  ever  present  to  soothe  and  cheer 
those  who  suffered,  to  pronounce  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
him  who  sacrificed  life  to  his  country,  and  liberty. 

In  furtherance  of  these  objects,  a  series  of  great  fairs  was 
inaugurated  at  Chicago,  and  extended  to  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Baltimore,  Boston,  Pittsburgh,  Brooklyn,  and  the  chief 


494  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

cities  and  towns  of  the  Union,  The  North  Western  Fair, 
held  at  Chicago  in  the  fall  of  1863,*  was  a  striking  illustra- 
tion of  what  may  be  done  by  the  energies  of  a  free  people  in 
a  cause  which  appeals  to  their  hearts  and  judgments. 

The  spontaneous  uprisings  of  the  people  to  aid  the  cause 
of  the  Union,  hy  aiding  the  soldier  and  relieving  his  suffer- 
ings, were  scarcely  less  impressive  than  that  uprising  of  the 
people,  by  which,  when  the  President  asked  for  75,000  vol- 
unteer soldiers,  they  urged  his  acceptance  of  half  a  mil- 
lion. The  women  of  the  country  were  the  most  active,  effi- 
cient agents  in  these  benevolent  enterprises.  With  an  organ- 
izing power,  almost  equal  to  that  which  organized  armies, 
with  a  tireless  energy  which  knew  no  rest  or  cessation,  many 
noble  women  consecrated  their  time  and  their  lives,  to  these 
noble  purposes.!  The  inspiration  of  a  holy  purpose,  drew 
together  all  ranks  and  classes  of  the  people,  and  infused  into 
all  the  sublime  resolve  to  leave  nothing  undone  for  the  woun- 
ded, suffering  soldier. 

Party,  sect,  creed,  and  social  distinctions  melted  away  be- 
fore the  holy  influence  of  these  purposes,  and  all,  rich  and 
poor,  laborer  and  millionaire,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  laid 
their  gifts  and  contributions  upon  the  altar  of  patriotism. 
Here  was  indeed  a  universal  brotherhood.  From  the  Presi- 
dent to  the  day  laberer,  all  united  to  honor,  to  relieve,  to 
cheer  the  brave  and  sacrificing  soldier.  These  Sanitary  and 
Christian  Commissions  were  the  inspiration  of  religion  and 
patriotism,  and  were  the  fairest  flowers  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. Their  spirit  was  the  spirit  of  Florence  Nightingale 
pervading  the  women  of  a  nation. 

In  April  1864,  a  grand  fair  for  the  benefit  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  was  held  at  Baltimore.  Mr.  Lincoln,  accom- 
panied by  a  party  of  friends  attended.  He  had  not  visited 
Baltimore  since  his  hurried,  unannounced,  and  unrecognized 
passage  through  that  city  on  his  way  to  the  National  Capi- 
tal. Then,  had  his  presence  been  known,  the  city  would 

*  It  was  to  this  fair  that  Mr.  Lincoln  donated  the  original  of  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  which  brought  into  its  treasury  several  thousand  dollars. 

t  I  would  gladly  name  those  most  active  and  prominent  in  these  movements 
but  I  fear  the  list  would  be  too  large,  and  if  selections  were  made,  where  could  I 
stop? 


LINCOLN  AT  THE   BALTIMORE   FAIR.  495 

have  become  the  scene  of  violence,  tumult,  and  murder. 
Three  years  before,  the  Massachusetts  Sixth,  marching  in 
good  order  quietly  through  its  streets  at  the  call  of  the  Re- 
public, and  in  obedience  to  its  laws,  had  been  brutally  and 
murderously  assailed  by  a  secession  mob,  instigated  by  slave- 
holders. Three  years  before,  and  these  slaveholders,  with 
all  their  savage  and  brutal  passions  aroused,  held  a  reign  of 
terror  in  this  fair  city  of  refinement,  culture,  and  art.  Now, 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  called  to  this  city  to  witness  the  masses  of 
its  people,  its  honest  free  laborers,  with  its  noblest  and  best 
of  manhood,  its  highest  in  culture  and  social  position,  no 
longer  controlled  by  slaveholders,  but  with  a  spirit  at? 
generous  as  patriotic,  pouring  into  the  treasury,  for  the  relief 
of  the  Union  soldiers,  their  offerings.  The  success  of  the 
Union  cause,  and  the  triumph  of  liberty,  were  no  longer 
doubtful,  and  the  whole  loyal  population  of  the  city  turned 
out  to  welcome  and  to  cheer  him  as  the  preserver  of  the  Re- 
public. But  cordial  as  was  his  reception  by  the  white  peo- 
ple, the  reception  given  him  by  the  negroes,  more  deeply 
touched  his  heart.  •  He  was  their  Emancipator.  Slavery  was 
practically  abolished  in  Maryland,  and  was  about  to  be  for- 
ever prohibited  by  Constitutional  law.  These  warm-hearted, 
impulsive  children  of  the  South,  impressible  and  enthusiastic, 
had  gathered  about  the  depot  in  thousands,  awaiting  his  ar- 
rival. Old  and  young,  men  and  women,  in  all  costumes, 
some  bare  headed  and  half  clad,  children  led  by  mothers, 
and  old  grey  headed  men  and  women  leaning  on  the  arms  of 
sons  and  daughters,  were  there  to  welcome  their  deliver- 
er. When  the  cars  arrived,  and  they  could  see  his  tall 
form,  his  earnest,  genial,  benevolent  face,  they  cheered, 
shouted,  prayed,  wept,  with  an  enthusiasm  which  none  but  a 
crowd  of  negroes  could  exhibit.  They  gathered  around  him, 
tried  to  touch  him,  to  kiss  his  hands,  followed  his  carriage ; 
exclaiming  "  God  bless  you,  God  bless  you,  MassaLinkum." 
A  crowd  of  thousands  of  these  grateful  people  followed  him 
thus  for  a  mile  to  his  lodgings — all  the  way  filling  the  air 
with  their  cries  of  gratitude  and  delight,  and  proclaiming 
him  their  savior  and  their  deliverer.  He  was  deeply  affected 
by  these  spontaneous  demonstrations. 


496      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

At  the  fair,  the  President  made  a  speech  peculiarly  Lin- 
colnian.  He  could  not  but  contrast  the  condition  of  Baltimore, 
April,  1864,  with  what  it  was  in  the  Spring  of  1861.  On  this 
a  abject,  he  said: 

"  Calling  it  to  mind  that  we  are  in  Baltimore,  we  cannot  fail  to  note 
that  the  world  moves.  (Applause.)  Looking  upon  the  many  people  I 
see  assembled  here,  to  serve  as  they  best  may  the  soldiers  of  the  Union, 
it  occurs  to  me  that  three  years  ago  those  soldiers  could  not  pass 
through  Baltimore.  I  would  say  -blessings  upon  the  men  who  have 
wrought  these  changes,  and  the  ladies  who  have  assisted  them.  (Ap- 
plause.) This  change  which  has  taken  place  in  Baltimore,  is  part  only 
of  a  far  wider  change  that  is  taking  place  all  over  the  country.  When 
the  war  commenced  three  years  ago,  no  one  expecfed  that  it  would  last 
this  long,  and  no  one  supposed  that  the  institution  of  slavery  would  be 
materially  affected  by  it.  But  here  we  are.  (Applause.)  The  war  is 
not  yet  ended,  and  slavery  has  been  very  materially  affected,  or  inter- 
fered with.  (Loud  applause.)  So  true  is  it  that '  man  proposes,  and 
God  disposes.' " 

The  following  quaint  and  characteristic  remarks  upon 
liberty,  were  received  with  unbounded  applause : 

"  The  world  is  in  want  of  a  good  definition  of  the  word  liberty.  We 
all  declare  ourselves  to  be  for  liberty,  but  we  do  not  all  mean  the  same 
thing.  Some  mean  that  a  man  can  do  as  he  pleases  with  himself  and 
his  property.  (Applause.)  With  others,  it  means,  that  some  men  can 
do  as  they  please  with  other  men,  and  other  men's  labor.  Each  of  these 
things  are  called  liberty,  although  they  are  entirely  different.  To  give 
an  illustration :  A  shepherd  drives  the  wolf  from  the  throat  of  his 
sheep  when  attacked  by  him,  aud  the  sheep  of  course  thanks  the  shep- 
herd for  the  preservation  of  his  life;  but  the  wolf  denounces  him  as 
despoiling  the  sheep  of  his  liberty,  especially  if  it  be  a  black  sheep. 
(Applause.)  This  same  difference  of  opinion  prevails  among  some  of 
the  people  of  the  North.  But  the  people  of  Maryland  have  recently 
been  doing  something  to  properly  define  the  meaning  of  the  word,  and 
I  thank  them  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  for  what  they  have  done, 
and  are  doing."  *  (Applause.) 

*  McPherson's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  p.  280-81. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1864.  497 

A  few  weeks  later,  Mr.  Lincoln  attended  a  great  fair  in  aid 
of  the  same  object  at  Philadelphia.  Here  he  made  a  speech 
in  which  he  said : 

"  When  is  the  war  to  end?  I  do  not  wish  to  name  a  day  when  it  will 
end,  lest  the  end  should  not  come  at  the  given  time.  We  accepted  war 
and  did  not  hegin  it.  We  accepted  it  for  an  object,  and  when  that 
object  is  accomplished,  the  war  will  end;  and  I  hope  to  God,  it  will 
never  end  until  that  object  is  accomplished.  We  are  going  through 
with  our  task,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  if  it  takes  us  three  years 
longer.  *  *  *  I  am  almost  tempted  to  hazard  a  prediction :  It  is 
that  Grant  is  this  evening  in  a  positiom  from  which  he  can  never  he 
dislodged  until  Richmond  is  taken." 

In  the  midst  of  the  convulsions  of  civil  war,  a  President 
was  to  be  elected.  Before  entering  upon  those  grand  cam- 
paigns of  Grant,  and  Sherman,  and  Sheridan,  which  ter- 
minated the  war,  crushing  the  slaveholder's  rebellion,  and 
establishing  National  Union  based  on  universal  freedom,  I 
will  describe  briefly  the  political  movements  which  led  to  the 
re-nomination  and  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

As  the  year  of  the  Presidential  election  came,  although 
the  progress  of  the  war  indicated  the  final  triumph  of  the 
Union  cause,  yet  the  nation  felt  the  drafts  which  had  been 
made  upon  its  resources.  Call  after  call  for  men  to  fill  up 
the  wasted  armies  of  the  Republic  had  been  issued.  Draft 
after  draft  had  been  made.  •  Taxation,  voluntarily  imposed 
had  been  borne  and  increased  until  nearly  every  article  of 
necessity,  as  well  as  of  luxury,  was  burdened  with  the  war 
tax ;  meanwhile  the  nation  was  rolling  up  a  debt  stupendous 
and  fearful  in  its  magnitude,  and  no  immediate  end  of  these 
burdens  seemed  at  hand.  The  people  could  not  see  the  end 
of  their  sacrifices.  Many  disasters  had  befallen  the  arms  of 
the  Republic.  There  was  an  active,  hostile,  political  organi- 
zation, eager  to  obtain  power,  always  ready  to  seize  upon  the 
faults  and  errors  of  the  administration;  and  besides,  there 
were  many  ambitious  men  of  the  Union  party,  who,  with 
their  friends,  honestly  believed  that  the  best  interests  of  the 
country  required  a  change  of  administration.  There  were 
candidates  for  the  Presidency,  among  the  Generals  whom 
32 


498  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  felt  it  his  duty  to  relieve  from  command, 
and  even  in  his  own  Cabinet  were  aspirants  for  the  Presi- 
dency. The  attention  of  the  world  was  directed  to  this  election, 
occurring  in  the  midst  of  such  a  tremendous  civil  war,  as  the 
most  fearful  test  to  which  our  institutions  could  be  subjected. 
There  was  abroad  in  the  land  party  organizations,  some  of 
them  of  a  secret  character,  which  bold  and  ambitious  men 
might  use  for  dangerous  purposes.  All  close  observers  are 
aware  that  the  passions,  and  prejudices,  and  convictions 
of  men  in  time  of  war,  and  especially  of  civil  war,  become 
strongly  excited  and  are  difficult  to  control,  and  that  men  often 
throw  off  at  such  periods  the  restraints  of  law  and  of  moral 
right,  and  are  easily  led  to  adopt  any  means  to  secure  their 
ends. 

While  politicians,  and  a  majority  of  both  Houses  of  Con- 
gress, and  the  great  leaders  of  the  Metropolitan  press,  early 
in  1864,  were  not  favorable  to  the  reelection  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
it  was  equally  clear  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  with 
that  instinctive  good  sense  which  characterized  them  through- 
out the  war,  were  in  favor  of  continuing  him  in  the  Execu- 
tive chair.  The  people  knew  Mr.  Lincoln,  they  compre- 
hended and  appreciated  his  greatness  long  before  the  politi- 
cians. Thev  never  for  a  moment  doubted  his  perfect  honesty, 
his  entire  devotion  to  his  country;  they  knew  his  unselfish- 
ness, and  felt  that  their 'treasure,  their  liberties,  and  their 
laws,  everything,  would  be  safe  in  his  hands.  To  use  his  own 
homely  illustration,  "  they  thought  it  unwise  to  swap  horses 
while  fording  a  stream."  The  people  said  "  we  will  not 
change  pilots  in  the  midst  of  the  storm."  Mr.  Chase,  the  able 
and  distinguished  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  was  more  than 
willing  to  be  the  Union  candidate,  but  when  Ohio,  his  own 
State,  through  its  legislature,  passed  resolutions  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  he  yielded  gracefully  to  the  voice  of  the  people 
and  withdrew  from  the  canvass. 

The  truth  was,  the  minds  of  the  people  were  fixed  upon 
the  great  contest  for  National  existence,  and  the  overthrow 
of  slavery,  and  were  impatient  of  controversies  among  Union 
leaders.  The  opposition  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  talented,  eloquent, 
zealous  and  active,  and  supported  by  many  of  the  leading 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1864.         499 

newspapers  of  the  country,  scarcely  produced  a  ripple  on  the 
wave  of  public  sentiment,  which  rolled  on  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  reelection.  The  Republican  Convention  of  New 
Hampshire,  in  January,  1864,  declared  Mr.  Lincoln  to  be  the 
people's  choice  for  the  Presidency.  Connecticut,  New  Jersey, 
and  Pennsylvania  followed  ;  Maryland,  Minnesota,  Kansas, 
California,  Indiana  and  Illinois  did  the  same.  It  became  ob- 
vious that  the  masses  of  the  people  and  the  soldiers,  loved 
and  fully  trusted  the  President.  They  knew  that  his  hands 
were  clean,  and  his  heart  was  honest  and  pure.  They  knew 
there  was  no  bribe  large  enough,  no  temptation  of  wealth  or 
power,  which  could  seduce  his  integrity.  Hence  their  instinc- 
tive sagacity  settled  the  Presidential  question,  and  the 
politicians  and  editors  soon  acquiesced. 

The  National  Convention  was  called  to  meet  at  Baltimore 
on  the  8th  of  June  A  great  effort  was  made  by  the  oppon- 
ents of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  postpone  the  Convention,  but  these 
efforts  failed.* 


*  The  following  letter,  will  show  the  spirit  In  which  the  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
met  this  effort: 

"  To  the  Editors  of  the  Evening  Post: 

"  I  have  received  a  printed  circular  to  which  several  distinguished  names  are 
attached,  urging  the  postponement  of  the  National  Convention. 

"  Believing  that  such  postponement  would  be  most  unwise  and  dangerous  to  the 
loyal  cause,  I  ask  the  privilege,  through  the  columns  of  the  Evening  Post,  very 
briefly  to  give  my  reasons  for  such  belief. 

"  I  concur  most  fully  with  the  gentlemen  who  signed  the  paper  referred  to,  that 
It  is  very  important  that  all  parties  friendly  to  the  Government  should  be  united 
in  support  of  a  single  candidate  (for  President.)  and  that  when  a  selection  shall  be 
made  it  shall  be  acquiesced  in  by  all  sections  of  the  country,  and  all  branches  of 
the  loyal  party. 

"  I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  the  best  means  of  securing  a  result  so  essential 
to  success,  is  an  early  Convention,  and  that  nothing  would  be  more  likely  to  prevent 
such  union  than  its  postponement. 

"  The  postponement  would  be  the  signal  for  the  organization  of  the  friends  of  the 
various  aspirants  for  the  Presidency,  and  for  the  most  earnest  and  zealous  canvass 
of  the  claims,  merits,  and  demerits  of  those  candidates. 

"  If  the  time  should  be  changed  to  September,  we  should  see  the  most  violent 
controversy  within  the  Union  ranks  known  in  the  history  of  politics. 

"  Is  such  a  controversy  desirable,  and  shall  we  encourage  and  stimulate  it  by 
postponing  the  convention? 

"  I  think  I  am  fully  warranted  in  stating  that  np  to  this  time  there  has  been  no 
considerable  difference  of  opinion  among  the  -people  on  the  Presidental  question. 
It  is  a  most  significant  fact  that,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  made  in  this  city  and 
elsewhere  in  behalf  of  prominent  and  able  men  in  military  and  civil  life;  notwith- 
standing a  thoroughly  organized,  able,  ardent,  and  zealous  opposition  to  President 
Lincoln  here,  embodying  great  abilities  and  abundant  means ;  with  the  co-operation 
of  some  of  the  great  leading  newspapers  of  the  Union,  and  with  the  aid  ol  some 
of  the  distinguished  names  of  trusted  national  leaders  attached  to  your  petition ; 


500  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

A  movement  in  behalf  of  General  Fremont  was  attempted 
at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  May,  1864,  when  he  received  the 
nomination  for  the  Presidency,  from  a  Convention  calling 
itself  radical,  but  it  was  so  obviously  without  popular  sup- 
port that  Fremont  retired  before  the  election,  and  his  friends 

yet  all  this  has  produced  no  perceptible  effect  upon  public  opinion.  The  minds  of 
the  people  are  fixed  upon  the  great  contest  for  National  existence,  and  are  impa- 
patient  of  quarrels  and  controversies  among  ourselves.  The  opposition  to  the 
President  in  our  own  party,  talented,  eloquent,  zealous,  and  active  as  it  is,  has 
scarcely  produced  a  ripple  on  the  wave  of  public  sentiment  which  is  so  strongly 
running  in  favor  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  re-election. 

"  There  is  no  organization  among  the  triends  of  the  President,  they  are  doing 
nothing;  but  this  action  of  the  people  is  spontaneous,  unprompted,  earnest,  and 
sincere.  State  after  State  holds  its  convention,  appoints  its  delegates,  and  without 
a  dissenting  voice,  instructs  them  to  vote  for  Mr.  Lincoln.  This  popularity  of  the 
President,  this  unanimity  of  the  people,  is  confined  to  no  section,  but  East  as  well 
as  West,  middle  State  and  border  State,  they  all  speak  one  voice,  'Let  us  have 
Lincoln  for  our  candidate.'  Do  I  exaggerate?  Maine  speaks  for  him  on  the  At- 
lantic, and  her  voice  is  echoed  by  California  from  the  Pacific,  New  Hampshire  and 
Kansas,  Connecticut  and  Minnesota,  Wisconsin  and  West  Virginia,  and  now  comes 
the  great  State  of  Pennsylvania,  seconding  Maryland ;  one  after  another,  all  de- 
clare for  the  re-election  of  the  President.  Is  it  not  wiser  to  recognize  and  accept 
this  great  fact  than  to  struggle  against  it? 

11  The  truth  is,  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  the  soldiers  everywhere,  trust  and 
love  the  President.  They  know  his  hands  are  clean  and  his  heart  is  honest  and 
pure.  They  know  that  the  devil  has  no  bribe  big  enough,  no  temptation  of  wealth 
or  power,  which  can  seduce  the  integrity  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

"Hence  the  people  — the  brave,  honest,  self-denying  people— the  people  who 
have  furnished  the  men,  and  who  are  ready  to  pay  the  taxes  necessary  to  crash 
the  rebellion,  and  who  are  determined  to  establish  National  unity  based  on  lib- 
erty —  they  are  more  wise,  less  factious,  and  more  disinterested  than  the  politi- 
cians. Their  instinctive  sagacity  and  good  sense  have  already  settled  the  Presi- 
dential question.  It  cannot  be  unsettled  without  a  convulsion  which  will  endanger 
the  Union  cause.  A  postponement  of  the  Convention  would  not  prevent  Mr. 
Lincoln's  re-nomination ;  it  might  possibly  endanger  his  election. 

"  Acquiescence,  union,  and  harmony  will  follow  the  June  Convention.  Delay  en- 
courages faction,  controversy,  and  division.  I  say  harmony  will  follow  the  June 
Convention.  I  say  this  because  I  believe  General  Fremont  and  his  friends  are  loyal 
to  liberty  and  will  not  endanger  its  triumph  by  dividing  the  friends  of  freedom, 
I  say  this  because  I  believe  the  radical  Germans  who  support  Fremont,  who  have 
done  so  much  in  this  contest  to  sustain  free  institutions,  cannot  be  induced  by 
their  enthusiasm  for  a  man,  to  desert  or  endanger  the  triumph  of  their  principles. 

"  The  hour  is  critical.  We  approach  the  very  crisis  of  our  fate  as  a  Nation.  With 
union  and  harmony,  our  success  is  certain. 

"  The  Presidential  election  rapidly  approaches.  We  cannot  divert  attention  from 
it  by  postponing  the  Convention.  We  cannot  safely  change  our  leaders  in  the 
midst  of  the  storm  raging  around  us. 

"  The  people  have  no  time  for  the  discussions  which  must  precede  and  follow 
such  a  change.  I 

"  I  repeat,  we  cannot  safely  or  wisely  change  our  leader  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
events  which  will  not  wait  for  conventions.  Such  is  the  instinctive,  nearly  univer- 
sal judgment  of  the  people.  Let,  then,  the  Convention  meet  a-»d  ratify  the  choice 
which  the  people  have  already  so  clearly  indicated. 

"  I  am,  very  truly  and  respectfully  yours, 

"  ISAAC  N.  ARNOLD, 
t,  186U" 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OP  1864.  501 

generally  supported  Mr.  Lincoln.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
bring  out  General  Grant  as  a  candidate,  but  the  people  felt 
that  he  was  more  useful  at  the  head  of  the  armies;  and  Gen- 
eral Grant,  with  the  good  sense  which  has  ever  marked  his 
career,  and  the  fidelity  and  integrity  which  is  equally  charac- 
teristic, gave  no  countenance  to  the  movement,  but  refused 
to  be  made  the  means  of  dividing  the  great  Union  party.* 

The  National  Union  Convention  met  at  Baltimore  on  the 
8th  of  June,  and  was  organized  by  electing  as  temporary 
Chairman,  Rev.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky,  a  stern 
old  Presbyterian  Unionist,  and  its  permanent  President  was 
Ex-Governor  William  Dennison  of  Ohio,  one  of  that  band 
of  patriotic  Governors  of  the  loyal  States,  who  did  so  much 
to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  President  in  maintaining  the 
Government,  and  prosecuting  the  war.  The  Convention  em- 
bodied in  its  platform  an  endorsement  of  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  pledged  the  Union  party  to  aid  the  Gov- 
ernment to  the  utmost,  in  quelling  the  rebellion  by  force  of 
arms — approved  the  avowed  determination  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  accept  no  terms  of  compromise  with  the  rebels 
except  unconditional  surrender,  and  called  upon  the  adminis- 
tration to  prosecute  the  war  with  all  possible  vigor.  It  re- 
solved that  slavery  was  the  cause,  and  still  constituted  the 
strength  of  the  rebellion,  and  as  it  was  hostile  to  Republican 
Government,  that  justice  and  National  safety  demanded  its 
complete  extirpation  from  the  Republic;  and  while  approving 
the  anti-slavery  acts  of  Congress  and  the  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation  by  which  a  death  blow  was  aimed  at  this  gi- 
gantic evil,  the  Convention  declared  in  favor  of  the  amend- 
ment of  the  Constitution,  which  should  terminate  and  forever 
prohibit  slavery  within  the  limits  of  the  Republic.  The  Con- 
vention also  resolved,  that  it  approved  the  employment  as 
Union  soldiers  of  men  heretofore  held  in  slavery;  and  that 
all  men  employed  in  the  armies,  without  regard  to  color, 

*  Mr.  Lincoln  said  to  a  friend  in  regard  to  the  attempt  made  to  bring  General 
Grant  into  the  field  as  a  candidate  for  President;  "If  Grant  could  be  more  useful 
in  putting  down  the  rebellion,  as  President,  I  would  be  content.  He  is  pledged  to 
our  policy  of  emancipation,  and  the  employment  of  negro  soldiers  ;  and  if  this 
policy  is  carried  out,  it  won't  make  much  difference  who  is  president."  It  was 
evident  Mr.  Lincoln's  heart  was  fixed  upon  the  result  of  the  war,  and  not  on 
himself. 


502  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

should  reeeive  the  full  protection  of  the  laws  of  war;  and 
that  any  violation  of  these  laws  should  meet  with  prompt 
redress;  that  the  thanks  of  the  American  people  were  due 
to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  that 
the  Nation  owes  to  those  who  survive,  ample  and  permanent 
provision ;  and  that  the  memories  of  those  who  have  fallen, 
should  be  ever  held  in  grateful  remembrance.  That  the  Na- 
tional faith  pledged  to  the  redemption  of  the  public  debt 
must  be  kept  inviolate,  and  for  that  purpose,  economy  and 
rigid  responsibility  in  the  public  expenditures,  and  a  vigorous 
and  just  system  of  taxation  were  recommended.  The  Conven- 
tion also  declared  its  approval  of  the  position  taken  by  the 
Government,  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  could  never 
regard  with  indifference  the  attempt  of  any  European  power 
to  overthrow  by  force,  or  supplant  by  fraud  the  institutions  of 
any  Republican  Government  on  this  continent. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  unanimously  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent, and  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee,  for  Vice  President. 
Vice  President  Hamlin,  an  able  man,  of  unblemished  integ- 
rity—  ever  true  and  faithful,  and  entirely  unexceptionable, 
was  dropped,  and  Johnson,  from  motives  of  policy,  was  nomin- 
ated in  his  place.  Johnson's  heroic  devotion  to  the  Union 
cause,  his  fidelity  to  the  Union  when  so  many  proved  false, 
his  bold  denunciation  of  treason  and  traitors  in  the  Senate, 
had  secured  him  the  admiration  of  the  people  of  the  North. 
But  it  is  believed  that  if  the  New  England  delegates  had  been 
unanimously  and  earnestly  in  favor  of  re-nominating  Mr. 
Hamlin,  he  would  have  received  the  nomination.  The  op- 
position to  him,  was  based  on  no  public  ground,  or  objection 
of  personal  fitness,  but  arose  from  the  jealousies  of  several 
politicians,  and  from  the  conviction  that  it  was  wiser  to  take 
what  was  called  a  war  Democrat,  for  Vice  President. 

Mr.  Lincoln  gratefully  accepted  the  nomination,  and  ex- 
pressed his  approval  of  the  platform  or  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples of  the  Convention ;  especially  did  he  emphasize  his 
cordial  approval  of  the  committal  of  the  party  to  the  great 
Constitutional  amendment  prohibiting  slavery  forever 
throughout  the  nation. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1864.  503 

Such  an  amendment  he  declared  to  be  a  fitting  and  neces- 
sary conclusion  to  the  final  success  of  the  Union  cause.  He 
said,  with  his  usual  modesty,  "I  view  this  call  to  a  second 
term,  in  no  wise  more  flattering  to  myself,  than  as  an  expres- 
sion of  the  public  judgment,  that  I  may  better  finish  a  diffi- 
cult work,  in  which  I  have  labored  from  the  first,  than  could 
any  one  less  severely  schooled  to  the  task."  Thus  the  vigor- 
ous prosecution  of  the  war,  without  compromise,  to  the  com- 
plete suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  utter  extirpation 
of  slavery,  became  the  great  issues  of  the  Presidential 
campaign. 

Although  first  called  to  meet  on  the  4th  of  July,  the  Dem- 
ocratic Convention  met  at  Chicago  on  the  20th  of  August, 
to  which  time  it  had  been  postponed,  and  was  presided  over 
by  Ex-Governor  Horatio  Seymour  of  New  York.  General 
McClellanwas  nominated  for  the  Presidency,  and  George  H. 
Pendleton  of  Ohio  for  Vice  President.  Clement  C.  Vallan- 
digham  having  returned  North  from  the  rebel  lines  to  which 
he  had  been  sent,  was  an  active  and  prominent  member, 
and  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  Val- 
landigham,  whose  sentence  by  a  Military  Court,  of  im- 
prisonment during  the  war,  had  been  kindly  modified  by  the 
President,  so  that  his  sentence  was  that  he  should  be  sent  with- 
in the  rebel  lines,  to  remain  during  the  war,  returned  to  Ohio, 
by  way  of  Canada,  and  immediately  became  more  prominent 
than  ever  as  a  leader  of  his  party.  On  being  interrogated 
one  day,  as  to  whether  the  Government  would  re-arrest  Val- 
landigham,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  had  not  been  officially  in- 
formed of  his  return,  but  he  added  "I  am  inclined  to  think 
his  political  friends  in  the  North  will  find  him  as  troublesome 
and  as  much  of  an  elephant  on  their  hands,  if  he  has  re- 
turned, as  he  has  ever  been  to  the  Administration.  Perhaps 
the  best  way  to  treat  him,"  he  added,  jocosely,  "  would  be 
to  do  as  the  man  did  who  had  been  annoyed  with  a  very 
troublesome  wife,  and  who  has  been  relieved  by  her  abscond- 
ing, and  who  by  no  means  desired  her  return,  and  who  there- 
fore advertises  one  cent  reward  for  her  return.  The  Govern- 
ment had  perhaps  better  advertise  one  cent  reward  for  the 
arrest  and  return  to  his  place  of  confinement,  of  Clement 
L. 


504  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  second  resolution  in  the  platform  of  the  Chicago 
Convention  was  in  these  words  : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Convention  does  explicitly  declare,  as  the  sense 
of  the  American  people,  that  after  four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the 
Union  by  the  experiment  of  war,  during  which,  under  the  pretence  of 
military  necessity,  or  war  power  higher  than  the  Constitution,  the  Con- 
stitution itself  has  been  disregarded  in  every  part,  and  public  liberty 
and  private  rights  alike  trodden  down,  and  the  material  prosperity  of 
the  country  essentially  impaired,  justice,  humanity,  liberty  and  the  pub- 
lic welfare  demand  that  immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a  cessation  of 
hostilities  with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  Convention  of  the  States,  or  other 
peaceable  means,  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment,  peace 
may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal  Union  of  the  States."* 

Thus,  this  great  party,  in  the  midst  of  war,  did  "  explicitly 
declare,"  that  after  four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the  Union 
by  the  experiment  of  war,  "  immediate  efforts  should  be  made  for 
a  cessation  of  hostilities,  with  a  view  to  a  Convention,  or  other 
peaceable  means,  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest  practicable 
moment  peace  might  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  federal 
Union  of  the  States." 

The  passage  of  this  resolution,  destroyed  utterly  any  pros- 
pect which  the  party  may  have  had  of  being  successful.  It 
drove  from  its  support,  thousands  of  war  Democrats.  The 
spirit  of  the  resolution  was  rebuked  in  the  able,  and  in  some 
parts  patriotic  letter  of  General  McClellan  accepting  the 
nomination.  He  said : 

"  The  Union  must  be  preserved  at  all  hazards.  I  could  not  look  in 
the  face  of  my  gallant  comrades  of  the  Army  and  the  Navy  who  have 
survived  so  many  bloody  battles,  and  tell  them  that  their  labors  and 
the  sacrifices  of  so  many  of  our  slain  and  wounded  brethren  had  been 
in  vain,  that  we  had  abandoned  that  Union  for  which  we  have  so  often 
perilled  our  lives.  A  vast  majority  of  the  people,  whether  in  the  Army 
and  Navy  or  at  home,  would,  as  I  would,  hail  with  unbounded  joy  the 
permanent  restoration  of  peace,  on  the  basis  of  the  Union  under  the 
Constitution,  without  the  effusion  of  another  drop  of  blood,  but  no 
peace  can  be  permanent  without  Union." 

Thus  the  issues  were  distinctly  made  up,  to  be  submitted 

•  Annual  Cyclopedia,  1864,  page  793. 


THE    PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION   OF   1864.  505 

to  the  people  at  the  ballot-box.  The  Union  Republican  party 
were  for  the  most  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  to  the 
complete  suppression  of  the  rebellion  ;  declaring  that  no 
terms  of  peace  should  be  offered  except  based  upon  the  un- 
conditional surrender  of  the  rebels;  that  justice  and  National 
safety  required  the  utter  and  complete  extirpation  of  slavery, 
the  cause  of  the  war,  and  approving  the  President's  proclam- 
ation. The  great  Union  party  declared  itself  in  favor  of  the 
Constitutional  Amendment  which  should  terminate  and  for- 
ever prohibit  slavery  throughout  the  Republic.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  declared  the  war  "  a  failure,"  and  that  peace 
should  be  immediately  sought  through  a  "  National  Conven- 
tion,"or  other  feasible  means. 

Such  were  the  momentous  issues  submitted  to  the  decision 
of  the- American  people.  Then  followed  one  of  the  most  ex- 
citing political  canvasses  ever  made  in  the  United  States. 
The  people  wanted  peace,  but  they  believed  peace  was  to 
come  through  successful  war.  They  looked  for  the  sun  of 
peace  to  rise  as  it  did  ere  long,  from  some  great  battle  field  in 
Virginia;  a  battle  field  on  which  the  hosts  of  the  slaveholding 
chiefs  would  be  scattered  and  overthrown.  They  believed 
the  path  to  peace  was  through  Richmond,  and  that  its  pleni- 
potentiaries were  not  Vallandigham,  nor  Seymour,  nor 
Wood;  but  Grant  and  Sherman  and  Sheridan,  and  Farragut. 
Such  a  peace  as  they  would  negotiate,  would  give  to  the 
American  people,  a  restored  Union,  universal  liberty,  and  a 
continental  republic.  It  would  make  in  fact  as  in  name,  one 
people,  and  one  nation,  a  territory  extending  from  sunrise  to 
sundown;  from  the  land  where  water  never  thaws,  to  the 
clime  where  it  never  freezes.  The  people  felt  that  they  had 
in  Mr.  Lincoln,  a  Chief  Magistrate  of  clean  hands  and  pure 
patriotic  hear.t.  Unpolished  and  somewhat  rude  he  might 
be,  but  under  his  rough  exterior,  they  saw  the  true  diamond  ; 
the  hero,  and  the  Christian  statesman. 

Early  in  July  1864,  Mr.  Chase  resigned  the  position  of 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  He  had  been  as  has  been  stated, 
a  very  distinguished  Senator,  an  able  Secretary,  and  as  a 
leader  in  the  great  anti-slavery  movement,  was  as  faithful  to 
liberty,  as  the  needle  to  the  pole.  But  he  had  the  fault  of 


506       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

most  great  men,  he  was  ambitious ;  lie  wished  to  he  Presi- 
dent, and  while  holding  a  position  in  the  Cabinet  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, permitted  his  friends  to  seek  his  elevation  over  that  of 
him  in  whose  political  family  he  occupied  a  relation  so  con- 
fidential. He  permitted  his  subordinates  to  seek  his  eleva- 
tion over  that  of  his  chief.  He  used  the  power  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  gave  him,  to  place  in  office  his  own  friends  and  par- 
tizans,  and  those  partizans  used  that  power  to  try  to  pull 
Mr.  Lincoln  down  and  set  Mr.  Chase  up.  But  the  President, 
while  he  was  conscious  of  this  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of 
the  able  Secretary,  was  himself  so  great  and  so  magnani- 
mous, that  subsequently  when  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the 
great  office  of  Chief  Justice,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  ap- 
point Mr.  Chase  to  that  high  position,  because  he  believed 
him  the  best  fitted  for  it.  This  flaw  in  the  diamond,  this 
blemish  upon  the  character  of  the  Chief  Justice,  I  would 
not  mention,  were  it  not  necessary  to  state  the  truth,  to  bring 
out  the  great  elevation  and  magnanimity  of  the  President. 
For  this  reason  I  dare  not  withhold  the  facts. 

During  the  canvass  for  nomination  and  election,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln never  used  his  power  nor  patronage  to  secure  his  nom- 
ination or  election.*  Indeed  such  was  his  scrupulous  delicacy 
on  this  subject,  that  Preston  King  was  sent  to  Washington 
on  one  occasion,  by  the  New  York  politicians,  to  enquire  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  as  King  said,  "  whether  Mr.  Lincoln  supported 
the  Administration,  and  the  ticket  nominated  at  Baltimore  ?" 

William  Pitt  Fessenden,  Chairman  of  the  committee  on 
Finance,  of  the  Senate,  was  appointed  the  successor  of  Mr. 

*  The  following  note,  written  in  behalf  of  a  friend  in  Illinois,  td  an  office-holder 
who  was  charged  with  using  his  power  against  his  friend,  will  illustrate  his  views- 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  July  4th,  1864. 
"  To ESQ. 

"  Dear  Sir :   Complaint  is  made  to  me  that  you  are  using  your  official  power  to 

defeat  Mr. 's  nomination  to  Congress.    I  am  well  satisfied  with  Mr. as  a 

member  of  Congress,  and  1  do  not  know  that  the  man  who  might  supplant  him 
would  be  as  satisfactory  But  the  correct  principle  I  think  is,  that  all  our  frienda 
should  have  absolute  freedom  of  choice  among  our  friends.  My  wish  therefore  is, 
that  you  will  do  just  as  you  think  fit  with  your  own  suffrage  in  the  case,  and  not 
constrain  any  of  your  subordinates  to  other  than  he  thinks  fit  with  his.  This  is 
precisely  the  rule  I  inculcated  and  adhered  to  on  my  part,  when  a  certain  other 
nomination  now  recently  made,  was  being  canvassed  for.  Yours,  very  truly, 

"  A.  LINCOLN." 
The  closing  paragraph  refers  to  his  own  nomination  for  the  Presidency. 


RECONSTRUCTION.  507 

Chase.  He  was  reluctant  to  accept  the  appointment.  Mr. 
Lincoln  playfully  said  to  him  that  if  he  did  not  accept,  he 
would  send  him  a  prisoner  to  Fort  Lafayette.  He  was  an 
honest,  straight  forward  Yankee,  with  hard  common  sense, 
and  during  his  brief  service  as  Secretary,  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  place  with  fidelity  and  admirable  ability. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  President  had  inaugurated 
measures  looking  towards  the  restoration  of  the  seceded 
States  to  their  "  proper  practical  relations  to  the  Union." 
Upon  this  subject  Mr.  Lincoln  has  been  both  misunderstood 
and  misrepresented.  There  was  early 'manifested  a  division 
of  opinion  among  his  friends  on  the  question  of  the  effect  of 
secession  and  the  war.  He  held  that  no  act  of  secession  or 
war  could  absolve  the  citizen  of  any  State  from  his  allegi- 
ance to  the  Republic.  He  held  that  the  war  constituted  the 
rebel  States  public  enemies,  and  that  as  a  republican  govern- 
ment had  been  overthrown  in  the  rebellious  States,  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  restore  republican  govern- 
ments in  those  States,  and  guarantee  the  existence  thereof 
in  each  of  them. 

He  said  in  his  last  carefully  considered  speech  on  this 
subject,  made  on  the  llth  of  April  1865 : 

'•I  have  been  shown  a  letter  on  this  subject,  supposed  to  be  an  able 
one,  in  which  the  writer  expresses  regret  that  my  mind  has  not  seemed 
to  be  definitely  fixed  upon  the  question  whether  the  seceded  States,  so 
called,  are  in  the  Union  or  out  of  it.  It  would  perhaps  add  astonish- 
ment to  his  regret,  were  he  to  learn  that  since  I  have  found  professed 
Union  men  endeavoring  to  answer  that  question,  I  have  purposely  for- 
borne any  public  expression  upon  it.  As  appears  to  me  that  question 
has  not  been,  nor  yet  is  a  practically  material  one  ;  and  that  any  dis- 
cussion of  it,  while  it  thus  remains  practically  immaterial,  could  have 
no  effect  other  than  the  mischievous  one  of  dividing  our  friends.  As 
yet,  whatever  it  may  become,  that  question  is  bad  as  the  basis  of  a  con- 
troversy, and  good  for  nothing  at  all — a  mere  pernicious  abstraction. 
We  all  agree  that  the  seceded  States,  so  called,  are  out  of  their  proper 
practical  relation  with  the  Union,  and  that  the  sole  object  of  the  gov- 
ernment, civil  and  military,  in  regard  to  these  States,  is  to  again  get 
them  into  their  proper  practical  relation.  I  believe  that  it  is  not  only 
possible,  but  in  fact  easier  to  do  this  without  deciding  or  even  consider- 
ing whether  those  States  have  ever  been  out  of  the  Union,  than  with 


508  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

it.  Finding  themselves  safely  at  home,  it  would  be  utterly  immaterial 
whether  they  had  been  abroad.  Let  us  all  join  in  doing  the  acts  neces- 
sary to  restore  the  proper  practical  relations  between  these  States  and 
the  Union,  and  each  forever  after  innocently  indulge  his  own  opinion 
whether,  in  doing  the  acts,  he  brought  the  States  from  without  into  the 
Union,  or  only  gave  them  proper  assistance,  they  never  having  been  out 
of  it."  * 

In  the  same  speech  he  states  his  deliberate  views  of  what 
ought  to  be  done : 

"  We  simply  must  begin  with,  and  mould  from  disorganized  and  dis- 
cordant elements.  Nor  is  it  a  small  additional  embarrassment  that  we, 
the  loyal  people,  differ  among  ourselves  as  to  the  mode,  manner,  and 
measure  of  reconstruction.  As  a  general  rule,  I  abstain  from,  reading 
the  reports  of  attacks  upon  myself,  wishing  not  to  be  provoked  by  that 
to  which  I  cannot  properly  offer  an  answer.  In  spite  of  this  precau- 
tion, however,  it  comes  to  my  knowledge  that  I  am  much  censured  for 
same  supposed  agency  in  setting  up  and  seeking  to  sustain  the  new 
State  government  of  Louisiana.  In  this  I  have  done  just  so  much  and 
no  more  than  the  public  knows.  In  the  Annual  Message  of  December 
1863,  and  the  accompanying  Proclamation,  I  presented  a  plan  of  re- 
construction, as  the  phrase  goes,  which  I  promised,  if  adopted  by  any 
State,  would  be  acceptable  to  and  sustained  by  the  executive  gov- 
ernment of  the  Nation.  I  distinctly  stated  that  this  was  not  the  only 
plan  which  might  possibly  be  acceptable,  and  I  also  distinctly  protested 
that  the  Executive  claimed  no  right  to  say  when  or  how  members  should 
be  admitted  to  seats  in  Congress  from  such  States." 

Mr.  Lincoln  always,  as  in  this  speech  distinctly  disclaimed 
any  right  "to  say  when  or  how  members  of  Congress  should  be 
admitted  to  seats  in  Congress  from  these  States."  This  he  al- 
ways declared  was  a  question  for  Congress — for  the  law-mak- 
ing power.  "  When"  and  "  how"  members  of  Congress 
should  be  admitted  to  seats  from  the  rebel  States,  I  distinctly 
protested  the  Executive  claimed  no  right  to  determine." 

Congress  was  to  decide,  not  simply  as  to  qualifications 
and  elections  of  members — but  "  when"  and  "  how"  mem- 
bers should  be  admitted  from  these  States.  "  When"  it 
would  be  proper  and  safe  to  admit  members  from  rebel 


*  Raymond's  Life  and  State  Papers  of  Lincoln,  page  686. 


RECONSTRUCTION.  509 

states;  and  "how"  to  admit  them  was  not,  in  the  delib- 
erate judgment  of  Mr.  Lincoln  a  question  for  the  Executive, 
but  for  Congress  and  the  law  making  power.  'Not,  let  it  be 
observed,  a  question  for  each  House  to  decide  ;  but  a  question 
for  Congress — that  is,  both  houses  acting  as  the  law  making 
power  of  the  Government.  A  member  of  his  Cabinet,  he 
says,  suggested  that  he  omit  the  protest  against  his  own 
power  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  members  of  Congress, 
but  he  would  not.  Mr.  Lincoln's  suggestion  in  regard  to  the 
convenience  of  preserving  the  original  boundaries  and 
names  of  States,  has  already  been  adverted  to. 

A  careful  review  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  whole  course  on  the  sub- 
ject of  reconstruction  in  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Tennes- 
see, and  his  views  as  expressed  in  all  his  messages  and  speech- 
es, will  demonstrate  that  he  claimed  nothing  but  the  right  to 
govern  the  rebel  States  as  Commander-in-chief  during  the 
war,  and  to  initiate  proceedings  for  the  reconstruction  of  civ- 
il government,  but  that  the  question  of  deciding  "whether" 
a  state  which  had  been  in  rebellion  was  in  a  condition  to  send 
members  to  Congres  and  participate  in  the  Government,  was 
a  question  for  the  law-making  power. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  anxious  for  the 
return  of  the  seceded  States.  He  was  anxious  that  they 
should  return  clothed  with  freedom,  and  in  their  "right 
minds  "  and  with  the  devils  of  slavery  cast  out.  Louisiana 
seemed  to  be  most  favorably  situated  to  take  the  lead  and  fur- 
nish a  precedent  for  the  others.  Under  the  vigorous  govern- 
ment  of  Butler,  and  the  more  conciliatory  administration  of 
Banks,  the  cause  of  emancipation  and  loyalty  going  hand 
in  hand,  had  grown  and  strengthened.  One  of  the  most 
active  friends  of  emancipation  was  Michael  Hahn,  elected 
member  of  Congress  from  that  State.  On  his  return  from 
Washington  on  the  14th  of  November  1863,  fresh  from  the 
inspiration  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  views,  he  made  a  speech  strongly 
advocating  a  convention,  and  emancipation.  He  said : 

"  As  soon  as  the  Union  lines  are  extended  to  embrace  a  few  more 
parishes,  which  can  be  done  at  any  time,  we  should  reorganize  our 
State  government,  and  place  ourselves  completely  in  line  with  the  loyal 


510       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

States  of  the  Union.  There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  all  unite 
iu  this  great  movement,  and  put  an  end  to  the  stigma  of  disloyalty 
which  still  rests  upon  the  fair  fame  of  our  noble  State.  The  whole 
country  looks  to  us  for  immediate  action  in  this  matter.  The  President 
feels  a  deep  interest  in  it,  and  with  that  tender  regard  for  the  rights  of 
the  people,  which  distinguishes  his  administration,  is  anxious  to  give 
you  the  selection  of  your  own  civil  officers." 

In  a  letter  to  General  Banks  dated  August  5th  1863,  urg- 
ing emancipation  under  a  new  constitution,  Mr.  Lincoln  said, 
"  If  Louisiana  shall  send  members  of  Congress,  their  admis- 
sion to  seats  will  depend,  as  you  know,  upon  the  respective 
Houses,  and  not  upon  the  President.  While  I  very  well 
know  what  I  would  be  glad  for  Louisiana  to  do,  it  is  quite 
a  different  thing  for  me  to  assume  direction  of  the  matter. 
I  would  be  glad  for  her  to  make  a  new  constitution,  recog- 
nizing the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  adopting  eman- 
cipation in  those  parts  of  the  State,  to  which  the  Proclamation 
does  not  apply." 

In  a  letter  to  General  Banks  dated  December  26, 1863,  Mr. 
Lincoln  said:  "  I  wish  you  to  take  the  case  as  you  find  it, 
and  give  us  a  free  State  re-organization  of  Louisiana  in  the 
shortest  possible  time."  On  the  llth  of  January,  1864, 
General  Banks  issued  his  proclamation  calling  for  the  elec- 
tion of  State  officers.  Michael  Hahn  was  nominated  for 
Governor  upon  the  platform  of  freedom.  He  and  the  Free 
State  ticket,  were  elected,  and  these  officers  were  on  the 
4th  of  March  1864  installed  in  office.  On  the  13th  of  March, 
Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  to  the  Governor  elect  the  following 
letter  of  congratulation : 

"  I  congratulate  you  on  having  fixed  your  name  in  history  as  the 
first  Free  State  Governor  of  Louisiana.  Now  you  are  about  to  have 
a  convention,  which  among  other  things,  will  probably  define  the 
elective  franchise.  I  barely  suggest,  for  your  private  consideration, 
whether  some  of  the  colored  people  may  not  be  let  in,  as,  for  instance, 
the  very  intelligent,  and  especially  those  who  have  fought  gattantly  in 
our  ranks.  They  would  probably  help  in  some  trying  time  to  come,  to 
keep  the  jewel  of  liberty  in  the  family  of  freedom.  But  it  is  only  a 
suggestion,  not  to  the  public,  but  to  you  alone." 


EMANCIPATION   IN   TENNESSEE.  511 

General  Banks  and  Governor  Hahn  issued  proclamations 
calling  an  election  for  delegates  to  a  State  Convention  for  the 
revision  and  amendment  of  the  State  Constitution.  The  elec- 
tiontook  place  on  the  28th  of  March.  Out  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  delegates  to  which  the  whole  State  was  entitled,  ninety- 
eight  were  elected.  The  convention  met  at  New  Orleans  on 
the  6th  of  April,  and  on  the  llth  of  May,  by  a  vote  of  seventy, 
to  sixteen,  it  adopted  a  clause  of  the  New  Constitution  by 
which  slavery  was  prohibited  forever  in  that  State. 

The  constitution  was  on  the  5th  of  September  1864,  sub- 
mitted to  a  vote  of  the  people,  and  adopted  by  a  vote  of  6,836 
to  1,566.  An  election  was  held  and  officers  elected  under 
the  New  Constitution.  The  Legislature  elected  Senators  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  Presidential  electors.  But  as 
Congress  did  not  admit  the  members  and  Senators  elect  for 
Louisiana,  the  Presidential  votes  of  the  State  in  1864,  were 
not  counted. 

• 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Andrew  Johnson  was  on  the 
8d  of  March  1862,  appointed  Provisional  Governor  of  Ten- 
nessee by  the  President.  It  will  also  be  remembered  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  induced  by  Mr.  Johnson  and  others,  not  to 
include  the  State  of  Tennessee  in  the  Proclamation  of  Eman- 
cipation. The  provisional  Governor  was  authorized  to  exer- 
cise "  such  powers  as  might  be  necessary  and  proper,  to  en- 
able the  loyal  people  of  Tennessee  to  present  such  a  republi- 
can form  of  government  as  will  entitle  the  State  to  the 
guarantee  of  the  United  States  thereof. 

A  convention  of  the  Union  people  of  Tennessee  was  called 
by  the  Provisional  Governor,  and  met  on  the  8th  of  Janu- 
uary  1865,  at  the  Capital  in  Nashville.  The  convention  pro- 
posed among  other  things,  the  following  most  important 
change  in  the  constitution  of  the  State  : 

"  Section  1.  That  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  pun- 
ishment of  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted, 
are  hereby  forever  abolished  and  prohibited  throughout  the  State. 

"  Sec.  2.  The  Legislature  shall  make  no  law  recognizing  property  in 
man." 


512  LINCOLN   AND    THE    OVERTHROW   OF    SLAVERY. 

On  the  26th  day  of  January  1865,  Governor  Andrew  John- 
son issued  his  proclamation,  reciting  the  proceedings  of  the 
Convention — by  which  certain  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion were  passed,  and  submitted  to  the  people  for  ratification 
or  rejection,  providing  for  a  vote  of  the  loyal  people  of  Ten- 
nessee and  those  only  upon  the  amendment.  Governor 
Johnson  earnestly  recommended  the  loyal  people  to  come 
forward  and  ratify  and  confirm  the  action  of  said  Convention: 
"  Strike  down,"  said  he,  "  at  one  blow,  the  institution  of 
slavery — remove  the  disturbing  element  from  your  midst, 
and  by  united  action  restore  the  State  to  its  ancient  moorings 
again,  and  you  may  confidently  expect  the  speedy  return  of 
peace,  happiness  and  prosperity." 

The  election  was  held  on  the  22d  of  February  1865,  and 
on  the  26th  of  February,  the  Governor  announced  by  pro- 
clamation that  Tennessee  had  adopted  the  proposed  amend- 
ments, and  that  she  had  by  her  own  voluntary  act,  become  a 
free  State.  "  By  this  one  solemn  act  at  the  ballot  box,"  said 
he,  "  the  shackles  have  been  stricken  from  the  limbs  of  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  slaves  in  the  state.  The 
unjust  distinction  in  society  fostered  by  an  arrogant  aristoc- 
racy, based  upon  human  bondage,  has  been  overthrown,  and 
our  whole  social  system  reconstructed  on  the  basis  of  honest 
industry  and  personal  worth." 

He  then  in  eloquent  terms,  pointed  out  the  future  great- 
ness of  that  State,  based  upon  free  labor  and  intelligence. 
In  this  great  revolution  in  Tennessee,  Andrew  Johnson,  Wil- 
liam G.  Brownlow,  Horace  Maynard  and  James  S.  Fowler 
were  among  the  prominent  leaders. 

To  the  bold  leadership,  and  the  unrivalled  .eloquence  of 
Henry  Winter  Davis,  is  Maryland  largely  indebted  for  her 
position  as  a  free  State.  He  inaugurated  the  movement  and 
led  it  forward  to  final  success.  He  had  able  and  eloquent 
assistants,  among  whom  were  Creswell  and  Thomas,  Webster 
and  Bond,  but  he  was  their  acknowledged  and  natural  leader. 
The  emancipation  movement  was  organized  early  in  1863; 
from  that  time  until  its  triumph,  Davis,  was  ubiquitous,  and 

•  See  House  Doc.  No.  55, 1st  Sess,  39th  Congress,  containing  a  history  of  recon 
struction  in  Tennessee.  <* 


EMANCIPATION  IN  MAKTLAND.  513 

with  a  voice  of  eloquence,  such  only  as  liberty  can  inspire, 
and  with  a  pen  which  scattered  "  thoughts  that  breathe,"  and 
"  words  that  burn,"  he  traversed  the  State,  pleading  for  uni- 
versal emancipation.  In  the  beginning  his  followers  were 
few,  but  they  constantly  and  rapidly  increased  until  they 
revolutionized  the  State. 

Maryland  had  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  earnest  entreaties 
of  Lincoln  in  favor  of  gradual  and  compensated  emancipa- 
tion. This  new  movement,  had  the  President's  earnest  sym- 
pathy, and  his  active  cooperation.  It  would  accomplish  more 
summarily  than  he  had  proposed,  the  great  end  of  abolition. 
At  the  election  of  1863,  the  emancipation  party,  had  elected 
a  majority  of  the  Legislature.  In  January,  1864,  a  resolution 
was  adopted,  declaring  that  the  true  interests  of  Maryland 
demand  that  the  policy  of  emancipation  should  be  immedi- 
ately inaugurated,  and  that  the  Legislature  would  submit  to 
the  people  a  call  for  a  convention.  A  bill,  calling  a  conven- 
tion, was  accordingly  passed.  The  people  by  a  majority  of 
more  than  12,000  voted  in  favor  of  the  convention.  Dele- 
gates were  elected  of  which  sixty-one  were  in  favor  of,  and 
thirty-five  opposed  to  emancipation. 

The  Constitution  framed  by  this  convention  contained  two 
most  important  changes. 

ARTICLE  4,  provided,  "  That,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  being  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land,  every  citizen  of  this  State  owes  a  paramount  allegiance  to  the 
Constitution  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  is  not  bound  by 
any  law  or  ordinance  of  this  State  in^contravention  or  subversion  thereof." 

ARTICLE  23,  provided,  "  That  hereafter,  in  this  State,  there  shall  be 
neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  in  punishment  of 
crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted ;  and  all  persons 
held  to  service  or  labor  as  slaves  are  hereby  declared  free."  * 

Thus,  the  organic  law  of  the  State  was  made  expressly  to 
declare  that  the  citizen  owed  paramount  allegiance  to  the 
Republic,  and  not  to  a  local  division  of  it.  This  destroyed 
the  grrm  of  secession  —  the  other  article  extirpated  slavery. 

*  App;eton's  Encyclopedia,  1864. 

33 


514  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

This  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  people  on 
the  12th  and  13th  of  October,  1864. 

During  the  canvass,  Mr.  Lincoln  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
people  of  Maryland,  earnestly  urging  the  adoption  of  this 
Constitution,  an'd  reiterating  his  often  expressed  desire  that 
all  men  should  be  free. 

The  Constitution  was  adopted  by  a  majority  of  the  people, 
and  Maryland,  an  old  patriotic  and  noble  State,  of  Revolu- 
tionary fame,  took  her  position  among  the  free  States.  This 
result  was  most  gratifying  to  the  loyal  people  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  none  more  so,  than  to  the  President.  He  re- 
garded it  as  more  important  than  a  battle  gained;  indeed 
he  thought  it  decisive  of  the  war. 

At  the  close  of  the  struggle,  on  the  bright  autumnal  evening 
of  the  19th  of  October,  1864,  a  crowd  of  joyous  Marylanders 
came  with  music,  banners,  and  exulting  cheers,  to  the 
"White  House  to  exchange  congratulations  with  the  President 
on  the  result.  He  said  to  them,  among  other  things,  "  most 
heartily  do  I  congratulate  you,  and  Maryland,  and  the  Nation, 
upon  this  event!  I  regret  that  it  did  not  occur  two  years 
sooner,  which  I  am  sure  would  have  saved  to  the  Nation  more 
money  than  would  have  met  all  the  private  loss  incident  to 
the  measure.  But  it  has  come  at  last,  and  I  sincerely  hope 
its  friends  may  fully  realize  all  their  anticipations  of  good 
from  it,  and  that  its  opponents  may,  by  its  effects,  be 
agreeably  and  profitably  disappointed." 

The  seeds  of  emancipation  in  Missouri  had  been  sown  by 
Benton,  the  Blairs,  B.  Gratz  Brown,  and  others. 

At  the  time  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Presi- 
dency, the  city  of  St.  Louis  was  a  free-soil  city,  and  elected 
as  its  Representative  to  Congress,  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  who  was 
then  the  bold  and  unflinching,  leader  of  the  anti-slavery  party 
of  Missouri.  The  energy  with  which  he  had  carried  on  the 
conflict  against  the  slaveholders,  had  made  him  an  object  of 
peculiar  interest  throughout  the  free  States,  and  no  young 
man  in  the  Republic  was  regarded  as  having  brighter  politi- 
cal prospects.  On  the  opening  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Con- 
gress, he  was  largely  supported  for  Speaker.  He  was  a  great 
favorite  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  had  watched  with  deep  inter- 


EMANCIPATION  IN  MISSOURI.  515 

est  and  gratification  the  gallant  and  successful  fight  he  had 
made  against  slaveholders  in  Missouri.  His  services  to  the 
anti-slavery  cause,  and  his  most  efficient  services  to  the 
country  in  thwarting  the  schemes  of  the  conspirators  in  tak- 
ing Missouri  "  out  of  the  Union,"  as  they  termed  secession, 
endeared  him  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  stood  by  him  and  the  Blair 
family,  long  after  they  became  unpopular,  with  a  tenacity 
and  firmness  which  would  not  give  them  up,  until  the  Union 
party,  speaking  through  its  National  Convention,  constrained 
the  retirement  of  Montgomery  -Blair  from  his  Cabinet. 

St.  Louis,  and  some  other  portions  of  Missouri,  were 
largely  settled  by  intelligent  and  liberty  loving  Germans 
who  came  from  Europe  with  intense  hostility  to  slavery  in 
every  form.  They  rendered  powerful  aid  to  the  emancipa- 
tion movement.  The  brief  administration  of  Fremont  in 
Missouri  contributed  to  the  same  result. 

A  convention  was  held  in  this  State  in  1863,  which  decided 
in  favor  of  gradual,  instead  of  immediate  emancipation.  This 
was  not  satisfactory  to  the  people.  The  car  of  progress,  in  fa- 
vor of  universal  liberty,  was  now  under  full  headway,  and  the 
radicals  who  constituted  a  majority  of  the  loyal  people  de- 
manded immediate  and  unconditional  emancipation.  They  de- 
manded a  new  convention,  and  an  election  to  determine 
whether  one  should  be  held,  was  had  on  the  8th  of  November, 
1864.  The  people  decided  by  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
37,793,  in  a  vote  of  89,215,  in  favor  of  a  convention,  and 
three-fourths  of  the  members  elected  were  of  the  radical 
anti-slavery  party. 

The  convention  met  on  the  6th  of  January,  1865,  at  St. 
Louis,  and  on  the  llth,  the  following  ordinance  was  reported : 

"  Be  it  ordained  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Missouri  in  convention 
assembled,  That  hereafter  in  this  State,  there  shall  be  neither  slavery 
nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  in  punishment  of  crime,  whereof  the 
party  shall'  have  been  duly  convicted,  and  all  persons  held  to  service  or 
labor  as  slaves,  are  hereby  declared  free." 

After  debate,  the  ordinance  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  59 
ayes,  to  noes  4,  an  1  then  the  following  proceedings  took 
place. 


516  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  convention  paused  in  its  business ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elliott, 
a  distinguished  follower  of  Dr.  Channing,  was  called  forward, 
and,  amidst  a  stillness  and  awe  which  ever  accompanies  the 
highest  example  of  the  moral  sublime,  the  whole  convention 
and  the  crowded  audience  rising,  with  grateful  and  reverent 
hearts,  he  offered,  in  accents  broken  by  emotion,  the  following 
prayer  to  Almighty  God : 

"  Most  merciful  God,  before  whom  we  are  all  equal,  we  look  up  to 
Thee  who  hast  declared  Thyself  our  Father,  and  our  helper,  and  our 
strong  defense,  to  thank  Thee  that  Thou  art  no  respecter  of  persons; 
to  thank  Thee  that  Thou  didst  send  Jesus  Christ  into  the  world  to  re- 
deem the  world  from  sin,  and  that  He  was  the  friend  to  the  poor;  that 
He  came  to  break  the  manacles  of  the  slaves,  that  the  oppressed  might 
go  free.  We  thank  Thee  that  this  day  the  people  of  this  State  have 
had  grace  given  them  to  do  as  they  would  be  done  by.  We  pray  that 
Thy  blessings  may  rest  upon  the  proceedings  of  this  convention ;  that 
no  evil  may  come  to  this  State  from  the  wrong  position  of  those  who  do 
not  agree  with  the  action  of  to-day^  but  that  we,  all  of  us,  may  be 
united  to  sustain  this  which  is  the  law  of  the  land.  We  pray  0  G-od, 
but  our  hearts  are  too  full  to  express  our  thanksgiving.  Thanks  be  to 
God  for  this  day;  that  light  has  now  come  out  from  darkness;  that  al' 
things  are  now  promising  a  future  of  peace  and  quietness  to  our  dis- 
tracted State.  Grant  that  this  voice  may  go  over  the  whole  land  until 
the  Ordinance  of  Emancipation  is  made  perfect  throughout  the  States. 
We  ask  it  through  the  name  of  our  dear  Lord  and  Redeemer.  Amen." 

The  intelligence  of  the  passage  of  this  ordinance  created 
the  wildest  enthusiasm  throughout  the  State.  When  the 
news  reached  the  Capital  at  Jefferson  City,  the  Legislature 
being  in  session,  such  was  the  joy  that  all  business  was  im- 
mediately suspended;  the  State  House  and  city  were  illumin- 
ated— speeches  were  made,  patriotic  songs  were  sung — not 
omitting  "  John  Brown."  Thus,  amidst  prayer,  thanksgiv- 
ging,  praise,  bonfires,  illuminations  and  music,  slavery  died, 
and  liberty  reigned  through  the  great  central  State  of  the 
Mississippi  valley. 

Maryland,  and  Missouri,  by  their  own  act,  through  the 
voice  and  votes  of  their  own  citizens,  became  regenerated 
and  disenthralled,  and  ready  to  enter  the  lists  in  generous 


END  OF   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BORDER  STATES.  517 

emulation  with  the  brotherhood  of  free  States.  All  felt  that 
the  action  of  these  States  was  decisive  of  the  fate  of  slavery, 
and  of  the  rebellion. 

When  to  them  were  added,  the  States  of  Tennessee,  Ark- 
ansas, and  Louisiana,  each  by  its  own  citizens,  abolishing 
slavery,  and  preparing  to  become  members  of  that  higher, 
nobler  National  unity,  based  on  liberty  to  all,  the  President 
saw,  the  dawn  of  that  brighter  day,  when  peace  and  harmony, 
unity  and  liberty  should  prevail  throughout  the  Republic. 
Kentucky  yet  withstood  the  advancing  tide  of  Christian  civil- 
ization. Like  a  dark  rock  in  the  ocean,  with  freedom  to  the 
North  of  her,  freedom  to  the  South  of  her,  and  freedom  to 
the  West  of  her,  she  yet  clung  to  slavery. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

GRANT'S  CAMPAIGN  OF  1864. 

GRANT  APPOINTED  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL — His  PLANS — THE  MIL- 
ITARY SITUATION — BANK'S  EXPEDITION  TO  RED  RIVER — MAS- 
SACRE AT  FORT  PILLOW — CONFEDERATE  WEAKNESS — THE  AR- 
MIES OF  GRANT  AND  LEE — BATTLES  OF  THE  WILDERNESS — 
SPOTTSYLVANIA — COLD  HARBOR,  &c — BUTLER'S  MOVEMENT  ON 
JAMES  RIVER — GRANT  CROSSES  THE  JAMES — MOVEMENTS  IN  THE 
VALLEY  OF  THE  SHENANDOAH — HUNTER'S  CAMPAIGN — PETERS- 
BURG INVESTED — THE  MINE  EXPLOSION — SHERIDAN  IN  THE 
SHENANDOAH — His  RIDE — His  VICTORIES. 

IT  is  necessary  again  to  return  to  the  fields  of  war.  March- 
es, battles,  carnages,  suffering,  desolation  and  death  were 
again  to  be  encountered  in  their  utmost  horror  before  the 
end  of  the  drama.  But  the  grand  result  was  no  longer  doubt- 
ful. The  intelligent  observer  felt  that  slavery  was  doomed, 
and  the  unity  of  the  Republic,  upon  the  basis  of  freedom, 
was  now  only  a  question  of  time.  "We  have  seen  that  the  cam- 
paign of  1863  had  been  crowned  with  the  fall  of  Vicksburg 
and  Port  Hudson,  and  the  victory  of  Gettysburg.  Still  Lee 
was  permitted  to  recover  from  his  defeat,  and  re-occupy  his 
former  lines. 

Immediately  on  the  opening  of  the  1st  session  of  the  38th 
Congress,  the  ever-faithful  Washburne,  desirous  that  the  great 
military  mind  which  had  crushed  the  enemy  in  the  center 
should  take  the  commanding  position  at  the  head  of  all  the 
armies  of  the  Republic,  introduced  and  carried  through  the 
bill,  creating  the  ofiice  of  Lieutenant  General.  The  Presi- 
dent on  the  22d  of  February  cordially  approved  the  act,  and 
sent  the  nomination  of  II.  S.  Grant  as  Lieutenant  General 
to  the  Senate  for  confirmation.  On  the  3d  of  March  the 

518 


GRANT   APPOINTED   LIEUTENANT   GENERAL.  519 

nomination  was  confirmed.  General  Grant  was  at  the  time 
in  command  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  President 
immediately  requested  his  presence  at  Washington.  .  Up  to 
this  time,  during  the  war,  General  Grant  had  not  visited  the 
Capital.  He  was  personally  unknown  to  the  President,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  most  of  the  members  of  Congress. 
The  appointment  found  him  at  his  post  of  duty,  and  with  a 
modesty  in  regard  to  himself,  and  a  generosity  towards  his 
most  trusted  Lieutenant,  General  Sherman,  beautiful  as  rare, 
he  expressed  the  opinion  that  Sherman  was  more  entitled  to 
the  position  than  himself.  He  arrived  at  Washington  on  the 
8th  of  March,  and  in  the  evening  attended  a  levee  at  the 
White  House,  which  he  entered  unannounced,  and  almost  a 
stranger.  He  was  instantly  recognized  by  the  President,  and 
the  Western  Soldier  never  received  a  more  cordial  welcome. 
As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  Grant  was  present,  the  pres- 
sure of  the  crowd  was  difficult  to  withstand  By  the  aid  of 
Secretary  Seward,  he  sheltered  himself  behind  a  sofa,  but 
the  crowd  was  so  eager  to  see  the  hero  of  Vicksburg,  that 
by  the  persuasion  of  the  Secretary  he  was  induced  to  mount 
the  sofa,  that  the  irrepressible  desire  to  see  him  might  be 
gratified.  He  remarked  to  the  President  when  parting, 
"  this  has  been  rather  the  warmest  campaign  I  have  witnessed 
during  the  war."  On  the  following  day  the  President  in 
person  presented  him  his  commission,  and.said  to  him  : 

"  GENERAL  GRANT  :  The  Nation's  appreciation  of  what  you  have 
done, -and  its  reliance  upon  you  for  what  remains  to  be  done  in  the  ex- 
isting great  struggle,  are  now  presented  with  this  commission,  consti- 
tuting you  Lieutenant  General  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States. 
With  this  high  honor,  devolves  upon  you  also,  a  corresponding  respon- 
sibility. As  the  country  herein  trusts  you,  so,  under  God,  it  will  sus- 
tain you.  I  scarcely  need  to  add,  that  with  what  I  here  speak  for  the 
nation,  goes  my  own  hearty  personal  concurrence. 

To  which  General  Grant  made  this  reply  : 

"  Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  I  accept  the  commission  with  gratitude  for  the 
high  honor  conferred.  With  the  aid  of  the  noble  armies  that  have 
fought  on  so  many  fields  for  our  common  country,  it  will  be  my  earnest 
endeavor  not  to  disappoint  your  expectations.  I  feel  the  full  weight 


520       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  the  responsibilities  now  devolving  on  me,  and  I  know  that  if  they  are 
met,  it  will  be  due  to  those  armies,  and  above  all  to  the  favor  of 
that  Providence  which  leads  both  Nations  and  men." 

After  visiting  the  army  of  the  Potomac  he  returned  to 
Washington,  and  after  an  interview  with  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  War  in  regard  to  his  plans,  prepared  to  leave 
for  the  West.  Mrs.  Lincoln  sharing  in  the  universal  grati- 
tude and  admiration  felt  for  him,  and  desirous  of  showing 
him  some  attention,  invited  him  to  meet  a  brilliant  party  of 
citizens  and  military,  at  dinner  that  evening.  He  received 
the  invitation  at  the  close  of  this  important  interview  with 
the  President.  The  General  said,  "  Mrs.  Lincoln  must  ex- 
cuse me.  I  must  be  in  Tennessee  at  a  given  time."  "  But 
we  can't  excuse  you,"  said  the  President.  "  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
dinner  without  you,  would  be  Hamlet  with  Hamlet  left  out." 
"  I  appreciate  the  honor  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  do  me,"  said 
the  General,  "  but  time  is  very  important  now, — and  really 
— Mr.  Lincoln,  I  have  had  enough  of  this  show  business." 
This  was  a  remark  Mr.  Lincoln  could  well  appreciate  and 
with  which  he  could  fully  sympathize.  General  Grant  went 
to  the  West  without  waiting  for  the  dinner. 

General  Sherman,  on  the  recommendation  of  General 
Grant,  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  military  divis- 
ion of  Mississippi,  composed  of  the  departments  of  the  Ohio, 
the  Cumberland,  the  Tennessee,  and  the  Arkansas.  Gen- 
eral J.  B.  McPherson  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
department  and  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 

General  Grant  on  the  17th  of  March  assumed  command 
of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and  announced  that  his 
headquarters  would  be  in  the  field,  and  until  further  orders, 
with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  From  this  time  there  was 
unity  of  purpose, — each  army  cooperating  and  acting  under 
one  far-seeing  executive  head.  From  this  time  on,  there  was 
energy  in  attack,  rapidity  in  pursuit,  and  everywhere  a  fit 
man,  in  the  fittest  place  for  him.  Grant  had  the  very  great 
advantage  of  having  subordinates  who  enjoyed  his  most  per- 
fect confidence,  and  who  reposed  the  most  perfect  faith  in 
him.  Henceforth  rivalries  and  jealousies  were,  to  a  great 


GRANT'S  PLANS.  521 

extent,  banished  from  the  armies  of  the  Republic.  Nothing 
had  given  Mr.  Lincoln  more  anxiety  and  trouble  than  the  ri- 
valries and  quarrels  among  Generals.  From  the  time  that 
Grant  assumed  command  as  Lieutenant  General,  this  annoy- 
ance to  a  great  extent  ceased.  "  Let  us  crush  the  rebellion" 
was  now  the  feeling.  Sherman  must  be  regarded  as  Grant's 
right  arm. 

The  plan  of  General  Grant's  campaign  is  thus  simply  and 
clearly  stated  by  himself. 

"  From  an  early  period  in  the  rebellion,  I  had  been  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  action  and  continuous  operations  of  all  the  troops  that 
could  be  brought  into  the  field,  regardless  of  season  and  weather,  were 
necessary  to  a  speedy  termination  of  the  war.  The  resources  of  the 
enemy  and  his  numerical  strength  were  far  inferior  to  ours ;  but  as  an 
offset  to  this,  we  had  a  vast  territory  with  a  population  hostile  to  the 
government,  to  garrison,  and  long  lines  of  river  and  railroad  commu- 
nications to  protect,  to  enable  us  to  supply  the  operating  armies. 

"  The  armies  in  the  East  and  West  acted  independently  and  without 
concert,  like  a  balky  team,  no  two  ever  pulling  together;  enabling  the 
enemy  to  use  to  a  great  advantage  his  interior  lines  of  communication 
for  transporting  troops  from  east  to  west,  re-enforcing  the  army  most 
vigorously  pressed,  and  to  furlough  large  numbers,  during  seasons  of 
inactivity  on  our  part,  to  go  to  their  homes  and  do  the  work  of  pro- 
ducing for  the  support  of  their  armies.  It  was  a  question,  whether  our 
numerical  strength  and  resources  were  not  more  than  balanced  by  these 
disadvantages  and  the  enemy's  superior  position. 

"  From  the  first  I  was  firm  in  the  conviction  that  no  peace  could  be 
had  that  would  be  stable  and  conducive  to  the  happiness  of  the  people, 
both  North  and  South,  until  the  military  power  of  the  rebellion  was 
entirely  broken.  I  therefore  determined,  first,  to  use  the  greatest 
number  of  troops  practicable  against  the  armed  force  of  the  enemy; 
preventing  him  from  using  the  same  force  at  different  seasons  against 
first  one  and  then  another  of  our  armies,  and  the  possibility  of  repose 
for  refitting  and  producing  necessary  supplies  for  carrying  on  resistance. 
Second,  to  hammer  continuously  against  the  armed  force  of  the  enemy 
and  his  resources,  until  by  mere  attrition,  if  in  no  other  way,  there 
should  be  nothing  left  to  him  but  an  equal  submission  with  the  loyal 
section  of  our  common  country  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
land." 


522       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

What  was   the  military  situation  when  Grant    assumed 
command  ? 

1.  The  army  of  the  Potomac,  under  General  Meade,  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Rapidan,  confronted  the  army  of  North- 
ern Virginia  under  General  Lee,  occupying  the  south  bank 
of  the  Rapidan.     General  Burnside  with  the  9th  corps  joined 
the  army  of  the  Potomac  on  the  9th  day  of  May  1864. 

2.  The  army  of  the  James,  under  Major  General   Butler, 
had  its  headquarters  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

3.  The  army  of  the  Shenandoah,was  under  General  Sigel, 
with  headquarters  at  Winchester. 

4.  General  Sherman's  command  consisted  of  the  army  of 
the  Cumberland,  under  General  Thomas ;    the  army  of  the 
Tennessee  under  General  McPherson ;  the  army  of  the  Ohio, 
under  General  Soofield  ; — in  all  about  100,000  men,  and  254 
guns.     The  aggregate  national  force  of  all  arms  was  970,710. 

The  following  constituted  the  chief  divisions  of  the  forces, 
which,  with  smaller  detachments,  made  up  the  aggregate: 

Department  of  Washington 42,124 

Army  of  the  Potomac 120,384 

Department  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 59,130 

Department  of  the  South 18,169 

Department  of  Arkansas 23,666 

Department  of  the  Gulf. 61,865 

Department  of  Tennessee 74,170 

Department  of  Missouri 15,775 

Department  of  the  Northwest 5,296 

Department  of  Kansas 4,798 

Headquarters  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi 476 

Department  of  the  Cumberland 119,948 

Department  of  the  Ohio 35,416 

Northern  Department 9,546 

Department  of  West  Virginia 30,782 

Department  of  the  East 2,828 

Department  of  the  Susquehanna , 2,970 

Middle  Department 5,627 

Ninth  Army  Corps 20,780 

653,750* 

*  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  p.  5  and  6, 1886. 


MASSACRE  OF  FORT  PILLOW.  523 

The  campaign  of  1864,  opened  with  a  movement  of  Gene- 
ral Banks  against  General  Kirby  Smith  on  Red  River.  A 
large  army  left  New  Orleans,  with  which  were  to  cooperate 
troops  from  Arkansas,  under  General  Steele,  and  others 
under  General  A.  J.  Smith,  with  a  large  naval  force  under 
Admiral  Porter.  General  Banks  reached  Alexandria  on  the 
20th  of  March,  1864.  It  is  proper  to  say  that  this  expedition 
of  General  Banks  was  planned  previous  to  General  Grant's  ap- 
pointment to  command.  As  General  Banks'  forces  advanced 
towards  Shreveport,  a  series  of  disasters  occurred  that  ended 
in  the  failure  of  the  expedition,  with  heavy  loss  of  men  and 
material.  While  this  expedition  was  in  progress,  and  in  the 
absence  of  troops  from  the  Mississippi,  several  raids  were 
made  by  the  rebel  General  Forrest. 

On  the  12th  of  April  an  attack  was  made  upon  Fort  Pillow, 
by  Morgan  and  Chalmers.  This  Fort  is  about  seventy  miles 
above  Memphis  on  the  Mississippi  River.  Its  garrison  con- 
sisted of  about  600  men,  of  which  nearly  one-half  were  co- 
lored troops,  under  command  of  Major  L.  F.  Booth.  The 
attack  was  made  in  the  morning,  and  the  garrison  gallantly 
held  the  Fort  until  the  afternoon.  Then  the  rebels,  while 
sending  a  flag  of  truce,  treacherously  took  advantage  of  it 
to  get  possession  of  a  ravine,  from  which  they  could,  with 
comparative  safety,  make  a  rush  into  the  Fort.  Immediately 
the  flag  was  withdrawn,  the  rebels  made  a  rush,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  into  the  Fort,  and  raised  the  cry  of  "  no 
quarter."  The  Union  troops  threw  down  their  arms  and 
sought  to  escape  by  running  down  the  bank.  The  scene 
which  followed,  the  facts  of  which  were  abundantly  proved 
before  a  committee  of  investigation  ordered  by  Congress, 
constitutes  one  of  those  black  pages  in  the  history  of  the 
slaveholder's  rebellion,  and  illustrates  the  barbarism  of 
slavery. 

"  The  rebels,"  say  the  committee,  "  commenced  an  indis- 
criminate slaughter —  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex,  white  or 
black,  soldier  or  civilian.  The  officers  and  men  seemed  to 
vie  with  each  other  in  the  devilish  work.  Men,  women,  and 
children  were  deliberately  shot  down  and  hacked  to  pieces 
with  sabres.  Children  under  ten  years  of  age  were  murdered. 


524       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

These  fiends,  nurtured  to  their  work  by  the  barbarities  of 
the  slave  system,  entered  the  hospitals  and  assassinated  the 
sick,  incapable  of  offering  resistance,  or  escape.  Everywhere 
was  heard  'no  quarter' — 'kill  the  damned  niggers.'  Men 
were  nailed  to  the  floors  and  sides  of  buildings,  and  then  the 
buildings  set  on  fire !  " 

These  facts,  and  others  equally  atrocious  are  deliberately 
stated  by  a  committee  of  Congress  who  visited  Fort  Pillow 
and  examined  witnesses.  The  rebel  reports  seek  to  extenuate 
the  atrocities,  by  declaring  that  the  Fort  was  taken  hy  storm, 
and  that  no  quarter  was  given  on  either  side — and  that  the 
rebels  were  exasperated  by  finding  their  slaves  in  arms 
against  them.  It  was  in  reference  to  this  massacre,  and  other 
barbarities  perpetrated  by  the  rebels,  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  the 
Baltimore  fair,  declared  that  "  retribution  "  should  be  had. 

The  campaign  in  Virginia  opened  on  the  4th  of  May.  By 
a  simultaneous  movement  the  army  of  the  Potomac  crossed 
the  Rapidan,  and  the  army  of  the  James  took  possession  of 
City  Point.  The  Rapidan  was  crossed  without  resistance, 
and  the  movement  upon  City  Point  took  the  enemy  by 
surprise. 

The  whole  country  looked  upon  this  campaign  with  the 
greatest  solicitude.  It  was  felt  that  it  would  be  decisive. 
Three  long,  bloody  years  of  indecisive  fighting  in  Virginia 
and  Maryland  had  gone,  and  now  when  Grant  reached  the 
camp,  he  found  the  two  veteran  and  highly  tempered  armies, 
grimly  and  proudly  confronting  each  other.  These  armies 
were  not  so  disproportionate  in  strength ;  but  Grant  had  this 
decisive  advantage.  The  resources  of  the  Confederates,  both 
in  men  and  material,  were  well  nigh  exhausted.  The  rebel 
recruits,  as  Grant  said,  "  were  made  up  of  old  men  and  boys. 
They  robbed  the  school  house  and  the  grave  to  fill  up  their 
ranks." 

The  measures  introduced  and  the  laws  passed  by  the  Con- 
federate Congress,  indicated  the  extremity  to  which  they  were 
reduced.  In  January  1864,  the  Congress  at  Richmond  enacted 
a  law,  that  each  person  exempted  from  the  draft,  should  devote 
himself  and  the  labor  he  controlled  to  the  production  of 
provisions  and  supplies.  That  these  should  be  contributed 


EEBELS  PROPOSE  TO  ARM  THEIR  SLAVES.  525 

for  the  use  of  the  army;  besides  the  tithes  required  by  law, 
an  additional  tenth  of  all  the  bacon  and  pork  produced;  and 
the  supplies  should  be  sold  for  the  army  and  the  families  of 
soldiers,  at  prices  to  be  fixed  by  Congress. 

Mr.  Brown  of  Mississippi,  proposed  strengthening  the 
slaveholders  army,  by  declaring  that  every  white  male  person 
residing  in  the  Confederate  States,  and  capable  of  bearing 
arms,  should  be  in  the  military  service.  He  proposed  to  take 
all ;  to  make  but  one  inquiry,  "  is  he  capable  of  bearing  arms." 
The  Confederates  were  reduced  to  such  extremity  that  in 
February,  the  proposition  was  discussed  of  the  employment 
of  free  negroes  and  slaves  in  their  armies. 

There  also  began  to  appear  some  indications  of  a  wish  for 
peace  on  the  part  of  the  Confederates.  Mr.  Leach  of  North 
Carolina,  said  in  the  Confederate  Congress,  "  I  am  for  peace, 
on  the  basis  of  the  independence  of  the  South,  if  it  can  be 
obtained,  but,  if  not,  I  am  for  peace  on  the  best  terms  we 
can  get,  short  of  subjugation,"  and  others  sympathized  in 
these  views. 

A  bill  passed  the  Confederate  Congress  authorizing  the 
employment  of  slaves  as  soldiers.  It  was  upon  the  discus- 
sion of  this  bill,  that  Mr.  Hunter  of  Virginia  made  these 
significant  statements  and  admissions  : 

"  When  we  left  the  old  Government  we  thought  we  had  got  rid  for- 
ever of  the  slavery  agitation;  but,  to  my  surprise,  I  find  that  this  (the 
Confederate)  Government  assumes  the  power  to  arm  the  slaves,  which 
involves  also  the  power  of  emancipation.  This  proposition,  would  he 
regarded  as  a  confession  of  despair.  If  we  are  right  in  passing  this 
measure,  we  were  wrong  in  denying  to  the  old  Government  the  right  to 
interfere  with  slavery  and  to  emancipate  slaves.  If  we  ofier  the  slaves 
their  freedom  as  a  boon,  we  confess  that  we  are  insincere  and  hypo- 
critical in  saying  slavery  was  the  best  state  for  the  negroes  themselves. 
I  believe  that  the  arming  and  emancipating  the  slaves  will  be  an 
abandonment  of  the  contest." 

He  then  said: 

"  To  arm  the  negroes  is  to  give  them  freedom.  When  they  come  out 
scarred  from  this  conflict,  they  must  be  free. 


526       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Thus  the  necessities  of  the  war,  brought  the  United  States 
and  the  rebels  to  a  common  ground,  that  of  arming  and 
emancipating  the  negroes. 

There  was  no  apparent  diminution  in  the  military  resources 
of  the  North.  Men  swarmed  in  Northern  towns  and  cities, 
and  labor,  though  commanding  high  wages,  could  be  readily 
obtained.  Each  army  was  in  high  spirits.  Each  could  look 
upon  the  long  lists  of  victories  inscribed  upon  its  battle-flags, 
and  receive  inspiration  from  the  achievements  of  the  past. 
While  Lee  and  his  army  could  look  back  with  pride  to  the 
days  when  they  drove  McClellan  to  the  shelter  of  his  gun- 
boats, and  crushed  Pope  with  overwhelming  numbers — to 
the  days  when  Burn  side,  with  his  decimated  ranks,  was 
driven  back  across  the  Rappahannock;  while  they  could  re- 
call Chancellorville  with  its  fearful  slaughter,  and  recount 
the  story  of  many  a  brilliant  dash  and  charge;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Union  army  could  recall  with  heroic  pride  their 
splendid  fighting  during  all  McClellan's  campaign  —  the 
bloody  day  of  Malvern  Hill,  the  victories  of  South  Mountain 
and  Antietam,  and  the  glorious  three  days  fight  and  splendid 
triumph  of  Gettysburg.  Each  of  these  two  armies  had  a 
proud  record.  Nearly  everywhere  outside  of  Virginia,  the 
Union  troops  had  been  victorious.  Every  one  felt  that  the 
army  of  Northern  Virginia  carried  upon  its  standards  the 
fate  of  the  Confederacy,  and  now  there  came  from  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  the  brilliant,  and  hitherto  invincible  hero 
of  the  Northwest,  to  test  his  genius  and  his  fortunes  against 
the  great  leader  of  the  rebellion.  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  forth 
Grant  upon  this  struggle,  which  all  knew  would  be  desperate, 
and  hoped  would  be  decisive,  with  strong  confidence  in  his 
success;  his  last  words  to  him  were,  "  and  now  with  a  brave 
army  and  a  just  cause,  may  God  sustain  you." 

The  crisis  evidently  approached,  and  both  armies  nerved 
themselves  for  the  struggle  which  was  believed  would  be  de- 
cisive. The  army  of  the  Potomac  was- under  the  immediate 
command  of  Meade,  who,  although  not  a  brilliant,  was  a 
safe,  a  prudent,  and  a  good  soldier.  It  consisted  at  this  time 
of  three  corps.  The  second  under  General  Hancock ;  the 


ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC.  527 

Fifth,  commanded  by  General  Warren,  and  the  Sixth,  under 
General  Sedgwick. 

Hancock  was  one  of  Nature's  noblemen.  Physically,  the 
model  of  a  hero.  He  had  that  fine,  martial  bearing ;  that 
personal  gallantry  and  magnetism,  which  made  him  the  idol 
of  his  troops.  Hancock's  appearance  upon  the  field,  never 
failed  to  rally  a  broken  column,  and  he  could  lead  his  men 
into  the  very  jaws  of  death. 

Warren  possessed  a  rapid,  clear,  fine  intellect;  quick  in 
his  perceptions,  with  great  capacity  for  work,  full  of  energy 
and  activity — he  was  a  most  valuable  aid. 

Sedgwick  was  a  most  able,  experienced,  reliable,  steadfast 
soldier;  perfectly  certain  to  do  his  whole  duty  wherever 
placed.  Under  these  were  a  host  of  able  and  experienced 
soldiers,  whose  names  will  live  in  history.  Among  them 
were  Griffin,  and  Ricketts  and  Ayres,  and  .Crawford,  and 
Wadsworth,  and  Hayes,  andBirney,  and  "Wright,  andShaler, 
and  Getty,  and  Barlow,  and  many  others. 

The  Union  cavalry  had  become  equal  to  any  in  the  world. 
It  was  under  the  command  of  Major  General  Philip  H.  Sher- 
idan, who  was,  take  him  altogether,  the  finest  cavalry  officer 
produced  by  the  war, — perhaps  he  has  never  had  a  superior 
in  any  age 

The  troops  of  Grant  at  midnight  on  the  3d  of  March  began 
their  movement,  and  before  the  sun  went  down  on  the  4th, 
the  whole  army  was  across  the  Rapidan.  Lee  boldly  deter- 
mined to  strike  Grant  on  the  flank  before  he  got  through  the 
wilderness  which  skirted  the  river,  and  before  he  emerged 
into  the  open  country.  Early  on  the  5th,  Warren  and  the 
Confederates  met  and  engaged,  and  the  fight  raged  furiously 
all  day ;  the  whole  army  being  brought  into  the  fight  as  fast 
as  the  different  corps  could  be  brought  to  the  field.  By  six 
o'clock  the  morning  of  the  6th,  Burnside  led  his  corps  into 
action  ;  some  of  his  troops  having  a  distance  of  thirty  miles 
to  march,  crossing  both  the  Rappahannock  and  the  Rapidan 
rivers.  Such  was  the  patriotic  ardor  with  which  this  consci- 
entious soldier,  regardless  of  his  former  rank,  supported  the 
Lieutenant  General.  All  day  long  of  the  6th,  the  battle  of 
the  Wilderness  raged  with  unabated  fury,  until  the  darkness 


528  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  the  night,  added  to  the  obscurity  and  gloom  of  the  tan 
gled  wilderness,  put  an  end  to  the  conflict.  On  the  morning 
of  the  7th  it  was  found  that  the  enemy  had  fallen  back  with- 
in his  intrenched  lines.  Among  the  losses  of  this  fearfu* 
battle  was  Major  General  Wadsworth,  whose  generous  patri- 
otism, indomitable  courage,  and  high  personal  character 
left  no  superior.  The  battles  of  the  Wilderness  were  more 
a  trial  of  strength  and  endurance,  than  of  maneuvering.  In 
the  gloomy  depths  of  these  forests  there  fell  many  a 
hero  who  had  no  spectator  or  chronicler  of  his  heroism. 
On  the  7th,  General  Grant  commenced  to  move  by  the  right 
flank  of  the  enemy  towards  Spotsylvania  Court  House.  Lee 
being  apprised  of  the  movement,  and  having  the  shorter  line, 
reached  there  first.  On  the  9th,  Sheridan  started  on  a  raid 
against  the  rebel  line  of  communications  with  Richmond. 
The  two  armies  spent  the  9th  10th,  and  llth  in  maneuvering, 
entrenching  and  fighting  without  decisive  results.  It  was  on 
the  llth  that  Grant  sent  the  dispatch  to  Washington,  in 
which,  after  speaking  of  the  terrible  six  days  fighting,  he 
said  "  our  losses  have  been  heavy  as  well  as  those  of  the  en- 
emy, and  I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all 
summer."  On  the  morning  of  the  12th  a  general  assault  was 
made  upon  the  enemy  in  position.  Hancock  carried  a  portion 
of  their  works,  capturing  most  of  Johnson's  division  of 
EwelPs  corps,  and  twenty  pieces  of  artillery,  but  the  resis- 
tance from  the  second  line  was  so  obstinate  that  the  advan- 
tage did  not  prove  a  success.  From  the  12th  to  the  21st  no 
decisive  battle  was  fought,  but  there  was  constant  maneuver- 
ing and  fighting.  On  the  night  of  the  21st,  another  flank 
movement  by  the  Union  army  towards  the  North  Anna  was 
begun.  The  enemy  having  the  shorter  line  and  being  in  pos- 
session of  the  main  roads  reached  there  first.  An  idea  of 
the  terrible  fighting  in  this  campaign  may  be  gathered  from 
the  fact  stated  by  General  Meade,  that  the  killed,  wounded 
and  missing,  from  the  5th  to  the  12th  of  May  were  29,410. 
The  kind  hearted  President,  who  never  for  a  moment  forgot 
the  soldiers,  saw  the  lines  of  ambulances  moving  from  the 
Potomac  to  the  numerous  hospitals  at  Washington — ambu- 
lances miles  in  length,  and  as  they  moved  slowly  and  sadly 


BUTLER'S  OPERATIONS.  529 

forward  his  carriage  could  often  be  seen  driving  along  the 
line,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln,  speaking  kind,  cheering 
words,  and  endeavoring  to  supply  their  every  want  and  need. 

During  these  days  of  terrible  battle  and  slaughter,  the  face 
of  the  President  was  grave,  and  thoughtful.  On  one  occa- 
sion, after  one  of  these  fearfully  expensive  battles  he  said  : 
"  This  sacrifice  of  life  is  dreadful,  but  the  Almighty  has  not 
forsaken  me,  nor  the  country,  and  we  shall  surely  succeed." 
The  terrible  destruction  and  waste  by  battle  of  the  army, 
made  it  necessary  to  reinforce  continually.  Washington, 
was  stripped  of  troops  to  send  to  the  army  of  the  Potomac. 

Fortunately  on  the  21st  of  April,  the  Governors  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois  and  Iowa,  in  view  of  the  opening  campaigns, 
tendered  to  the  President  100,000  men  for  one  hundred  days. 
These  were  raised,  went  into  forts  and  garrisons,  and  re- 
lieved the  veterans,  who  were  sent  to  Grant,  and  many  of 
these  hundred  day  men  were  also  sent  to  the  front  and  did 
good  service  there. 

General  Sheridan  on  the  25th  joined  the  army  of  the  Poto- 
tomac,  from  the  raid  on  which  he  started  from  Spotsylvania, 
having  destroyed  the  depots  at  Beaver  Dam  and  Ashland , 
trains  of  cars,  supplies,  railroad  tracks,  and  retaken  400 
prisoners  on  their  way  to  Richmond ;  defeated  the  rebel  caval- 
ry at  Yellow  Tavern  and  carried  a  portion  of  the  first  line 
of  the  defensive  works  around  Richmond. 

On  the  5th  General  Butler  occupied  without  opposition, 
City  Point  and  Bermuda  Hundred,  General  Gilmore  hav- 
ing on  the  4th  of  May  joined  him  with  the  10th  corps.  On 
the  9th  General  Butler  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of  War : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  NEAR  BERMUDA  LANDING,  May  9th,  1864- 
(( Our  operations  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words.  With  1,700 
cavalry  we  have  advanced  up  the  Peninsula,  forced  the  Chickahominy, 
and  have  safely  brought  them  to  our  present  position.  These  were  col- 
ored cavalry,  and  are  now  holding  our  advance  pickets  towards  Kich- 
mond.  General  Kautz  with  three  thousand  cavalry  from  Suffolk,  on 
the  same  day  with  our  movement  up  James  river,  forced  the  Blackwater, 
burned  the  railroad  bridge  at  Stony  Creek  below  Petersburg,  cutting  in 
two  Beauregard's  force  at  that  point. 

"We  have  landed  here,  entrenched  ourselves,  destroyed  many  miles 
34 


530        LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  railroad,  and  got  a  position  which  with  proper  supplies  we  can  hold 
out  against  the  whole  of  Lee's  army.     I  have  ordered  up  the  supplies. 

"  Beauregard  with  a  large  portion  of  his  force  was  left  south  by  the 
cutting  of  the  railroads  by  Kautz.  That  portion  which  reached  Pet- 
ersburg under  Hill  I  have  whipped  to-day,  killing  and  wounding  many, 
and  taking  many  prisoners,  after  a  severe  and  well  contested  fight. 

"  General  Grant  will  not  be  troubled  with  any  further  re-enforcements 
to  Lee  from  Beauregard's  force. 

"BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER 

"  Major  Geueral. 

"To  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

On  the  16th  the  enemy  attacked  Butler,  and  he  was  forced 
back  into  his  intrenchments  between  the  forks  of  the  James 
and  Appomatox,  and  the  enemy  intrenching  in  his  front, 
thus  covered  these  railroads  and  the  city.  His  army 
therefore,  though  in  a  secure  position,  was  held  at  bay  and 
prevented  from  operating  against  Richmond.  Butler  being 
as  General  Grant  says  "  sealed  up,"  the  re-enforcements 
brought  from  the  South  by  Beauregard  were  sent  to  co- 
operate with  Lee's  army  against  the  army  of  the  Potomac. 
The  position  at  Bermuda  Hundred  being  easy  to  defend, 
General  Grant  ordered  General  W.  F.  Smith  to  join  the 
forces  north  of  the  James.  On  the  26th  Grant  made  an- 
other movement  to  turn  the  enemy's  position  by  his  right 
flank.  On  the  29th  and  30th  there  was  skirmishing  and 
fighting.  On  the  first  of  June  an  attack  was  made  at  Coal 
Harbor,  by  which  the  enemy's  first  line  was  carried  and  held. 
They  made  repeated  attempts  to  recover  their  line,  but 
were  repulsed  with  great  loss.  On  the  3d  another  terrific  but 
unavailing  assault  was  made  upon  the  rebels,  but  which  was 
repulsed  with  very  severe  loss  to  the  Union  army.  Grant 
thereupon  after  surveying  the  whole  ground,  determined  to 
move  his  army  to  the  South  of  the  James.  General  Grant 
says  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  North 
Anna,  and  Coal  Harbor,  bloody  and  terrific  as  they  were  on 
our  side,  were  even  more  damaging  to  the  enemy,  and  so 
crippled  him  as  to  make  him  wary  ever  after  of  taking  the 
offensive.  His  loss  in  men  were  probably  not  so  great  as 
ours,  owing  to  the  fact  that  we  were,  save  in  the  Wilderness, 


OPERATIONS   IN  THE   SHENANDOAH.  531 

almost  invariably  the  attacking  party,  and  when  he  did  at- 
tack it  was  in  the  open  field.  These  long  months  of  battles 
tested  the  endurance  and  manhood  of  the  two  armies,  and 
both  stood  to  it  like  heroes.  Resolute  purpose,  and  unflinch- 
ing courage  were  never  more  strikingly  exhibited.  Lee  had 
warded  off  Grant's  blows  and  he  was  now  to  cross  the  James. 
Richmond  was  still  secure,  but  the  inflexible  Grant  had  no 
more  idea  of  failure — no  more  doubt  of  final  success,  than 
when  he  turned  his  boats  down  the  Mississippi  to  run  the 
frowning  batteries  of  Vicksburg.  On  the  10th  of  June  an 
attempt  was  made  by  Butler  with  a  force  of  infantry  under 
General  Gilmore,  and  of  cavalry  under  General  Kautz  to  cap- 
ture Petersburg  and  destroy  the  railroads  and  bridges  across 
the  Appomattox.  The  cavalry  under  General  Kautz  carried 
the  works  on  the  South  side  of  Petersburg,  and  penetrated 
well  in  towards  the  town,  but  were  forced  to  retire.  Gilmore 
finding  the  works  strong  returned  without  attempting  an  as- 
sault. Thereupon  General  Grant  sent  General  Smith  to  re- 
new the  attempt  to  capture  Petersburg  before  the  enemy- 
could  reinforce  the  place. 

Meanwhile  General  Sigel  moved  up  the  Shenandoah  Val- 
ley, forming  a  junction  with  General  Crook,  and  on  the  15th 
met  the  enemy  at  New  Market,  and  after  a  severe  engage- 
ment, and  a  gallant  resistance  on  our  part,  was  compelled  to 
return  across  Cedar  Creek.  General  David  Hunter  relieved 
General  Sigel,  with  instructions  to  go  up  the  Valley  to  Char- 
lottsville  and  Lynchburg  if  possible,  living  on  the  country. 
He  was  instructed  to  destroy  the  railroads  and  canal  beyond 
the  possibility  of  repairs  for  weeks.  Then  Hunter  was 
directed  to  find  his  way  back  to  his  original  base,  and  join  the 
army  of  the  Potomac  from  about  Gordonsville.  Hunter, 
with  great  energy  started  up  the  Valley,  and  on  the  5th  of 
June  he  met  the  rebels  at  Piedmont,  and  after  a  battle  of 
ten  hours  defeated  and  routed  them,  capturing  upon  the  field 
1,500  men,  three  pieces  of  artillery,  and  300  stands  of  small 
arms.  From  thence,  forming  a  junction  with  Crook  and 
Averill  he  marched  on  Lynchburg,  which  he  reached  and  in- 
vested on  the  16th  of  June.  Up  to  this  time  his  campaign 
had  been  a  complete  success,  and  but  .for  the  difficulty  of 
taking  through  a  hostile  country  and  over  so  long  a  march, 


532  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

sufficient  ordnance  stores,  he  would  have  captured 
Lynchburg.  As  it  was,  he  went  further  up  the  Valley  than  any 
force  which  preceded  or  followed  him,  and  he  rendered  great 
service  in  destroying  the  enemies  supplies  and  manufactures. 
To  meet  the  threatening  movement  of  Hunter,  Lee  sent  a 
large  force  from  Richmond,  which  reached  Lynchburg  ahout 
the  same  time  with  Hunter,  who  was  compelled,  for  want  of 
ammunition  to  retire.  His  want  of  ammunition  compelled 
his  retreat  by  way  of  Kanawha.  This  placed  the  troops  of 
Hunter  in  a  position  that  they  could  not  cover  Washington. 
Availing  himself  of  the  exposed  condition  of  the  Capital,  the 
enemy  sent  large  detachments  from  their  army  at  Richmond, 
which  with  the  troops  already  in  the  Valley  under  Early  and 
Breckinridge,  moved  down  the  Shenandoah,  threatening  Bal- 
timore and  Washington.  Their  advance  was  checked  at  Mon- 
ocacy  by  the  Union  troops  under  General  Lew.  Wallace  and 
a  part  of  the  Sixth  corps  under  General  Ricketts.  Still  the 
enemy  continued  to  advance  until  they  met  the  intrench- 
ments  about  Washington.  In  the  neighborhood  they  plun- 
dered and  burned,  destroying  among  other  things  the 
fine  country  house  near  Silver  Springs,  of  Montgomery  Blair, 
Postmaster  General.  But  they  were  met  by  the  6th  corps 
under  General  Wright,  a  part  of  the  8th  corps  under  Gil- 
more,  and  the  12th  corps  under  General  Emery.  By  these 
forces  the  enemy  was  driven  back  and  retreated,  hardly  press- 
ed by  General  Wright. 

Returning  to  the  army  of  the  Potomac ;  on  the  15th,  Gen- 
eral Grant  visited  Bermuda  Hundred,  and  instructed  General 
Butler  to  send  General  Smith,  with  all  the  troops  he  could 
spare  to  take  possession  of  Petersburg,  while  he  would  return 
to  the  North  side  of  the  James,  hasten  the  crossing  of  the  army 
of  the  Potomac,  and  throw  it  forward  to  Petersburg  as  rapid- 
ly as  possible.  Grant  left  with  the  confident  expectation  that 
Smith  would  go  into  Petersburg  that  night.  Smith's  left  con- 
fronted the  enemy's  pickets  before  day-light,  but  did  not  get 
ready  to  assault  his  lines  until  near  sundown.  Then  he  car- 
ried the  lines  upon  the  Appomatox  for  two  and  a  half  miles, 
capturing  15  pieces  of  artillery  and  300  prisoners.  There 
were  no  other  works  between  his  troops  and  Petersburg. 
The  night  was  calm,  the  moon  shining  brightly.  Hancock 


PETERSBURG   INVESTED.  533 

coming  up  with  two  divisions,  reached  Smith  just  after  dark, 
and  offered  the  aid  of  his  troops,  waiving  his  rank,  as  he  nat- 
urally supposed  Smith  best  knew  the  ground,  and  what  to 
do.  No  further  assault  was  made.  In  the  morning  Grant 
arrived,  but  in  the  meantime  the  enemy  had  reached  Peters- 
burg in  force.  Had  Sheridan  commanded  in  place  of  Smith, 
the  Union  flag  would  no  doubt  have  been  found  waving  over 
Petersburg.  However,  the  lines  of  the  enemy  were  attacked, 
artillery  and  prisoners  taken,  and  he  was  driven  into  an 
interior  line,  which  was  held;  and  now  commenced  the 
long,  bloody  siege  of  Petersburg. 

This  city  is  twenty-two  miles  south  from  Richmond,  and 
protected  the  communications  by  which  the  rebel  Capital 
was  supplied.  It  might  possibly  have  been  captured  by  a 
vigorous  assault  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  June.  Every 
hour's  delay,  however,  enabled  the  Confederates  to  strengthen, 
their  lines,  and  these  soon  became  too  strong  to  be  carried 
by  assault.  General  Grant  gradually  extended  his  lines  south, 
with  a  view  of  cutting  the  railroads  by  which  Lee's  army 
and  the  Capital  were  supplied. 

In  front  of  General  Burnside  was  an  angle  in  the  enemy's 
lines,  covered  by  a  Fort,  from  which  his  line  was  not  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  distant.  Burnside  conceived 
the  design,  and  formed  the  resolve  of  mining  the  Fort,  and 
the  plan,  although  suspected  by  the  enemy  was  successfully 
accomplished  without  discovery.  General  Grant  took  advant- 
age of  the  weakening  of  the  rebel  lines,  caused  by  their  send- 
ing troops  north  of  the  James  to  repel  an  attack,  to  explode 
the  mine.  On  the  evening  of  the  30th  of  July,  between  4  and 
5  o'clock,  the  mine  was  sprung,  blowing  up  a  battery  and  the 
greater  part  of  a  regiment.  The  advance  of  the  assaulting 
column  formed  of  the  Ninth  Corps,  immediately  took  posses- 
sion of  the  crater  made  by  the  explosion,  and  the  Confederate 
line  for  some  distance  to  the  right  and  left  of  it.  Nothing 
now  was  in  the  way  to  prevent  a  march  directly  into  Peters- 
burg. Had  there  been  cooperation  and  an  immediate  advance, 
Petersburg,  would  have  been  taken.  Not  being  properly 
supported  the  column  failed  to  advance;  and  taking  shelter 
for  a  while  in  the  crater,  thus  giving  time  for  the  enemy  to 


534      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

rally,  the  Union  forces  were  ultimately  forced  back  with  great 
slaughter.  Fifteen  hundred  men  in  grey  and  blue,  found 
their  graves  within  the  crater  formed  by  the  explosion.* 

On  the  7th  of  August,  General  Sheridan  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  Department  of  Washington  and  the  She- 
nandoah,  and  the  army  under  his  command  was  strengthened. 
The  rebel  army  under  Early  was  encamped  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Opequon  Creek,  and  the  Union  army  under  Sheridan 
in  front  of  Berryville.  So  disastrous  would  have  been  a  de- 
feat to  the  Union  cause,  laying  open  to  the  enemy,  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad, 
that  General  Grant  hesitated  in  allowing  the  impetuous,  con- 
fident, and  yet  careful  Sheridan  to  make  an  attack.  On  the 
15th  of  September,  Grant  visited  Sheridan,  and  became  so 
well  satisfied  of  his  ability  to  whip  the  enemy,  that  he  says, 
"  I  saw  there  were  but  two  words  of  instructions  necessary : 

<Goin!"'t 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  September,  Sheridan 
attacked  Early,  and  after  a  bloody  battle  lasting  until  5  P.  M., 
he  defeated  him,  capturing  several  thousand  prisoners,  and 
five  pices  of  artillery.  He  pursued  Early  to  the  passes  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  and  destroying  the  Virginia  Central 
Railroad,  returned  and  took  position  behind  Cedar  Creek, 
near  Strasburg.  In  marching  back  General  Sheridan  says, 
"  the  whole  country  from  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the  North 
Mountain  has  been  made  entirely  untenable  for  a  rebel 
army." 

Early  having  been  reenforced,  again  returned  to  the  Valley, 
and  on  the  9th  of  October,  there  was  an  encounter  between 
his  and  Sheridan's  Cavalry  in  which  the  rebels  were  defeated 
with  the  loss  of  eleven  pieces  of  artillery  and  350  prisoners. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  October,  Early,  under  cover 
of  darkness  and  fog,  crossed  the  mountains,  surprised  (in  the 
absence  of  Sheridan,)  and  turned  the  left  flank  of  his  army, 

*"  For  some  cause,  the  assaulting  column  failed  to  advance  promptly  to  the  ridge 
beyond.  Had  they  done  this,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  Petersburg  would 
have  fallen.  Thus  terminated  in  disaster  what  promised  to  be  the  most  successful 
assault  of  the  campaign." —  Orant's  Report,  p.  U. 

t  Orant's  Report,  p.  17. 


SHERIDAN  IN  THE  SHENANDOAH.  535 

capturing  batteries  which  enfiladed  the  whole  Union  line. 
The  Union  troops  fell  back  with  heavy  loss  and  in  confusion; 
but  were  finally  rallied  between  Middletown  and  Newtown. 
At  this  juncture,  Sheridan,  who  had  been  at  Winchester  and 
there  heard  the  heavy  firing,  came  forward  at  full  speed, 
and  arrived  upon  the  field.*  His  presence  inspired  his 
troops  with  fresh  courage  and  enthusiasm.  Passing  rapidly 
along  the  line  where  his  soldiers  could  see  him,  his  presence 
was  equal  to  a  reenforment  of  thousands  of  troops.  He  ar- 
ranged his  lines  just  in  time  to  repulse  a  heavy  attack  of  the 
enemy.  Immediately  assuming  the  offensive,  he  attacked 
with  great  vigor,  defeating  the  enemy  with  great  slaughter, 
retaking  the  guns  and  prisoners  captured  by  Early,  and  cap- 
turing most  of  his  artillery.  The  wreck  of  Early'a  army  es- 
caped during  the  night.  Thus  ended  the  war  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Shenandoah.  No  further  attempt  to  menace  Washing- 
ton and  Baltimore,  nor  to  invade  the  North  through  this 
valley  was  ever  afterwards  made. 

*  This  ride  of  Sheridan  to  the  field  was  the  occasion  of  an  ode,  certainly  one 
of  the  most  spirited  of  the  war,  written  by  Thomas  Buchanan  Bead,  from  which  I 
extract  the  following : 

SHERIDAN'S  BIDE. 

Up  from  the  South  at  break  of  day, 
Bringing  to  Winchester  fresh  dismay, 
The  affrighted  air  with  a  shudder  bore, 
Like  a  Herald  in  haste  to  the  Chieftain's  door, 
The  terrible  grumble  and  rumble  and  roar, 
Telling  the  battle  was  on  once  more, 
And  Sheridan  twenty  miles  away ! 
*  *  * 

But  there  is  a  road  from  Winchester  town, 
A  good,  broad  highway  leading  down  ; 
And  there,  through  the  flush  of  morning  light, 
A  steed,  as  black  as  the  steeds  of  night, 
Was  seen  to  pass  as  with  eagle's  flight  — 
As  if  he  knew  the  terrible  need, 
He  stretched  away  with  his  utmost  speed ; 
Hills  rose  and  fell— 
But  his  heart  was  gay, 
With  Sheridan  fifteen  miles  away. 

Still  sprung  from  those  swift  hoofs,  thundering  south, 

The  dust,  like  the  smoke  from  the  cannon's  mouth, 

Or  the  trail  of  a  comet,  sweeping  faster  and  faster, 

Foreboding  to  traitors  the  doom  of  disaster : 

The  heart  of  the  steed  and  the  heart  of  the  master 

Were  beating  like  prisoners  assaulting  their  walls, 

Impatient  to  be  where  the  battle-fleld  calls ; 

Every  nerve  of  the  charger  was  strained  to  full  play, 

With  Sheridan  only  ten  miles  away. 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  Of  SLAVERY. 

General  Grant  pressed  the  enemy  in  Petersburg.  He 
gradually  extended  his  lines  south  and  west,  seeking  to  cut 
the  railroads  from  that  direction.  On  the  29th  of  September, 
Major  General  Ord  landed  north  of  the  James,  and  captured 
Fort  Harrison  and  fifteen  pieces  of  artillery.  During  the 
autumn,  the  vast  armies  of  Grant  and  Lee,  lay  opposite  each 
other  in  their  lines  around  Petersburg,  with  frequent  skir- 
mishes and  often  severe  battles,  but  with  no  decisive  results. 
Cavalry  raids  and  other  means  for  interrupting  the  enemy's 
lines  of  communications  and  such  demonstrations  as  would 
prevent  the  rebels  from  detaching  his  forces  to  any  other 
point,  constituted  the  principal  operations  of  the  army  of 
General  Grant. 

The  enemy's  resources  were  being  rapidly  exhausted.  The 
loyal  States  were  filling  up  a  call  made  by  the  President  on 

Under  his  spurning  feet  the  road 

Like  an  arrowy  Alpine  River  flowed, 

And  the  landscape  sped  away  behind 

Like  an  ocean  flying  before  the  wind ; 

And  the  steed  like  a  bark  fed  with  furnace  ire, 

Swept  on  with  his  wild  eyes  full  of  fire. 

But  lo!  he  is  nearing  his  heart's  desire  — 

He  is  snufling  the  smoke  of  the  roaring  fray, 

With  Sheridan  only  five  miles  away. 

The  first  that  the  General  saw  were  the  groups 

Of  stragglers,  and  then  the  retreating  troops ; 

What  was  done  — what  to  do  — a  glance  told  him  both, 

Then  striking  his  spurs  with  a  terrible  oath 

He  dashed  down  the  line  'mid  a  storm  of  huzzas 

And  the  wave  of  retreat  checked  its  course  there,  because 

The  sight  of  the  master  compelled  it  to  pause. 

With  foam  and  with  dust  the  black  charger  was  gray; 

By  the  flash  of  his  eye  and  his  red  nostrils'  play 

He  seemed  to  the  whole  great  army  to  say, 

I  have  brought  you  Sheridan  all  the  way 

From  Winchester  down  to  save  the  day. 

Hurrah !  hurrah  for  Sheridan ! 
Hurrah !  hurrah  for  horse  and  man ! 
And  when  their  statues  are  placed  on  high 
Under  the  dome  of  the  Union  sky, 
The  American  soldier's  Temple  of  Fame- 
There  with  the  glorious  General's  name, 
Be  it  said  in  letters  both  bold  and  bright 
Here  is  the  steed  that  saved  the  day! 
By  carrying  Sheridan  into  the  fight 
From  Winchester  twenty  miles  away. 


GRANT  URGES  THE  FILLING  UP  THE  RANKS.       537 

the  18th  of  July,  for  500,000  men.  General  Grant,  on  the 
13th  of  September,  1864,  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of 
War: 

"  We  ought  to  have  the  whole  number  of  men  called  for  hy  the  Pres- 
ident, in  the  shortest  possible  time.  Prompt  action  in  filling  up  our 
armies  will  have  more  effect  upon  the  enemy  than  a  victory  over  them. 
They  profess  to  believe  the  draft  cannot  be  enforced.  Let  them  be 
undeceived." 


CHAPTER   XXIY. 


SHERMAN'S  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN,  AND  GRAND  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA. 

SHERMAN'S  ADVANCE  ON  ATLANTA — BISHOP  POLK  KILLED— Mo- 
PHERSON  KILLED — SHERMAN  TAKES  ATLANTA — CORRESPONDENCE 
BETWEEN  SHERMAN  AND  HOOD,  AND  SHERMAN  AND  THE  MAYOR 
OF  ATLANTA — HOOD'S  ARMY  MARCHES  NORTH,  AND  is  DEFEAT- 
ED AT  NASHVILLE — SHERMAN'S  GRAND  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA — 
HE  TAKES  FORT  MCALLISTER,  AND  SAVANNAH — THE  ALABAMA 
— MOBILE  CAPTURED — THE  NIAGARA  FALLS  CONFERENCE — THE 
PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION. 

p  E^TERAL  William  T.  Sherman  began  his  brilliant  cam- 
^Jl  paign  against  Atlanta  in  the  middle  of  May  1864.  To  reach 
that  objective  point  he  was  compelled  to  pass  from  the  north  to 
the  centre  of  the  great  State  of  Georgia,  forcing  his  difficult 
path  "  through  mountain  denies  and  across  great  rivers,  over- 
coming or  turning  formidable  entrenched  positions  defended 
by  a  veteran  army,  commanded  by  a  cautious  and  skillful  com- 
mander. The  campaign  opened  on  the  6th  of  May,  and  on 
the  2d  of  September,  the  Union  forces,  entered  Atlanta." 

General  Sherman,  in  his  own  nervous  language,  describes 
his  campaign  in  his  Field  Order  No.  68,  dated  Atlanta, 
September  8th  1864 : 

"  On  the  1st  of  May  our  armies  were  lying  in  garrison,  seemingly 
quiet,  from  Knoxville  to  Huntsville,  and  our  enemy  lay  behind  his 
rocky-faced  barrier  at  Dalton,  proud,  defiant  and  exulting.  He  had 
had  time  since  Christmas,  to  recover  from  his  discomfiture  on  the  Mis- 
sion Ridge,  with  his  ranks  filled,  and  a  new  Commander-in-chief,  second 
to  none  in  the  Confederacy  in  reputation  for  skill,  sagacity  and  extreme 
popularity.  All  at  once  our  armies  assumed  life  and  action,  and  appear- 
ed before  Dalton.  Threatening  Rocky  Face,  we  threw  ourselves  upon 
Reseca,  and  the  Rebel  army  only  escaped  by  the  rapidity  of  his  retreat, 

538 


SHERMAN'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  ATLANTA.  539 

aided  by  the  numerous  roads  with  which  he  was  familiar,  and  which 
were  strange  to  us.  Again  he  took  post  in  Allatoona,  but  we  gave  him 
no  rest,  and  by  our  circuit  towards  Dallas,  and  subsequent  movement 
to  Acworth,  we  gained  the  Allatoona  Pass.  Then  followed  the  event- 
ful battles  about  Kenesaw  and  the  escape  of  the  enemy  across  the  Chat- 
tahoochee  river.  The  crossing  of  the  Chattahoochee,  and  breaking  of 
the  Augusta  road  was  most  handsomely  executed  by  us,  and  will  be 
studied  as  an  example  in  the  art  of  war.  At  this  stage  of  our  game, 
our  enemies  became  dissatisfied  with  their  old  and  skillful  commander, 
and  selected  one  more  rash  and  bold.  New  tactics  were  adopted.  Hood 
first,  boldly  and  rapidly  on  the  20th  of  July,  fell  on  our  right  at  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  and  lost.  Again  on  the  22d  he  struck  our  extreme  left, 
and  was  severely  punished ;  and  finally  on  the  28th,  he  repeated 
the  attempt  on  our  right,  and  that  time  must  have  become  satisfied,  for 
since  that  date,  he  has  remained  on  the  defensive.  We  slowly  and 
gradually  drew  our  lines  about  Atlanta,  feeling  for  the  railroad  which 
supplied  the  rebel  army,  and  made  Atlanta  a  place  of  importance. 

"We  must  concede  to  our  enemy  that  he  met  these  efforts  pati- 
ently and  skillfully,  but  at  last  .he  made  the  mistake  we  had  waited  for 
so  long,  and  sent  his  cavalry  to  our  rear,  far  beyond  the  reach  of  re- 
call. Instantly  our  cavalry  was  on  his  only  remaining  road,  and  we  fol- 
lowed quietly  with  our  principal  army,  and  Atlanta  fell  into  our  pos- 
session as  the  fruit  of  well  concerted  measures,  backed  by  a  brave  and 
confident  army."  * 

In  one  of  those  bloody  battles  which  were  of  constant  oc- 
currence between  Sherman  and  Johnston,  which  took  place 
on  the  14th  of  May  on  Pine  Mountain  near  Kenesaw  Moun- 
tain, the  rebel  General  (Bishop)  Polk  was  killed.  When  the 
Union  troops  took  possession  of  the  field  they  found  upon  a 
stake  stuck  in  the  ground  a  paper  attached,  on  which  was 
written  "  Here  General  Polk  was  killed  by  a  Yankee  shell." 

General  Sherman,  after  first  unsuccessfully  assaulting  the 
enemy's  position  at  Kenesaw,  turned  it,  compelling  Johnston 
to  abandon  it  and  retreat  behind  the  Chattahoochee.  Here 
Sherman  rested  until  the  17th  of  July,  when  he  resumed  op- 
erations, and  drove  the  enemy  back  to  Atlanta.  At  this 
place  the  rebel  General  Hood  succeeded  General  Johnston, 
and  assuming  the  offensive-defensive,  made  several  severe 
attacks  upon  Sherman  near  Atlanta,  f 


*  Report  of  Secretary  of  War,  1865. 
t  Sherman's  Report,  1865. 


540       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

On  the  22d  of  July  in  an  attack  by  Hood,  the  brave  and 
accomplished  McPherson  was  killed.  General  Sherman  de- 
scribed him  as  "  a^ioble  youth  of  striking  personal  appear- 
ance, of  the  highest  professional  capacity,  and  with  a  heart 
abounding  in  kindness  that  drew  to  him  the  affections  of  all 
men."  General  John  A.  Logan  succeeded  McPherson,  and 
ably  commanded  the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  through  this 
desperate  battle,  and  until  he  was  superceded  by  Major  Gen- 
eral Howard,  on  the  26th  of  July.  In  these  fierce  attacks 
the  rebels  were  repulsed  with  great  slaughter. 

General  Sherman  finding  it  impossible  entirely  to  invest 
Atlanta,  moved  his  forces  by  the  enemy's  left  flank  upon  the 
Montgomery  and  Macon  roads,  to  draw  the  enemy  from  his 
fortifications.*  He  describes  the  operation  as  that  of  "  rais- 
ing the  siege  of  Atlanta,  taking  the  field  with  our  main  force, 
and  using  it  against  the  communications  of  Atlanta,  instead 
of  against  its  entrenchments."  The  movements  compelled 
Hood  to  evacuate  Atlanta,  and  on  the  2d  of  September, 
Sherman  entered  that  city.  For  severe  fighting  and  brilliant 
and  successful  maneuvering,  there  is  nothing  finer  in  the 
whole  war  than  this  campaign  and  capture  of  Atlanta.  Sher- 
man was  seconded  by  a  body  of  able  and  reliable  subordi- 
nates, among  the  most  distinguished  of  whom  were  McPher- 
eon,  Thomas,  Hooker,  Howard,  Scofield  and  Logan,  and  by 
an  army  that  could  proudly  say  they  were  never  defeated. f 
The  aggregate  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  in  the 
whole  campaign  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  including  cav- 
alry, has  been  estimated  to  exceed  30,000,  and  the  loss  of  the 
rebels  considerably  exceeded  40,000. 

President  Lincoln,  in  a  General  order  of  thanks  to  Sher- 
man and  the  gallant  officers  and  soldiers  of  his  command, 
dated  on  the  day  of  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  justly  character- 
izes these  marches,  battles  and  sieges  which  signalized  this 
campaign,  as  "famous  in  the  annals  of  war."  Atlanta  was 
a  most  important  railroad  center.  It  had  been  deemed  by 
the  Confederates  perfectly  secure,  and  here  was  the  location 
of  very  valuable  manufactories  of  ordnance  and  other 
material. 


»  Grant's  Report,  1865. 

t  Appleton's  Encypclopedia,  1864,  page  87. 


SHERMAN  AT  ATLANTA.  541 

General  Sherman  decided  that  the  imperious  exigencies  of 
war,  especially  when  considered  with  reference  to  his  base  of 
supplies,  required  that  Atlanta  should  be  occupied  exclusively 
for  military  purposes.  Therefore  he  issued  an  order  on  the 
6th  of  September,  directing  that  "  all  families  living  in  At- 
lanta, the  male  representatives  of  which  are  in  the  service  of 
the  Confederate  States,  or  who  have  gone  South,  will  leave 
the  city  within  five  days.  All  citizens  from  the  North,  not 
connected  with  the  military  service,  were  also  directed  to 
leave  within  the  same  period."  General  Hood  protested 
against  this  removal,  stating  "  this  measure  transcends  in 
studied  and  ingenious  cruelty,  all  acts  ever  before  brought 
to  my  attention  in  the  dark  history  of  war."  To  this  Gen- 
eral Sherman  made  a  reply,  defending  the  act,  as  follows  : 

"  You  style  the  measure  proposed,  unprecedented,  and  appeal  to  the 
dark  history  of  war  for  a  parallel  as  an  act  of  '  studied  ingenious  cruel- 
ty/ It  is  not  unprecedented,  for  General  Johnston  himself,  very  wisely 
and  properly  removed  the  families  all  the  way  from  Dalton  down,  and  I 
see  no  reason  why  Atlanta  should  be  excepted.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to 
appeal  to  the  dark  history  of  war,  when  recent  and  modern  examples 
are  so  handy.  You  yourself  burned  dwelling  houses  along  your  para- 
pet, and  I  have  seen  to-day,  fifty  houses  that  you  have  rendered  unin- 
habitable because  they  stood  in  the  way  of  your  forts  and  men.  You  de- 
fended Atlanta  on  a  line  so  close  to  the  town,  that  every  cannon  shot, 
and  many  musket  shots  from  our  line  of  entrenchments  that  overshot 
their  mark,  went  into  the  habitations  of  women  and  children.  General 
Hardee  did  the  same  at  Jonesboro,  and  General  Johnston  did  the  same 
last  summer  at  Jackson,  Mississippi.  I  have  not  accused  you  of  heart- 
less cruelty,  but  merely  instance  those  cases  of  very  recent  occurrence, 
and  could  go  on  and  enumerate  hundreds  of  others,  and  challenge  any 
fair  man  to  judge  which  of  us  has  the  heart  of  pity  for  the  families  of 
brave  people.  I  say,  it  is  a  kindness  to  those  families  of  Atlanta  to 
remove  them  now  at  once  from  scenes  to  which  women  and  children 
should  not  be  exposed  ;  and  the  '  brave  people'  should  scorn  to  commit 
their  wives  and  children  to  the  rude  barbarians  who  thus,  as  you  say, 
violate  the  laws  of  war,  as  illustrated  in  the  pages  of  its  dark  history. 
In  the  name  of  common  sense  I  ask  you  not  to  appeal  to  a  just  God  in 
such  a  sacrilegious  manner — you,  who,  in  the  midst  of  peace  and  pros- 
perity, have  plunged  a  nation  into  civil  war,  '  dark  and  cruel  war ;'  who 
dared  and  badgered  us  to  battle,  insulted  our  flag,  seized  our  arsenals 


542  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

and  forts  that  were  left  in  the  honorable  custody  of  a  peaceful  Ord- 
nance Sergeant,  seized  and  made  prisoners  of  war  the  very  garrisons 
sent  to  protect  your  pebple  against  negroes  and  Indians,  long  before 
any  overt  act  was  committed  by  the — to  you — 'hateful  Lincoln  Gov- 
ernment/ tried  to  force  Kentucky  and  Missouri  into  the  rebellion  in 
spite  of  themselves,  falsified  the  vote  of  Louisiana,  turned  loose  your 
privateers  to  plunder  unarmed  ships,  expelled  Union  families  by  the 
thousand,  burned  their  houses,  and  declared  by  an  act  of  Congress,  the 
confiscation  of  all  debts  due  Northern  men,  for  goods  had,  and  received. 
Talk  thus  to  me  who  have  seen  these  things,  and  will  this  day  make  as 
much  sacrifice  for  the  peace  and  honor  of  the  South  as  the  best  born 
southerner  among  you !  If  we  must  be  enemies,  let  us  be  men,  and 
fight  it  out  as  we  propose  to-day,  and  not  deal  in  such  hypocritical 
appeals  to  God  and  humanity.  God  will  judge  me  in  good  time,  and 
He  will  pronounce  whether  it  be  more  humane  to  fight  with  a  town  full  of 
women,  and  the  families  of  a  '  brave  people/  at  our  backs,  or  to  remove 
them  in  time,  to  places  of  safety  among  their  own  friends  and  people." 

In  reply  to  an  appeal  from  the  Mayor  of  Atlanta,  asking 
him  to  revoke  his  order,  General  Sherman  said : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ~\ 

"!N  THE  FIELD, 

"ATLANTA,  GA.,  Sept.  10,  1864.     ) 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  I  have  your  letter  of  the  llth,  in  the  nature  of  a 
petition  to  revoke  my  orders  removing  all  the  inhabitants  from  Atlanta. 
I  have  read  it  carefully  and  give  full  credit  to  your  statements  of  the 
distress  that  will  be  occasioned  by  it,  and  yet  shall  not  revoke  my  order, 
simply  because  my  orders  are  not  designed  to  meet  the  humanities  of 
the  case,  but  to  prepare  for  the  future  struggles  in  which  millions,  yea 
hundreds  of  millions  of  good  people  out  side  of  Atlanta  have  a  deep 
interest.  We  must  have  peace,  not  only  at  Atlanta,  but  in  all  America. 
To  secure  this  we  must  stop  the  war  that  desolates  our  once  happy  and 
favored  country.  To  stop  war  we  must  defeat  the  rebel  armies  that  are 
arrayed  against  the  laws  and  Constitution,  which  all  must  respect  and 
obey.  To  defeat  these  armies,  we  must  prepare  the  way  to  reach  them 
in  their  recesses,  provided  with  the  arms  and  instruments  which 
enable  us  to  accomplish  our  purpose.  Now  I  know  the  vindictive 
nature  of  our  enemy,  and  that  we  may  have  many  years  of  military 
operations  from  this  quarter,  and  therefore  deem  it  wise  and  prudent  to 
prepare  in  time.  The  use  of  Atlanta  for  war-like  purposes,  is  incon- 
sistent with  its  character  as  a  home  for  families.  There  will  be  no  man- 


SHERMAN  TO   THE   AUTHORITIES    OF   ATLANTA.  543 

ufactures,  commerce  or  agriculture  here  for  the  maintenance  of  fam- 
ilies, and  sooner  or  later  want  will  compel  the  inhabitants  to  go.  Why 
not  go  now,  when  all  the  arrangements  are  completed  for  the  transfer, 
instead  of  waiting  till  the  plunging  shot  of  contending  armies  will  re- 
new the  scenes  of  the  past  month  ?  Of  course  I  do  not  apprehend  any 
euch  thing  at  this  moment;  but  you  do  not  suppose  that  this  army  will 
be  here  till  the  war  is  over.  I  cannot  discuss  the  subject  with  you  fair- 
ly, because  I  cannot  impart  to  you  what  I  propose  to  do ;  but  I  assert, 
that  my  military  plans  make  it  nesessary  for  the  inhabitants  to  go  away, 
and  I  can  only  renew  my  offer  of  services  to  make  their  exodus  in  any 
direction  as  easy  and  comfortable  as  possible. 

"  You  cannot  qualify  war  in  harsher  terms  than  I  will.  War  is  cru- 
elty, and  you  cannot  refine  it;  and  those  who  brought  war  on  our  coun- 
try, deserve  all  the  curses  and  maledictions  a  people  can  pour  out.  I 
know  I  had  no  hand  in  making  this  war,  and  I  know  I  will  make  more 
sacrifices  to-day  than  any  of  you  to  secure  peace.  But  you  cannot  have 
peace  and  a  division  of  our  country.  If  the  United  States  submits  to 
a  division  now,  it  will  not  stop,  but  will  go  on  till  we  reap  the  fate 
of  Mexico,  which  is  eternal  war.  The  United  States  does  and  must 
assert  its  authority  wherever  it  has  power ;  if  it  relaxes  one  bit  to 
pressure,  it  is  gone,  and  I  know  that  such  is  not  the  national  feeling. 
This  feeling  assumes  various  shapes,  but  always  comes  back  to  that  of 
Union.  Once  admit  the  union;  once  more  acknowledge  the  authority 
of  the  National  Government,  and  instead  of  devoting  your  houses  and 
streets  and  roads  to  the  dread  uses  of  war,  I,  and  this  army,  become  at 
once  your  protectors  and  supporters,  shielding  you  from  danger,  let  it 
come  from  whatever  quarter  it  may. 

"  I  know  that  a  few  individuals  cannot  resist  a  torrent  of  error  and 
passion,  such  as  has  swept  the  South  into  rebellion ;  but  you  can  point 
out,  so  that  we  may  know  those  who  desire  a  Government,  and  those 
who  insist  on  war  and  its  desolation. 

You  might  as  well  appeal  against  the  thunder  storm,  as  against  these 
terrible  hardships  of  war.  They  are  inevitable,  and  the  only  way  the 
people  of  Atlanta  can  hope  once  more  to  live  in  peace  and  quiet  at 
home,  is  to  stop  this  war,  which  can  alone  be  done  by  admitting  that  it 
began  in  error  and  is  perpetuated  in  pride.  We  don't  want  your  ne- 
groes, or  your  homes  or  your  land,  or  anything  you  have ;  but  we  do 
want,  and  will  have  a  just  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 
That  we  will  have,  and  if  it  involves  the  destruction  of  your  improve- 
ments, we  cannot  help  it.  You  have  heretofore  read  public  sentiment 
in  your  newspapers  that  live  by  falsehood  and  excitement ;  and  the 
quicker  you  seek  for  truth  in  other  quarters,  the  better  for  you.  I  re- 


544  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

peat  then,  that  by  the  original  compact  of  government,  the  United 
States  had  certain  rights  in  Georgia,  which  have  never  been  relinquish- 
ed, and  never  will  be;  that  the  South  began  war  by  seizing  forts,  arse- 
nals, mints,  custom-houses,  &c.,  &c.,  long  before  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in- 
stalled, and  before  the  South  had  one  jot  or  tittle  of  provocation.  I 
myself  have  seen  in  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Mississippi, 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  women  and  children  fleeing  from  your  armies 
and  desperadoes,  hungry,  and  with  bleeding  feet.  In  Memphis,  Vicks- 
burg  and  Mississippi,  we  fed  thousands  upon  thousands  of  families  of 
rebel  soldiers  left  on  our  hands,  and  whom  we  could  not  see  starve. 
Now,  that  war  comes  home  to  you,  you  feel  very  different ;  you  depre- 
cate its  horrors,  but  did  not  feel  them  when  you  sent  car  loads  of  sol- 
diers and  ammunition,  and  moulded  shell  and  shot  to  carry  war  into 
Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  and  desolate  the  homes  of  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  good  people,  who  only  asked  to  live  in  peaee  at  their  own 
homes  and  under  the  government  of  their  inheritance. 

"  But  these  comparisons  are  idle.  I  want  peace,  and  believe  it  can 
only  be  reached  through  Union  and  war ;  and  I  will  ever  conduct  war 
purely  with  a  view  to  perfect  an  early  success. 

"  But  my  dear  sir,  when  that  peace  does  come,  you  may  call  on  me 
for  anything.  Then  will  I  share  with  you  the  last  cracker,  and  watch 
with  you  to  shield  your  home  and  families  against  danger  from  every 
quarter.  Now,  you  must  go,  and  take  with  you  the  old  and  feeble,  feed 
and  nurse  them,  and  build  for  them  in  more  quiet  places,  proper  hab- 
itations to  shield  them  against  the  weather  until  the  mad  passions  of 
men  cool  down,  and  allow  the  Union  and  peace,  once  more  to  settle 
upon  your  old  homes  at  Atlanta."  * 

This  letter  is  written  with  great  vigor  and  truth,  and  it  is 
inserted  at  length,  to  show  that  General  Sherman  wrote  as 
well  as  he  fought.  Indeed,  if  there  are  others  among  the 
Union  Generals,  who  might  contest  with  Sherman  for  superi- 
ority in  the  use  of  the  sword,  his  superiority  in  the  use  of  the 
pen  would  be  generally  conceded. 

Meanwhile  Hood,  under  orders  direct  from  Richmond,  un- 
dertook a  movement  to  the  north.  Moving  far  to  the  right 
of  Atlanta,  he  struck  the  railroad  and  moved  north.  Gen- 
eral Sherman  therefore  proposed  to  General  Grant  to  aban- 
don and  destroy  Atlanta,  and  all  the  roads  leading  to  it,  and 
make  a  bold  march  through  the  enemy's  country  to  the  sea. 

•  Appletou's  Encyclopedia  1864,  page  91. 


SHERMAN  PROPOSES   TO   "  SMASH   THINGS."  546 

General  Grant  evidently  at  first  thought  the  conception  a 
hazardous  one,  as  well  he  might ;  and  he  said  to  Sherman  : 
"  If  there  is  any  other  way  to  get  at  Hood's  army,  I  would 
prefer  that ;  but  I  must  trust  to  your  own  judgment." 

On  the  llth  of  October,  Grant  telegraphed  to  Sherman  as 
follows :  * 

"CiTY  POINT,  Va.,  October  11,  1864,— 11.  A.  M. 

"  Your  despatch  of  October  10th  received.  Does  it  not  look  as  if  Hood 
was  going  to  attempt  the  invasion  of  Middle  Tennessee,  using  the  Mo- 
bile and  Ohio,  and  Memphis  and  Charleston  roads  to  supply  his  base  on 
the  Tennessee  river,  about  Florence  or  Decatur  ?  If  he  does  this  he 
ought  to  be  met  and  prevented  from  getting  North  of  the  Tennessee 
river.  If  you  were  to  cut  loose,  I  do  not  believe  you  would  meet  Hood's 
army  but  would  be  bushwacked  by  all  the  old  men,  little  boys,  and  such 
railroad  guards  as  are  still  left  at  home.  Hood  would  probably  strike 
for  Nashville,  thinking  that  by  going  north,  he  could  inflict  greater 
damage  upon  us,  than  we  could  upon  the  rebels  by  going  south.  If 
there  is  any  way  of  getting  at  Hood's  army,  I  would  prefer  that ;  but  I 
must  trust  to  your  own  judgment.  I  find  I  shall  not  be  able  to  send  a 
force  from  here  to  act  with  you  on  Savannah.  Your  movements  there- 
fore will  be  independent  of  mine ;  at  least  until  the  fall  of  Richmond 
takes  place.  I  am  afraid  Thomas,  with  such  lines  of  road  as  be  has  to 
protect,  could  not  prevent  Hood  from  going  north.  With  Wilson  turned 
loose,  with  all  your  cavalry,  you  will  find  the  rebels  put  much  more  on 
the  defensive  than  heretofore. 

t  «  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieut.  Gen'L 

"Major  Gen.  W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

On  the  llth  of  October,  Sherman  telegraphed  from  Kings- 
ton, Georgia,  to  Grant  as  follows  : 

"  Hood  moved  his  army  from  Palmetto  Station  across  by  Dallas  and 
Cedartown,  and  is  now  on  the  Coosa  River,  south  of  Rome.  He  threw 
one  Corps  on  my  road  to  Acworth,  and  I  was  forced  to  follow.  I  hold 
Atlanta  with  tho  Twentieth  Corps,  and  have  strong  detachments  along 
my  line.  This  reduces  my  active  force  to  a  comparatively  small  army. 
We  cannot  remain  here  on  the  defensive.  With  the  25,000  men,  and 
the  bold  cavalry  he  has,  he  can  constantly  break  my  roads.  I  would 
infinitely  prefer  to  make  a  wreck  of  the  road  and  of  the  country  from 
Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  including  the  latter  city — send  back  all  my 
wounded  and  worthless,  and  with  my  effective  army,  move  through 
35 


646  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Georgia,  smashing  things,  to  the  sea.  Hood  may  turn  into  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky,  but  I  believe  he  will  be  forced  to  follow  me.  Instead  of 
my  being  on  the  defensive,  I  would  be  on  the  offensive ;  instead  of 
guessing  at  what  he  means  to  do,  he  would  have  to  guess  at  my  plans. 
The  difference  in  war  is  full  twenty-five  per  cent.  I  can  make  Savan- 
nah, Charleston,  or  the  mouth  of  the  Chattahoochee.  Answer  quick, 
as  I  know  we  will  not  have  the  telegraph  long." 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major  General. 
"  Lieutenant  General  GRANT." 

To  which  General  Grant  on  the  same  day  replied  as 
follows : 

"  Your  despatch  of  to-day  received.  If  you  are  satisfied  the  trip  to 
the  sea  coast  can  be  made,  holding  the  line  of  the  Tennessee  River 
firmly,  you  may  make  it,  destroying  all  the  railroad  south  of  Dalton  or 
Chattanooga,  as  you  think  best," 

"  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General, 
"  Major  General  W.  T.  SHERMAN."  * 

It  was  at  first  designed  to  hold  Atlanta;  and  marching 
through  to  the  coast,  to  leave  garrisons  on  the  railroads  lead- 
ing east  and  west,  and  thus  effectually  cut  the  Confederacy 
in  twain,  as  had  been  done  by  Grant  in  getting  possession  of 
the  Mississippi.  But  Sherman's  communications  were  so 
long,  that  Sherman  said,  Hood  with  25,000  men  and  the  bold 
cavalry  he  had  could  constantly  break  his  roads.  He,  (Sher- 
man,) would  prefer  to  send  back  all  his  wounded  and 
worthless,  and  with  his  effective  army,  "move  through  Georgia, 
smashing  things  to  the  sea." 

Before  following  this  adventurous  march,  let  us  see  what 
were  the  fortunes  of  Hood  who  moved  to  the  north. 

General  Thomas,  furnishes  the  following  description  of 
this  campaign :  | 

"  I  found  myself  confronted  by  the  army  which  under  General  J.  E. 
Johnston,  had  skillfully  resisted  the  advance  of  the  whole  active  army 
of  the  military  Division  of  the  Mississippi,  from  Dalton  to  the  Chattahoo- 
chee, reenforced  by  a  well  equipped  and  enthusiastic  cavalry  command  of 
over  12,000  men,  led  by  one  of  the  boldest  and  most  successful  cavalry 

*  Grant's  Report,  p.  24. 

t  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  p.  9. 


THOMAS  PREPARES  TO  MEET  HOOD.  547 

commanders  in  the  rebel  army.  My  information  from  all  sources  con- 
firmed the  reported  strength  of  Hood's  army  to  be  from  40  to  45,000  in- 
fantry, and  from  12  to  15,000  cavalry.  My  effective  force  at  this  time, 
consisted  of  the  Fourth  Corps,  about  12,000  under  Major  General  D.  8. 
Stanley,  the  Twenty-third  Corps,  about  10,000,  under  Major  General 
Schofield,  Hatcher's  Division  of  cavalry  about  4,000,  Croxton's  brigade, 
25,000,  and  Capron's  brigade  of  about  1,200.  The  balance  of  my  force 
was  distributed  along  the  railroad,  and  posted  at  Murfreesboro,  Stevenson, 
'Bridgeport,  Huntsville,  Decatur,  and  Chattanooga,  to  keep  open  our  com- 
munications, and  hold  the  posts  above  named,  if  attacked,  until  they  could 
be  reenforced ;  as  up  to  this  time  it  was  impossible  to  determine  which 
course  Hood  would  take ;  advance  on  Nashville  or  turn  towards  Huntsville. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  manifestly  best  to  act  on  the  defensive 
until  sufficiently  reenforced  to  justify  taking  the  offensive.  On  the  12th 
of  November,  communication  with  General  Sherman  was  severed,  the  last 
despatch  from  him  leaving  Cartersville,  Georgia,  at  2.25  P.  M.,  on  that 
date.  He  had  started  on  his  great  expedition  from  Atlanta  to  the 
seaboard,  leaving  me  to  guard  Tennessee,  or  to  pursue  the  enemy  if  he 
followed  the  Commanding  General's  column.  It  was  therefore,  with 
considerable  anxiety  that  we  watched  the  force  at  Florence,  to  dis- 
cover what  course  they  would  pursue  with  regard  to  General  Sherman's 
movements,  determining  thereby  whether  the  troops  under  my  command, 
numbering  less  than  half  those  under  Hood,  were  to  act  on  the  defen- 
sive in  Tennessee,  or  take  the  offensive  in  Alabama." 

lieenforcements  were  hastened  to  Thomas,  and  among 
other  troops  sent  forward,  were  two  divisions  of  veteran  in- 
fantry, under  General  A.  J.  Smith.  On  the  20th  of  Novem- 
ber, General  Schofield's  main  force  was  withdrawn  from  in 
front  of  Columbia,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  a  posi- 
tion was  taken  at  Franklin.  Here  followed  a  most  fierce  and 
bloody  battle  between  the  armies  of  Hood  and  Schofield. 
General  Thomas,  in  his  report  of  this  battle,  says : 

"  The  enemy  followed  closely  after  General  Schofield's  rear  guard  in  the 
retreat  to  Franklin,  and  upon  coming  up  with  the  main  force,  formed  rap- 
idly and  advanced  to  assault  our  works,  repeating  attack  after  attack  dur- 
ing the  entire  afternoon,  and  as  late  as  10  P.  M.,  his  efforts  to  break  our 
lines  were  continued.  General  Schofield's  position  was  excellently  chosen 
with  both  flanks  resting  on  the  river,  and  his  men  firmly  held  their  ground 
against  an  overwhelming  enemy,  who  was  repulsed  in  every  assault, 
along  the  whole  line.  Our  loss  as  given  by  General  Schofield  in  his 


648       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

report  transmitted  herewith,  (and  to  which  I  respectfully  refer,)  is  189 
killed,  1,033  wounded  and  1,104  missing,  making  an  aggregate  of  2,326. 
We  captured  and  sent  to  Nashville,  702  prisoners,  including  one  general 
officer  and  thirty-three  stands  of  colors.  Major  General  D.  S.  Stanly, 
commanding  the  Fourth  Corps,  was  severely  wounded  at  Franklin, 
while  engaged  in  rallying  a  portion  of  his  command  which  had  been 
temporarily  overpowered  by  an  overwhelming  attack  of  the  enemy.  At 
the  time  of  the  battle,  the  enemy's  loss  was  known  to  be  severe,  and 
was  estimated  at  5,000.  The  exact  figures  were  only  obtained,  however, 
on  the  re-occupation  of  Franklin,  by  our  forces  after  the  battles  of 
December  15th  and  16th,  at  Brentwood  Hills  near  Nashville,  and  are 
given  as  follows:  Buried  upon  the  field,  1,750;  disabled  and  placed  in 
hospitals  at  Franklin,  3,800;  which,  with  the  702  prisoners  already  re- 
ported, makes  an  aggregate  loss  of  6,252,  among  whom  were  six  gene- 
ral officers  killed,  six  wounded  and  one  captured.  The  important  results 
of  this  signal  victory  cannot  be  too  highly  appreciated;  for  it  not  only 
seriously  checked  the  enemy's  advance,  and  gave  General  Schofield 
time  to  remove  his- troops  and  all  his  property  to  Nashville,  but  it 
also  caused  deep  depression  among  the  men  of  Hood's  army,  making 
them  doubly  cautious  in  their  subsequent  movements."  * 

Schofield,  by  direction  of  Thomas,  retired  to  Nashville,  in 
front  of  which,  a  line  of  battle  was  farmed  on  the  1st  of  De- 
cember. Hood's  army  made  its  appearance  on  the  2d  of 
December.  The  intense  cold  weather  delayed  operations 
until  the  14th,  when  the  weather  having  become  less  severe, 
General  Thomas  issued  orders  for  an  attack  on  Hood's  army 
to  be  made  on  the  15th.  At  an  early  hour  the  next  morning, 
the  hardy  veteran  soldiers  of  Thomas  and  Schofield  moved 
to  the  attack.  All  day  long  the  fight  was  fiercely  continued; 
when  night  came,  Thomas  had  captured  16  pieces  of  artillery, 
1,200  prisoners,  and  a  large  number  of  small  arms.  The 
enemy  had  everywhere  been  forced  back  with  heavy  loss. 
The  troops  had  fought  with  steadiness  and  courage.  The 
whole  command  bivouacked  in  line  of  battle  during  the 
night  on  the  ground  occupied  at  dark,  while  preparations 
were  made  to  renew  the  battle  at  an  early  hour  on  the  mor- 
row. At  early  dawn  the  next  morning,  the  battle  was  re- 
newed. At  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  enemy's  strong 
position  on  Overton's  Hill  was  assaulted  by  the  Fourth  Corps. 

••  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  1865. 


BATTLE  OF  NASHVILLB.  549 

General  Smith's  and  Scofield's  command  moved  against  the 
enemy's  works  in  their  respective  fronts,  carrying  all  before 
them,  frequently  breaking  his  lines  in  a  dozen  places,  and 
capturing  all  his  artillery  and  thousands  of  prisoners,  among 
the  latter,  four  general  officers."*  The  Confederates  broke  and 
fled  in  confusion,  over  the  tops  of  Brentwood  Hills,  pursued 
by  the  exulting  Union  troops.  Meanwhile,  General  Wil- 
son's cavalry  dismounted,  and  attacked  simultaneously,  with 
Schofield  and  Smith.  The  flying  rebels  were  pursued  several 
miles,  until  darkness  rendered  the  further  chase  impracticable. 

During  the  two  days  battle,  there  were  captured  4yl62 
prisoners,  including  287  officers,  53  pieces  of  artillery,  and 
thousands  of  small  arms.f 

The  Confederate  army  thus  defeated,  had  been  considered 
next  to  the  army  of  Lee,  the  most  formidable  rebel  force 
which  had  been  organized  during  the  war.  It  had  been  ably 
commanded  by  Bragg,  Johnston,  and  Hood,  and  on  many 
bloody  fields  had  established  the  courage  of  the  soldiers  and 
the  ability  of  the  leaders.  It  was  pursued  from  Nashville  to 
the  Tennessee  by  Thomas'  main  army,  and  by  detachments, 
many  miles  further;  but  this  proud  army  never  again  ap- 
peared in  the  field  as  an  army  organization.  Fragments  of 
it  were  finally  gathered  up,  and  under  Johnson,  laid  down 
their  arms  to  Sherman  in  the  Spring  of  1865,  at  the  final 
surrender  of  Johnston. 

The  brilliant  Atlanta  campaign  of  Sherman  was  in  the 
plans  of  Grant  and  his  Lieutenant,  preliminary.  Another 
important  step  was  yet  to  be  made  before  the  union  of  the 
grand  armies  of  the  East  and  the  West,  by  the  joint  and  co- 
operative movements  of  which,  Richmond  was  to  be  taken, 
and  the  armies  of  Lee  and  Johnston  captured.  "  When," 
said  Sherman,  "  I  plant  this  army  at  Goldsboro,  Lee  must 
leave  Virginia,  or  he  will  be  defeated  beyond  hope  of 
recovery." 

Jefferson  Davis,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1864,  prophe- 
sied that  Sherman's  army,  then  in  the  heart  of  his  Confeder- 
acy, would  meet  "  the  fate  of  the  army  of  the  French  Empire, 

*  Thomas'  Report. 

f  Secretary  of  War's  Report,  p.  12. 


560  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

in  the  retreat  from  Moscow;  our  cavalry  and  our  people," 
said  he,  "  will  harrass  and  destroy  his  array  as  did  the  Cossacks 
that  of  Napoleon;  and  the  Yankee  General,  like  him,  will 
escape  with  only  a  body  guard." 

Little  did  this  arrogant  boaster  then  dream  this  "  Yankee 
General,"  at  whom  he  proudly  sneered,  would  march  at 
pleasure  through  his  Confederacy;  and  that  before  his  with- 
drawal, he  himself  would  be  first  a  fugitive  and  then  a  captive, 
and  his  empire  crumbled  into  ruins ! 

As  Hood  marched  to  the  North,  Sherman  followed  as 
far  as  Kenesaw  Mountain.  At  the  pass  of  Allatooria, 
through  which  ran  the  railway  forming  Sherman's  commu- 
nications from  which  he  had  not  yet  cut  loose,  there  was  an 
immense  depot  of  provisions ;  a  million  and  a  half  of  rations. 
This  pass  was  protected  by  a  fort  manned  by  1,500  men.  On 
the  morning  of  the  5th  of  October,  General  Sherman  was 
on  the  summit  of  Keuesaw,  watching  this  pass,  when  the 
faint  sound  of  distant  artillery  and  the  puffs  of  white  smoke 
told  him  that  this  important  position  was  assailed.  The  gar- 
rison was  furiously  attacked  by  6,000  rebels.  Sherman  from 
the  top  of  Kenesaw,  signalled  the  commander  at  Allatoona 
to  hold  out  to  the  last,  promising  relief.  When  the  answer- 
ing signal  informed  him  that  General  Corse  was  there  and 
in  command,  Sherman  exclaimed,  "  I  know  Corse ;  as  long  as 
he  lives  the  Allatoona  pass  is  safe!  "  And  so  indeed  it  was; 
for  although  he  was  severely  wounded  early  in  the  day,  and 
although  the  rebels  charged  again  and  again,  yet  he  held  out, 
and  beat  off  the  attack  with  great  slaughter  of  the  rebels, 
and  held  the  post  until  succor  arrived. 

Sherman  having  seen  Hood  far  on  towards  Tennessee, 
turned  his  back  upon  him,  leaving  "him  for  Thomas  to  dis- 
pose of,  and  prepared  to  start  on  his  perilous  march  to  the 
sea.  He  divided  his  army  into  two  parts,  the  right  and  left 
wings;  the  right,  consisting  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Seven- 
teenth Corps,  under  Major  General  O.  0.  Howard,  and  the 
left,  consisting  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth  Corps,  under 
Major  General  H.  "W.  Slocum.  General  Kilpatrick  com- 
manded the  cavalry.  The  aggregate  force  numbered  between 
sixty  and  seventy  thousand  picked  men.  Probably  no  superior 


SHERMAN  STARTS  FOR  THE  SEA.  551 

body  of  soldiers,  officers  and  men,  was  ever  organized. 
They  had  faith  in  themselves,  and  in  their  leader. 

From  Atlanta  to  the  sea,  there  ran  two  nearly  parallel  lines 
of  railway;  one  leading  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and 
the  other  to  Savannah,  Georgia.  The  road  to  Charleston  from 
Atlanta,  was  308  miles  long,  while  that  to  Savannah  was 
293  miles.  On  the  llth  of  November,  Sherman  telegraphed 
from  Kingston  to  Chattanooga,  "  all  is  well"  then  ordered 
the  wires  to  be  cut  and  started  for  the  ocean.  He  would 
probably  be  heard  from  next  from  the  sea  coast. 

On  the  evening  of  the  15th  of  November,  the  torch  was 
applied  to  the  machine  shops',  store  houses,  and  depot  build- 
ings of  Atlanta.  The  band  of  the  Thirty-third  Massachu- 
setts was  playing  the  air  "  John  Brown's  soul  is  marching  on" 
by  the  light  of  the  blazing  buildings  of  this  city,  which,  next 
to  Richmond,  had  been  considered  the  most  important  strong- 
hold of  the  slaveholding  Confederacy.  The  army  marched 
eastward  towards  Macon,  the  cavalry  covering  its  flanks.  As 
it  advanced,  it  destroyed  the  railroads,  and  everything  which 
cpuld  be  of  value  to  the  Confederates.  Sherman  reached  and 
occupied  Milledgeville,  the  Capital  of  Georgia,  without  any 
serious  opposition.  By  skillful  maneouvres,  he  deceived  the 
enemy  as  to  his  real  purpose,  and  induced  them  to  concen- 
trate far  away  from  his  line  of  march,  so  that  he  reached 
Savannah  without  difficulty  or  loss. 

Savannah  was  held  by  General  Hardee,  with  15,000  troops. 
The  City  was  invested,  and  scouts  sent  down  the  river  to  find 
the  fleet,  which  was  known  to  be  on  the  coast,  watching  for 
Sherman's  arrival.  The  fleet  was  found,  and  the  news  ex- 
pressed to  the  North  that  Sherman  had  got  through  and  all 
was  well.  To  open  communication  between  his  army  and  the 
fleet,  it  was  necessary  for  Sherman  to  capture  Fort  McAllister 
which  commanded  the  approaches  from  the  sea.  On  the  13th 
of  December,  a  column  under  the  gallant  General  Ilazeii, 
attacked  and  carried  the  fort  by  assault.  The  communica- 
tions with  the  fleet  were  opened;  General  Sherman  went 
immediately  on  board,  and  sent  his  first  despatch  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  announcing  his  complete  success.  The 
investment  of  Savannah  now  proceeded  so  rapidly,  that  by 


O52  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  20th,  Hardee  was  compelled  to  save  the  garrison  by  flight. 
He  burned  the  rebel  iron  clads,  and  such  stores  and  material, 
as  in  his  rapid  flight  he  was  able  to  destroy,  and  on  the  21st 
of  December,  Sherman  entered  the  city,  and  on  the  22d,  he 
sent  to  President  Lincoln  the  following  despatch : 

"  I  beg  to  present  to  you  as  a  Christmas  gift,  the  City  of  Savannah, 
with  150  guns,  plenty  of  ammunition,  and  about  25,000  bales  of 
cotton." 

.Thus  ended  Sherman's  grand  march  to  the  sea!  This 
march  is  already  a  part  of  the  romance  of  history.  With 
the  steady,  resistless  force  of  the  glacier;  with  the  over- 
whelming power  of  the  avalanche,  Sherman  descended  from 
the  North,  crushing;  everything  in  his  path  from  the  moun- 
tains to  the  sea.  Then,  turning  again  towards  the  North, 
that  grand  Northwestern  army,  cooperating  with  the  long 
tried  veterans  of  Grant,  crushed  the  fragments  of  the  rebellion 
between  the  opposing  forces. 

Five  weeks  from  the  time  he  left  Atlanta,  with  a  total  loss 
of  less  than  1,500  men,  he  marched  through  the  great  State 
of  Georgia,  called  the  "  Empire  State  of  the  South,"  occu- 
pying its  capital,  destroying  its  railroads,  and  now  rested  his 
victorious  soldiers  in  its  chief  city.  It  is  not  recorded  that 
the  haughty  Toombs,  Iverson,  and  other  slaveholders  who 
were  accustomed  to  exhibit  the  arrogance  and  swagger  of 
the  slave  overseer  in  Congress,  were  heard  of  by  Sherman  in 
his  easy  march  through  their  State.  Sherman  appropriated 
and  destroyed  the  corn  and  forage  for  thirty  miles  on  either 
side  of  a  line  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah,  and  also  "  all  the 
sweet  potatoes,  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  and  poultry,  and  carried 
away  more  than  ten  thousand  horses  and  mules,  as  well  as  a 
vast  number  of  their  slaves."  The  belt  of  country  through 
which  Sherman  marched,  was  full  of  negroes,  and  the  Gene- 
ral invited  all  the  able  bodied  men  to  join  the  column,  and  he 
took  especial  pleasure  in  telling  them  they  were  free;  that 
Massa  Lincoln  had  given  them  their  liberty,  and  that  they 
could  go  where  they  pleased.* 

•  Sherman's  Report    Vide  Nichols'  Story  of  the  Great  March,  p.  61,  and  62. 


THE  ALABAMA  AND  THE  KEARSARGE.          553 

The  negroes  already  understood  that  the  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation  had  made  them  free.  They  regarded  the  ad- 
vent of  the  "Yankee/5  as  the  fulfillment  of  the  millenial 
prophesies.  "  The  day  of  Jubilee,"  the  hope  and  prayer  of  a 
life  time,  had  come.  They  -had  the  most  perfect  trust  and 
confidence  in  their  deliverers.  One  day,  a  woman  with  a 
child  in  her  arms  was  working  her  way  among  the  teams, 
crowds  of  cattle,  and  horsemen.  An  officer  called  kindly  to 
her:  "  Where  are  you  going  auntie?"  She  looked  up  with  a 
hopeful,  beseeching  look  and  replied,  *.'  Ise  gwine  whar  youse 
gwine,  massa."  * 

The  colored  people  manifested  a  forgiving  spirit  towards 
their  late  masters,  and  a  docile,  obedient  spirit  towards  those 
who  set  them  free.  One  of  them  said  to  Sherman  "  we  don't 
wish  to  do  anything  wrong.  We  know  you  came  here  to  set 
us  free,  and  we  expect  you  to  tell  us  what  to  do.  Some  of 
these  masters  have  treated  us  shamefully ;  whipped,  impris- 
oned, and  sold  us  about,  but  we  don't  wish  to  be  revenged  on 
them.  The  Bible  says  we  must  forgive  our  enemies.  They 
have  been  our  enemies  and  we  forgive  them.  Thank  God 
we  are  slaves  no  longer !"  * 

Nothing  occurred  during  the  war  which  more  incensed  the 
the  American  people,  than  the  ravages  upon  their  commerce 
by  the  English  built  cruisers,  sailing  under  the  rebel  flag. 
By  avoiding  all  armed  antagonists,  they  roamed  the  sea  with 
impunity,  robbing  and  destroying  American  merchantmen, 
and  finding  refuge  and  protection,  and  very  often  supplies,  in 
neutral  ports,  and  especially  in  those  of  Great  Britain.  The 
most  destructive  of  these  cruisers  were  the  the  Alabama, 
Florida  and  the  Georgia.  Early  in  June,  1864,  the,  Alabama, 
after  a  successful  cruise  among  the  American  Merchant  ships 
of  the  South  Atlantic,  returned  to  Northern  waters  and  put  into 
Cherbourg,  France.  The  Kearsarge,  Captain  John  A.  Winslow 
commanding,  immediately  sailed  for  Cherbourg.  On  the  15th 
of  June,  Captain  Semmes  of  the  Alabama,  knowing  escape  was 
impossible,  with  characteristic  bravado,  sent  a  note  to  Cap- 
tain Winslow,  asking  him  not  to  depart  until  the  two  vessels 

*  Nichols'  Grand  March 

*  Nichols'  Story  of  the  Great  March,  page  108. 


554  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

could  meet,  and  expressing  a  desire  to  fight  the  Kearsarge ! 
Winslow  had  come  for  the  purpose,  had  been  long  in  pursuit 
of  the  Alabama,  and  had  no  intention  of  allowing  the  Ala- 
bama to  escape,. as  Semmes  very  well  knew.  The  Alabama 
having  prepared  herself  at  leisure  for  the  conflict,  on  the  19th 
of  June  came  out  of  the  harbor.  She  was  followed  by  the 
English  Steam  Yacht  Deerhound,  to  act  as  her  tender,  and 
to  be  ready  to  receive  her  officers  in  case  of  disaster.  The 
Alabama  opened  at  long  range,  to  which  the  Kearsarge  made 
no  reply,  but  steaming  directly  for  the  Alabama,  sought  close 
quarters.  In  a  short  time  the  Alabama  hung  out  a  white 
flag,  and  Winslow  reserved  his  fire,  but  the  Alabama  again 
opening  her  fire,  she  received  another  broadside.  She  was 
then  abandoned  by  her  commander.  The  Deerhound  picked 
up  Semmes  and  his  officers  and  steamed  off  with  them,  Wins- 
low  and  his  crew,  too  busy  in  picking  up  the  drowning  crew 
of  the  Alabama,  to  prevent  her.  The  Alabama  in  a  few  mo- 
ments went  down,  even  before  all  the  wounded  could  be 
saved. 

Semmes,  conscious  of  the  danger  to  which  his  irregular 
proceedings  after  his  surrender  would  subject  him  in  case  of 
capture,  got  on  board  the  Deerhound,  which  immediately 
steamed  for  the  friendly  port  of  Southampton,  Great  Britain. 
This  fight  was  so  near  the  French  coast  that  thousands  of 
spectators  on  the  shore  witnessed  the  triumph  of  the  Ameri- 
can flag,  and  the  speedy  sinking  of  the  English-rebel  ship. 

The  Florida  was  captured  by  Captain  H.  Collins  of  the 
Wachusett  on  the  6th  of  October,  in  the  Bay  of  San  Salva- 
dor, Brazil.  She  was  brought  to  Hampton  Roads  and  acci- 
dentally sunk.  The  Georgia  was  captured  by  the  Niagara, 
on  the  15th  of  August. 

Admiral  Farragut  was,  in  the  summer  of  1864,  in  command 
of  the  squadron  oif  Mobile ;  and  late  in  July  received  an  ad- 
dition of  four  monitors  to  his  fleet.  The  principal  entrance 
to  Mobile  Bay  was  defended  by  Forts  Gaines  and  Morgan. 
There  were  also  Fort  Powell,  a  water  battery,  and  earth- 
works. Inside  were  Confederate  iron-clads.  On  the  5th  of 
August,  Admiral  Farragut  made  his  preparations  for  attack. 
In  order  to  obtain  an  unobstructed  view,  and  to  give  his 


FARRAGUT   AT   MOBILE.  555 

orders  with  clearness,  he  ascended  to  the  main-top  of  his  flag- 
ship the  Hartford,  and  moved  forward  to  the  attack.  The 
conflict  was  most  furious  and  terrific.  One  of  the  monitors, 
the  Teeumseh,  commanded  by  the  brave  Craven,  struck  a  tor- 
pedo, and  sunk,  carrying  down  her  gallant  commander  and 
nearly  all  on  board.  Still  the  indomitable  Farragut  steamed 
in  and  passed  the  forts.  The  rebel  fleet  was  destroyed  or  dis- 
abled, except  the  iron-clad  ram  Tennessee.  This  boldly  bore 
down  upon  the'  flag-ship,  the  Hartford.  The  fleet  was  di- 
rected to  run  her  down.  The  Hartford  was  the  third  ship 
which  struck  her ;  but  as  the  Tennessee  shifted  her  helm,  the 
blow  was  a  glancing  one,  and  as  she  rasped  along  side  of  Far- 
ragut's  ship,  he  poured  in  a  whole  broadside  of  nine  inch  solid 
shot,  "within  ten  feet  of  her  casement."*  The  Hartford 
was  again  approaching,  when  the  Tennessee  struck  her 
colors.  She  was  undoubtedly  the  strongest  vessel  ever 
constructed  by  the  Confederates,  and  she  was  most  gal- 
lantly fought.  The  victory  of  Farragut  over  the  fleet  was 
followed  by  the  surrender  of  Forts  Gaines  and  Powell.  Fort 
Morgan  still  held  out,  but  on  being  invested  by  General 
Granger,  on  the  23d,  this  last  of  the  rebel  defenses  of  Mobile, 
unconditionally  surrendered.  This  brief  review  of  the  mil- 
itary operations  of  1864,  which  has  been  given,  exhibits  the 
progress  of  the  Union  arms.  The  heavy,  continuous  pound- 
ing of  Grant  upon  the  armies  under  Lee,  the  sledge-hammer, 
crushing  blows  he  gave,  the  brilliant  marches  and  victories 
of  Sherman,  the  rapid,  dashing  triumphs  of  Sheridan,  and 
the  successes  of  the  Navy,  culminating  with  this  characteristic 
exploit  of  Farragut,  gave  joy  and  confidence  to  the  loyal 
people  throughout  the  republic.  It  was  a  significant  fact 
that  the  President  had  for  some  time  issued  official  an- 
nouncements of  victory  "  to  the  friends  of  Union  and  Lib- 
erty." *  In  his  judgmentthese  were  becoming  more  and  more 
identical.  Proclamations  of  thanksgiving  and  gratitude  to 
God  were  issued,  the  President  was  buoyant  with  hope,  and 
obviously  encouraged  in  the  belief  of  an  early  termination  of 
the  war.  In  following  the  grand  military  campaigns  of  1864, 


*  Vide  Farragut's  Report. 

*  President's  Proclamation  of  May  4, 1864. 


656  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

some  important  events  in  connection  with  the  President  and 
the  war,  have  been  omitted.  It  was  during  the  summer  of 
1864,  and  before  the  victories  we  have  mentioned  had  relieved 
the  anxiety  of  the  people,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  induced  by 
Mr.  Greeley  to  have  some  correspondence  with  Confederate 
agents  in  Canada.  The  Confederates  were  represented  by 
Messrs.  C.  C.  Clay  of  Alabama,  James  B.  Holcombe  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  George  N.  Saunders.  These  emmissaries  were 
there  for  purposes,  and  movements,  some  of  which  were 
of  a  character  entirely  outside  of  the  legitimate  operations 
of  war. 

Expeditions  to  rob  and  plunder  banks,  over  the  border,  to 
fire  Northern  cities,  have  been  clearly  traced  to  them,  and 
there  is  evidence  tending  to  connect  them  with  crimes  of  a 
still  graver,  and  darker  character.  By  some  means,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  creating  the  impression  upon  that  good,  but  some- 
what credulous  and  sometimes  indiscreet  man,  Horace  Greeley, 
that  these. agents  were  deserving  of  attention,  and  that  it 
would  be  wise  to  confer  with  them.  He  wrote  to  the  Presi- 
dent on  the  7th  of  July,  a  letter  in  which  he  said :  * 

"  I  venture  to  remind  you  that  our  bleeding,  bankrupt,  almost  dying 
country  also  longs  for  peace — shudders  at  the  prospect  of  fresh  con- 
scriptions, of  further  wholesale  devastations;  and  of  new  rivers  of 
human  blood.  *  *  *  "I  fear  Mr.  President,  you  do  not  realize 
how  intently  the  people  desire  any  peace,  consistent  with  the  National 
integrity  and  honor,  and  how  joyously  they  would  hail  its  achievement 
and  bless  its  authors." 

He  begged  and  entreated  Mr.  Lincoln  to  extend  safe  con- 
duct to  the  rebel  emissaries,  then  at  Niagara,  that  they  might 
exhibit  their  credentials  and  submit  their  ultimatum.  Mr. 
Lincoln  believed  at  that  time,  that  the  best  means  of  obtain- 
ing peace,  was  by  destroying  the  rebel  armies.  That  Grant, 
and  Sherman,  Sheridan  and  Farragut,  were  doing  more  to 
bring  it  about,  than  could  be  accomplished  by  any  negotia- 
tions to  which  he  was  thus  so  urgently  entreated.  He  doubted 
whether  these  agents  had  any  authority;  but  Mr.  Greeley  was 
a  prominent  political  friend,  a  man  of  the  purest  and  most 

*  Raymond  e  Life  of  Lincoln,  etc.,  p.  572-3. 


NIAGARA  FALLS  CONFERENCE.  557 

patriotic  purposes,  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  thought  he  would  con- 
vince him  of  his  own  desire  for  peace,  and  expose  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  deceptive  character  of  these  agents.  He 
therefore  in  reply  to  Mr.  Greeley,  said : 

"  If  you  can  find  any  person,  anywhere,  professing  to  have  any  propo- 
sition of  Jefferson  Davis,  in  writing,  for  peace,  embracing  the  restoration 
of  the  Union,  and  abandonment  of  slavery,  whatever  else  it  embraces; 
say  to  him  he  may  come  to  me  with  you." 

In  another  letter  the  President  said,  "  I  not  only  intend  a 
sincere  effort  for  peace,  but  that  you  shall  be  a  personal  witness 
that  it  is  made."  *  ^ 

Mr.  Greeley,  on  the  13th  of  July,  wrote  again  to  the 
President,  saying: 

"  I  have  now  information  on  which  I  can  rely,  that  two  persons,  duly 
commissioned  and  empowered  to  negotiate  for  peace,  are  at  this  moment 
not  far  from  Niagara  Falls,  in  Canada,  and  are  desirous  of  conferring 
with  yourself,  or  with  such  persons  as  you  may  appoint  and  empower  to 
treat  with  them." 

He  then  gave  their  names,  etc.  It  turned  out  that  Mr. 
Greeley  had  been  entirely  deceived.  That  the  rebel  agents  in 
Canada  had  no  authority  whatever  to  treat  for  peace.  Mr. 
Greeley,  on  the  18th  of  July,,  says:  "I  have  communicated 
with  the  gentlemen  in  question  and  do  not  find  them  so  em- 
powered as  I  was  previously  assured."  But  he  seems  to  be 
unconcious  of  the  deception  practised  upon  him,  and  still 
desirous  that  that  they  should  be  permitted  to  visit  Washing- 
ton under  the  President's  safe  conduct.  Mr.  Lincoln,  des- 
patched his  private  Secretary,  Major  Hay,  to  New  York,  with 
the  following  note  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  July  18,  1864. 
"  To  whom  it  may  concern : 

"  Any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restoration  of  peace,  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  whole  Union,  and  the  abandonment  of  livery,  and  which 
comes  by  and  with  the  authority  that  can  control  the  armies  now  at  war 
against  the  United  States,  will  be  received  and  considered  by  the  Exec- 
utive Government  of  the  United  States,  and  will  be  met  by  liberal  terms 
on  other  substantial,  and  collateral  points,  and  the  bearer  or  bearers 
thereof,  shall  have  safe  conduct  both  ways. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


558  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Greeley  was  authorized  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  letter  of 
July  9th,  to  tender  the  Confederate  agents  safe  conduct,  only 
upon  the  condition  that  they  professed  to  have  a  proposition  of 
Jefferson  Davis  in  writing,  for  peace,  embracing  the  restoration 
of  the  Union,  and  abandonment  of  slavery.  But  it  seems  he 
did  not  communicate  this  to  the  rebel  agents.  Mr.  Greeley 
was  entrapped,  and  did  not  discover  it.  Mr.  Lincoln,  feeling 
the  injustice  which  a  partial  publication  of  this  correspond- 
ence did  to  him,  and  to  the  country,  asked  Mr.  Greeley  to 
permit  the  whole  correspondence  to  be  published,  omitting 
certain  passages  in  Mr.  Greeley's  letters  which  were  calcu- 
lated in  his  judgment,  to  injure  and  depress  the  country. 
Mr.  Greeley  declined,  unless  the  whole  was  published,  and 
Mr.  Lincoln  with  characteristic  magnanimity,  submitted  in 
silence  to  the  injustice,  writing  the  following  letter  to  Mr. 
Raymond :  * 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  Washington,  August  15,  1864. 
"  Hon.  HENRY  J.  RAYMOND: 

"  My  Dear  Sir:  —  I  have  proposed  to  Mr.  Greeley  that  the  Niagara 
correspondence  be  published,  suppressing  only  the  parts  of  his  letters 
over  which  the  red  pencil  is  drawn  in  the  copy,  which  I  herewith  send. 
He  declines  giving  his  consent  to  the  publication  of  his  letters,  unless 
these  parts  be  published  with  the  rest.  I  have  concluded  that  it  is  bet- 
ter for  me  to  submit  for  the  time,  to  the  consequences  of  the  false  posi- 
tion in  which  I  consider  he  has  placed  me,  than  to  subject  the  country 
to  the  consequences  of  publishing  these  discouraging  and  injurious 
parts.  I  send  you  this,  and  the  accompanying  copy,  not  for  publication, 
but  merely  to  explain  to  you.  and  that  you  may  preserve  them  until 
their  proper  time  shall  come." 

"  Yours  truly, 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

The  rebels,  under  John  Morgan,  made  a  desperate  raid 
into  Kentucky,  and  although  checked  and  defeated  by  Gen- 
eral Burbridge  at  Cynthiana,  received  so  much  encouragement 
and  sympathy  from  the  citizens,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  com- 
pelled to  suspend  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  and  declare 
martial  law  in  that  State. 

•  Raymond's  Life  of  Lincoln,  p,  587. 


\ 
PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1864.  559 

The  Presidential  election  approached,  coming  now  in  the 
midst  of  a  civil  war,  which  wrapt  the  whole  country,  and 
aroused  everywhere  the  most  intense  and  violent  passions; 
it  was  felt  that  it  was  a  fearful  ordeal  through  which  the 
country  must  pass.  The  Confederates  still  held  their  Capital; 
three  great  rebel  armies  still  held  the  field ;  the  public  debt 
was  steadily  and  rapidly  increasing.  Under  the  pressure  of 
an  imperative  military  necessity,  the  administration  had  used 
its  Constitutional  right  of  suspending  the  Habeas  Corpus,  the 
great  safeguard  of  civil  liberty;  aad  dealt  with  individuals 
deemed  dangerous,  with  a  severity  as  absolute  as  the  most 
energetic  governments  of  Europe  had  been  accustomed  to  do 
in  time  of  war.  Taxes  were  increasing;  the  President  or- 
dered new  drafts  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the  decimated 
armies.  But  yet  victory,  a  restored  Union,  and  universal 
liberty,  began  to  be  clearly  visible  as  the  results.  The  demo- 
cratic party  availed  itself  of  every  means  to  secure  popular 
favor  and  success  at  the  elections.  It  was  in  the  midst 
of  the  conflict,  when  the  administration  was  straining  every 
nerve  to  crush  the  rebellion,  that  the  Democratic  National 
Convention  had  met  at  Chicago,  and  declared  the  war  a  fail- 
ure, and  demanded  that  immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a 
cessation  of  hostilities,  etc.  The  following  is  the  important 
resolution  upon  which  the  election  turned. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Convention  does  explicitly  declare,  as  the  sense 
of  American  people,  that  after  four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the  Union 
by  the  experiment  of  war,  during  which,  under  the  pretense  of  military 
necessity,  or  war  power,  higher  than  the  Constitution,  the  Constitution 
itself  has  been  disregarded  in  every  part,  and  public  liberty  and  private 
right  alike  trodden  down,  and  the  material  prosperity  of  the  country 
essentially  impaired;  justice,  humanity,  liberty,  and  the  public  welfare 
demand  that  immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a  cessation  of  hostil- 
ities, with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  Convention  of  the  States  or  other  peace- 
able means,  to  the  end  that,  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment  peace  may 
be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal  Union  of  the  States."  * 

The  Union  "War  party  joyfully  accepted  the  issue  thus 
boldly  tendered.  With  this  frank  avowal,  they  did  not  doubt 

*  Raymond's  Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  592. 


56.0     LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

the  result,  and  they  prosecuted  the  canvass  with  energy  and 
confidence.  Whether  the  war  should  go  on  with  vigor,  to 
the  complete  and  final  overthrow  of  slavery  and  the  rebellion, 
or  whether  hostilities  should  cease,  was  the  condition  of  the 
canvass.  "With  this  great  and  overshadowing  issue,  the  peo- 
ple cared  little  for  the  wrangling  over  the  petty  questions 
which  arise  in  a  Presidential  canvass. 
/  The  President  sought  no  disguise  that  the  war  was  now 

{"for  liberty  and  Union."  He  said  during  the  canvass  to 
a  citizen  of  fhe  West,  in  substance :  "  There  are  now  in  the 

\service  of  the  United  States  nearly  two  hundred  thousand 
colored  men,  most  of  them  under  arms.  The  Democratic 
strategy  demands  that  these  forces  be  disbanded,  and  that  the 
masters  be-  conciliated  by  restoring  them  to  slavery.  The 
black  men  who  now  fight  for  us,  and  who  assist  Union  pris- 
oners to  escape,  are  to  be  converted  into  our  enemies  in  the 
vain  hope  of  gaining  the  good  will  of  their  masters."  "  Take" 
said  he,  "  200,000  men  from  our  side,  and  put  them  in  the 
battle-field  or  corn-field  against  us,  and  we  would  be  compelled 
to  abandon  the  war.  There  are  men  base  enough  to  propose 
to  me  to  return  to  slavery  our  black  warriors  of  Port  Hudson 
and  Olustee,  and  thus  win  the  respect  of  the  masters  they 
fought!"  "  Should  I  do  so?"  said  he,  with  indignation  glow- 
ing in  every  feature,  "  I  should  deserve  to  be  damned  in  time 
and  in  eternity.  Come  what  may,"  said  he,  "  I  will  keep  my 
faith  with  the  black  man.  Freedom  has  given  us  200,000  men 
raised  on  Southern  soil.  It  will  give  us  more.  No  human 
power  can  subdue  this  rebellion  without  the  emancipation 
policy.  J  will  abide  the  issue."  He  did  abide  the  issue,  and  the 
glorious  cause  of  liberty,  blessed  by  God,  and  sustained  by  the 
people,  triumphed.  The  victories  of  Sheridan  and  Sherman, 
Farragut  and  Grant  re-acted  upon  the  people,  and  swelled 
the  majority  by  which  Lincoln  was  reelected..  He  received 
all  the  electoral  votes  given,  except  those  of  three  States, 
New  Jersey,  Delaware  and  Kentucky.  His  majority  on  the 
popular  vote  was  more  than  400,000,  a  larger  majority  than 
was  ever  before  given  for  any  Presidential  candidate.  Those 
who  feared  the  ordeal  of  a  popular  election  in  the  midst  of 
the  passions  of  civil  war,  were  compelled  to  acknowledge 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1864.  561 

the  calmness,  the  wisdom  and  dignity  with  which  the  Ameri- 
can people  passed  through  this  crisis.  They  came  out  of  it 
stronger,  more  resolute,  and  more  united  than  ever  before. 
An  observing  world  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  this 
people  capable  of  self  government. 

At  a  late  hour  on  the  night  of  the  election,  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  serenaded,  and  in  response,  said : 

"  I  am  thankful  to  God  for  this  approval  of  the  people.  But  while 
deeply  grateful  for  this  mark  of  their  confidence  in  me,  if  I  know  my 
own  heart,  my  gratitude  is  free  from  any  taint  of  personal  triumph.  I 
do  not  impugn  the  motives  of  any  one  opposed  to  me.  It  is  not  in  my 
nature  to  triumph  over  any  one,  but  I  give  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for 
this  evidence  of  the  people's  resolution  to  stand  by  free  government  and 
the  rights  of  humanity." 

36 


CHAPTEE    XX Y. 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  THE  88TH  CONGRESS— CONSTITUTIONAL 
AMENDMENT  ABOLISHING  AND  PROHIBITING  SLAVERY  THROUGH- 
OUT THE  REPUBLIC. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE — ANTI-SLAVERY  MEASURES — A  BUST 
FOR  CHIEF  JUSTICE  TANEY — SALMON  P.  CHASE  APPOINTED 
CHIEF  JUSTICE— -THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT — PASSAGE 
OF  THE  JOINT  RESOLUTION  THROUGH  CONGRESS — RATIFICATION 
THEREOF  BY  THE  STATES. 

WE  now  come  to  the  Second  Session  of  the  38th  Congress, 
and  the  last  Annual  Message  of  President  Lincoln. 
Congress  had  never  before  during  his  administration,  opened 
under  such  happy  auspices.  Victories  in  the  East  and  in  the 
"West,  and  increasing  and  accumulating  evidence  of  the  ex- 
haustion of  the  Confederacy,  indicated  the  early  triumph  of 
the  Union  cause.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  just  been  re-elected  by  a 
majority  unprecedented;  thereby  stamping  upon  his  admin 
istration  the  approval  of  the  people. 

The  Emancipation  Proclamation,  the  employment  of  negro 
soldiers,  and  the  Constitutional  Amendment  prohibiting  slav- 
ery, had  been  distinctly  presented  to  the  people,  and  had  re- 
ceived their  emphatic  approval.  It  was  under  these  cheer- 
ing circumstances  that  in  December  1864,  Congress  met  and 
received  from  Abraham  Lincoln  his  last  Annual  Message. 
He  commenced  this  peculiarly  interesting  State  paper,  by  ex- 
pressing the  "  profoundest  gratitude  to  Almighty  God."  The 
careful  student  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  State  papers,  and  other 
writings  will  observe  a  constantly  increasing  religious  senti- 
ment exhibiting  itself.  Especially  is  this  discernible  after 
the  death  of  his  idolized  son  Willie,  in  February,  1862. 

562 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE,  1864.  563 

After  reviewing  the  relations  of  the  United  States  with 
other  nations,  he  announced  the  opening  of  the  ports  of 
Norfolk,  Fernandina,  and  Pensacola.  Then  alluding  to  the 
Arguelles  case,  in  which  a  slave-trader  seeking  asylum  in  the 
United  States  had  been  surrendered  to  Spain >  he  said  :  "For 
myself  I  have  no  douht  of  the  power  and  duty  of  the  Exec- 
utive under  the  laws  of  nations  to  exclude  enemies  of  the 
human  race  from  an  asylum  in  the  United  States.  If  Con- 
gress should  think  that  proceedings  in  such  case  lack  the  au- 
thority of  law,  or  ought  to  be  further  regulated  by  it,  I  re- 
commend that  provision  be  made  for  effectually  preventing 
foreign  slave  traders  from  acquiring  domicil  and  facilities  for 
their  criminal  occupation  in  this  country. 

He  then  called  attention  to  the  circumstances  which  had 
induced  him  to  give  notice  to  the  Government  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, of  the  termination  of  the  treaty  stipulation  of  1817, 
which  had  limited  the  number  of  armed  vessels  on  the  Great 
Lakes. 

"  In  view  of  the  insecurity  of  life  in  the  region  adjacent  to  the  Can- 
ada border  by  recent  assaults  and  depredations  committed  by  inimical 
and  desperate  persons  who  are  harbored  there,  it  has  been  thought 
proper  to  give  notice  that  after  the  expiration  of  six  months,  the  period 
conditionally  stipulated  in  the  existing  arrangements  with  Great  Britain 
the  United  States  must  hold  themselves  at  liberty  to  increase  their 
naval  armament  upon  the  Lakes,  if  they  shall  find  that  proceeding  nec- 
essary. The  condition  of  the  border  will  necessarily  come  into  consid- 
eration in  connection  with  the  question  of  continuing  or  modifying  the 
rights  of  transit  from  Canada  through  the  United  States,  as  well  as  the 
regulation  of  imports,  which  were  temporarily  established  by  the  Reci- 
procity Treaty  of  the  5th  of  June,  1854." 

He  then  proceeds  to  speak  of  the  very  important  subject 
of  finance,  and  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  Government. 
He  says : 

"  The  legislation  of  the  last  session  of  Congress  has  beneficially  ef- 
fected the  revenue.  Although  sufficient  time  has  not  yet  elapsed  to  ex- 
perience the  full  effect  of  several  of  the  provisions  of  the  acts  of  Con- 
gross  imposing  increased  taxation,  the  receipts  during  the  year  from  all 
sources,  upon  the  basis  of  warrants  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 


564       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Treasury,  including  loans  and  the  balance  in  the  treasury,  on  the  1st 
day  of  July,  1863.  were  $1,394,796,007  62,  and  the  aggregate  disburse- 
ments upon  the  same  basis  were  $1,298,056,191  89,  leaving  a  balance 
in  the  treasury,  as  shown  by  warrants,  of  $96,739,905  73.  Deduct 
from  these  amounts  the  amount  of  the  principle  of  the  public  debt  re- 
deemed, and  the  amount  of  issues  in  substitution  therefor,  and  the  ac- 
tual cash  operations  of  the  treasury  were  receipts,  $884,076,646.77, 
disbursements  $865,234,087.86,  which  leaves  a  cash  balance  in  the 
treasury  of  $18,842,558.71.  Of  the  receipts,  there  were  derived  from 
customs,  $102,316.152.99  ;  from  lands,  $588,333.29  ;  from  direct  tax- 
es;  $575,648,96 ;  from  internal  revenues,  $109,741,134.10;  from  mis- 
cellaneous sources,  $47,511,448.10;  and  from  loans  applied  to  actual 
expenditures,  including  former  balance,  $623,443,929.13.  There  were 
disbursed,  for  the  civil  service,  $27,505,579.46 ;  for  pensions  and  In- 
dians, $7,517,930.97  ;  for  the  War  Department,  $60,791,842.97;  for 
the  Navy  Department,  $85,733,292.97  ;  for  interest  of  the  public  debt, 
$52,685,421.69.  Making  an  aggregate  of  $865,234,087.86  and  leav- 
ing a  balance  in  the  treasury  of  $18,842,558.71,  as  before  stated." 

Of  the  public  debt  he  says  : 

"  The  public  debt  from  the  1st  day  of  July  last,  as  appears  from  the 
books  of  the  Treasury,  amounted  to  one  billion,  seven  hundred  and 
forty  million,  six  hundred  and  ninety  thousand,  four  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  dollars,  and  forty-nine  cents.  Probably  should  the  war  continue 
for  another  year,  that  amount  may  be  increased  by  not  far  from  five 
hundred  millions.  Held  as  it  is,  for  the  most  part  by  our  own  people, 
it  has  become  a  substantial  branch  of  National,  though  private  prop- 
erty. For  obvious  reasons  the  more  nearly  this  property  can  be  dis- 
tributed among  all  the  people  the  better.  To  favor  such  general  dis- 
tribution, greater  inducements  to  become  owners,  perhaps  might  with 
good  offect  and  without  injury,  be  presented  to  persons  with  limited 
means.  With  this  view  I  suggest  whether  it  might  not  be  both  expe- 
dient and  competent  for  Congress  to  provide  that  a  limited  amount  of 
some  future  issue  of  public  securities  might  not  be  held,  by  any  bona- 
fifle  purchaser,  exempt  from  taxation,  and  of  seizure  from  debt,  under 
such  restrictions  and  limitations  as  might  be  necessary  to  guard  against 
abuse  of  so  important  a  privilege.  This  would  enable  prudent  persons 
to  set  aside  a  small  annuity  against  a  possible  day  of  want.  Privileges 
like  these  would  render  the  possession  of  such  securities  to  the  amount 
limited,  most  desirable  to  any  person  of  small  means  who  might  be  able 
to  save  enough  for  the  purpose.  The  great  advantage  of  citizens  being 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE,  1864.  565 

creditors  as  well  as  debtors  with  relation  to  the  public  debt,  is  obvious. 
Men  readily  perceive  that  they  cannot  be  much  oppressed  by  a  debt 
which  they  owe  to  themselves.  The  public  debt  on  the  1st  day  of 
July  last,  although  somewhat  exceeding  the  estimate  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  made  to  Congress  at  the  commencement  of  last  ses- 
sion, falls  short  of  the  estimate  of  that  officer  made  in  the  preceding 
December,  as  to  its  probable  amount  at  the  beginning  of  this  year,  by 
the  sum  of  $3,995,079.33.  This  fact  exhibits  a  satisfactory  condition 
and  conduct  of  the  operations  of  the  treasury." 

Of  the  National  Banking  System,  the  great  financial 
measure  of  Mr.  Chase,  he  says : 

"  The  national  banking  system  is  proving  to  be  acceptable  to  capital- 
ists and  to  the  people.  On  the  25th  day  of  November,  five  hundred 
and  eighty-four  national  banks  had  been  organized,  a  considerable 
number  of  which  were  conversions  from  State  banks.  Changes 
from  the  State  system  to  the  national  system  are  rapidly  taking  place,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  very  soon  there  will  be  in  the  United  States  no  banks  of 
issue  not  authorized  by  Congress,  and  no  bank-note  circulation  not  se- 
cured by  the  Government.  That  the  Government  and  the  people  will 
derive  general  benefits  from  this  change  in  the  banking  system  of  the 
country,  can  hardly  be  questioned.  The  national  system  will  create  a 
reliable  and  permanent  influence  in  support  of  the  national  credit,  and 
protect  the  people  against  losses  in  the  use  of  paper  money.  Whether 
or  not  any  further  legislation  is  advisable  for  the  suppression  of  State 
bank  issues,  it  will  be  for  Congress  to  determine.  It  seems  quite  clear 
that  the  Treasury  cannot  be  satisfactorily  conducted,  unless  the  Gov- 
ernment can  exercise  a  restraining  power  over  the  bank-note  circulation 
of  the  country. 

Referring  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  for  the 
details  of  the  operations  of  the  Army  and  of  the  Navy,  he 


"  The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  presents  a  comprehen- 
sive and  satisfactory  exhibit  of  the  affairs  of  that  department  and  of 
the  naval  service.  It  is  a  subject  of  congratulation  and  laudable  pride 
to  our  countrymen,  that  a  navy  of  such  proportions  has  been  organized 
in  so  brief  a  period,  and  conducted  with  so  much  efficiency  and  suc- 
cess. The  general  exhibit  of  the  navy,  including  vessels  under  con- 
struction on  the  1st  of  December,  1864,  shows  a  total  of  671  vessels, 


566  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

carrying  4,610  guns,  and  510,396  tons,  being  an  actual  increase  during 
the  year  over  and  above  all  losses  by  shipwreck  or  in  battle,  of  83  ves- 
sels, 167  guns,  and  42,427  tons.  The  total  number  of  men  at  this 
time  in  the  naval  service,  including  officers,  is  about  51,000.  There 
have  been  captured  by  the  navy  during  the  year  324  vessels,  and  the 
whole  number  of  naval  captures  since  hostilities  commenced  is  1,379, 
of  which  267  are  steamers." 

After  alluding  to  the  rapid  sale  and  settlement  of  the  pub- 
lic lands,  notwithstanding  the  war,  and  the  rapid  progress 
of  the  great  Pacific  railway,  he  comes  to  the  all-absorbing 
subject  of  the  war.  He  says  : 

"  The  war  continues.  Since  the  last  annual  message,  all  the  import- 
ant lines  and  positions  then  occupied  by  our  forces  have  been  main- 
tained, and  our  armies  have  steadily  advanced,  thus  liberating  the 
regions  left  in  the  rear ;  so  that  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
parts  of  other  States,  have  again  produced  reasonably  fair  crops. 

"  The  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  military  operations  of  the  year 
is  General  Sherman's  attempted  march  of  three  hundred  miles,  directly 
through  an  insurgent  region.  It  tends  to  show  a  great  increase  of  our 
relative  strength,  that  our  General-in  Chief  should  feel  able  to  con- 
front and  hold  in  check  every  active  force  of  the  enemy,  and  yet  to 
detach  a  well-appointed  large  army  to  move  on  such  an  expedition. 
The  result  not  yet  being  known,  conjecture  in  regard  to  it  cannot 
here  be  indulged." 

Of  the  progress  towards  reconstruction,  "  moulding  so- 
ciety for  durability  in  the  Union,"  as  he  terms  it  in  his  own 
most  significant  phraseology,  he  says  "  although  these  move- 
ments are  short  of  complete  success,  it  is  much  in  the  right 
direction  that  12,000  citizens  in  the  States  of  Arkansas  and 
Louisiana  have  organized  loyal  state  Governments,  with  free 
constitutions,  and  are  earnestly  struggling  to  maintain  and 
administer  them.  The  movements  in  the  same  direction, 
more  extensive,  though  less  definite  in  Missouri,  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  should  not  be  overlooked.  "  But  Maryland," 
he  says,  exultingly,  "  presents  an  example  of  complete  suc- 
cess. Maryland  is  secure  to  liberty  and  Union  for  all 
the  future.  The  genius  of  rebellion  will  no  more  claim  Mary- 
land ;  like  another  foul  spirit  being  driven  out,  it  may  seek 
to  tear  her,  but  it  will  woo  her  no  more." 


PRESIDENT'S   MESSAGE,  1864.  567 

Upon  the  pending  question  of  the  proposed  constitutional 
amendment  abolishing  slavery,  the  question  of  all  others  of 
overshadowing  importance,  he  says  : 

•'  At  the  last  session  of  Congress,  a  proposed  amendment  of  the  con- 
stitution, abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  United  States,  passed  the 
Senate,  but  -failed  for  the  lack  of  the  requisite  two-thirds  vote  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  Although  the  present  is  the  same  Con- 
gress, and  nearly  the  same  members,  and  without  questioning  the  wisdom 
or  patriotism  of  those  who  stood  in  opposition,  I  venture  to  recommend 
the  reconsideration  and  passage  of  the  measure  at  the  present  session. 
Of  course  the  abstract  question  is  not  changed,  but  an  intervening 
election  shows  almost  certainly  that  the  next  Congress  will  pass  the 
measure,  if  this  does  not.  Hence  there  is  only  a  question  of  time  as 
to  when  the  proposed  amendment  will  go  to  the  States  for  their  action, 
and  as  it  is  to  go  at  all  events,  may  we  not  agree  that  the  sooner  the 
better  ?  It  is  not  claimed  that  the  election  has  imposed  a  duty  on  mem- 
bers to  change  their  views  or  their  votes,  any  further  than  as  an  addi- 
tional element  to  be  considered.  Their  judgment  may  be  affected  by 
it.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  people  now  for  the  first  time  heard  upon  the 
question  In  a  great  national  crisis  like  ours,  unanimity  of  action  among 
these  seeking  a  common  end  is  very  desirable — almost  indispensable ; 
and  yet  no  approach  to  such  unanimity  is  attainable  unless  some  defer- 
ence shall  be  paid  to  the  will  of  the  majority.  In  this  case  the  com- 
mon.end  is  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  and  among  the  means  to 
secure  that  end,  such-rwill,  through  the  election,  is  most  clearly  declared 
in  favor  of  such  constitutional  amendment.  The  most  reliable  indica- 
tion of  public  purpose  in  this  country  is  derived  through  our  popular 
elections.  Judging  by  the  recent  canvass  and  its  results,  the  purpose 
of  <>be  people  within  the  loyal  States  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the 
Union,  was  never  more  firm  or  more  nearly  unanimous  than  now.  The 
extraordinary  calmness  and  good  order  with  which  the  millions  of  vot- 
ers met  and  mingled  at  the  polls,  gives  strong  assurance  of  this.  Not 
only  all  those  who  supported  the  Union  ticket  (so  called,)  but  a  great 
majority  of  the  opposing  party  also,  may  be  fairly  claimed  to  entertain 
and  to  be  actuated  by  the  same  purpose.  It  is  an  unanswerable  argu- 
ment to  this  effect  that  no  candidate  for  any  office  whatever,  high  or 
low,  has  ventured  to  seek  votes  on  the  avowal  that  he  was  for  giving  up 
the  Union.  There  has  been  much  impugning  of  motives,  and  much 
heated  controversy  as  to  the  proper  means  and  best  mode  of  advancing 
the  Union  cause ;  but  in  the  distinct  issue  of  Union  or  no  Union,  the 
politicians  have  shown  their  instinctive  knowledge  that  there  is  no  diver- 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Bity  among  the  people.  In  affording  the  people  a  fair  opportunity  of 
showing  one  to  another,  and  to  the  world,  their  firmness  and  unan- 
imity of  purpose,  the  election  has  been  of  vast  value  to  the  Union 
cause." 

Upon  the  question  of  how  far  the  Republic  had  been  ex- 
hausted by  the  war  in  men  and  resources,  he  makes  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  and  striking  statements: 

"  The  election  has  exhibited  another  fact,  not  less  valuable  to  be 
known — the  fact  that  we  do  not  approach  exhaustion  in  the  most  im- 
portant branch  of  the  national  resources — that  of  living  men.  While 
it  is  melancholy  to  reflect  that  the  war  has  filled  so  many  graves,  and 
caused  mourning  to  so  many  hearts,  it  is  some  relief  to  know  that, 
compared  with  the  surviving,  the  fallen  brave  have  been  so  few.  While 
corps  and  divisions  and  regiments  have  formed  and  fought  and  dwin- 
dled and  gone  out  of  existence,  a  great  majority  of  the  men  who  com- 
posed them  are  still  living.  The  same  is  true  of  the  naval  service. 
The  election  returns  prove  this.  So  many  voters  could  not  else  be 
found.  The  States  regularly  holding  elections,  both  now  and  four  years 
ago — to  wit :  California,  Connecticut,  Delaware,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa, 
Kentucky,  Maine,  Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota, 
Missouri,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Oregon, 
Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Vermant,  West  Virginia,  and  Wisconsin 
— cast  3,982,011  votes  now,  against  3,870,222  cast  then;  showing  an 
aggregate  now  of  3.982,011,  to  which  is  to  be  a^ded  33,762  cast  now 
in  the  new  States  of  Kansas  and  Nevada,  which  States  did  not  vote  in 
1860 ;  thus  swelling  the  aggregate  to  4,015,773,  and  the  net  increase, 
during  the  three  and  a  half  years  of  war,  to  145,551.  A  table  is  ap- 
pended, showing  particulars.  To  this  again  should  be  added  the  numbers 
of  all  soldiers  in  the  field  belonging  to  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island, 
New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  California,  who  by  the 
laws  of  those  States  could  not  vote  away  from  their  homes,  and  which 
number  cannot  be  less  than  90,000.  Nor  yet  is  this  all.  The  number 
in  organized  Territories  is  triple  now  what  it  was  four  years  ago,  while 
thousands,  white  and  black,  join  us  as  the  national  arms  press  back  the 
insurgent  lines.  So  much  is  shown  affirmatively  and  negatively  by  the 
election.  It  is  not  material  to  inquire  how  the  increase  has  been  pro- 
duced, or  to  show  that  it  would  have  been  greater  but  for  the  war, 
which  is  probably  true.  The  important  fact  remains  demonstrated  that 
we  have  more  men  now  than  we  had  when  the  war  began ;  that  we  are 
not  exhausted,  nor  in  process  of  exhaustion ;  that  we  are  gaining 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE. 


569 


strength,  and  may,  if  need  be,  maintain  the  contest  indefinitely.     This 
as  to  men. 

COMPARATIVE  VOTE,  1860  AND  1864. 

1860.  1864. 

Kentucky 148,216  91,300 

Maine 97,918  115,141 

Maryland 92,502  72,703 

Massachusetts 169,533  175,487 

Michigan 154,747  162,412 

Minnesota 34,799  42,534 

Missouri 165,538  90,000 

New  Hampshire 65,953  69,111 

New  Jersey 121,125  128,680 

New  York 675,156  730,661 

Ohio. 442,441  470,745 

Oregon 14,410  f  14,410 

Pennsylvania 476  442  572,697 

Rhode  Island 19,931  22,187 

Vermont 42,844  55,811 

West  Virginia 46,195  33,874 

Wisconsin 152,180  148,513 

Total 3,870,222  3,982,011 

Kansas 17,234 

Nevada 16,528  33,762 


Total 4,015,713 

Material  resources  are  now  more  complete  and  abundant  than  ever. 
The  national  resources,  then,  are  unexhausted,  and,  as  we  believe,  in- 
exhaustible. The  public  purpose  to  re-estabiish  and  maintain  the 
national  authority  is  unchanged,  and,  as  we  believe  unchangeable." 

He  then  goes  on  to  say  that  the  issue  with  the  rebel  lead- 
ers could  only  be  decided  by  war,  and  victory.  Negotiation 
was  useless.  On  this  point  he  said : 

"  On  careful  consideration  of  all  the  evidence  accessible,  it  seems  to 
me  that  no  attempt  at  negotiation  with  the  insurgent  leader  could  result 
in  any  good.  He  would  accept  of  nothing  short  of  the  severance  of 
the  Union.  His  declarations  to  this  effect  are  explicit  and  oft  repeated. 
He  does  not  attempt  to  deceive  us.  He  affords  us  no  excuse  to 
deceive  ourselves. 


^  *  Nearly.         t  Estimated. 


570  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

We  cannot  voluntarily  yield  it.  Between  him  and  us  the  issue  is  dis- 
tinct, simple,  and  inflexible.  It  is  an  issue  which  can  only  be  tried  by 
war,  and  decided  by  victory.  If  we  yield,  we  are  beaten.  If  the  South- 
ern people  fail  him,  he  is  beaten.  Either  way,  it  would  be  the  victory 
and  defeat  following  war.  What  is  true,  however,  of  him  who  heads 
the  insurgent  cause,  is  not  necessarily  true  of  those  who  follow.  Al- 
though he  cannot  reaccept  the  Union,  they  can.  Some  of  them  we 
know  already  desire  peace  and  reunion.  The  number  of  such  may  in- 
crease. They  can  at  any  moment  have  peace,  simply  by  laying  down 
their  arms  and  submitting  to  the  national  authority  under  the  Consti- 
tution. After  so  much  the  Government  could  not,  if  it  would,  main- 
tain war  against  them.  The  loyal  people  would  not  sustain  or  allow  it. 
If  questions  should  remain,  we  would  adjust  them  by  the  peaceful 
means  of  legislation,  conference,  courts,  and  votes,  operating  only  in 
constitutional  and  lawful  channels.  Some  certain  and  other  possible 
questions  are,  and  would  be  beyond  the  executive  power  to  adjust — as, 
for  instance,  the  admission  of  members  into  Congress,  and  whatever 
might  require  the  appropriation  of  money.  The  executive  power  it- 
self would  be  greatly  diminished  by  the  cessation  of  actual  war.  Par- 
dons and  remissions  of  forfeiture,  however,  would  still  be  within  the 
executive  control.  In  what  spirit  and  temper  this  control  would  be 
exercised,  can  be  fairly  judged  of  by  the  past.  A  year  ago  general 
pardon  and  amnesty  upon  specified  terms,  were  offered  to  all  except 
certain  designated  classes,  and  it  was  at  the  same  time  made  known  that 
the  excepted  classes  were  still  within  contemplation  of  special  clemency. 
During  the  year  many  availed  themselves  of  the  general  provision,  and 
many  more  would,  only  that  the  signs  of  bad  faith  in  some  led  to  such 
precautionary  measures  as  rendered  the  practical  process  less  easy  and 
certain.  During  the  same  time,  also,  special  pardons  have  been  granted 
to  individuals  of  excepted  classes,  and  no  voluntary  application  has 
been  denied. 

"  Thus  practically  the  door  has  been  for  a  full  year  open  to  all,  except 
such  as  were  not  in  condition  to  make  free  choice — that  is  such  as  were 
in  custody  or  under  constraint.  It  is  still  so  open  to  all ;  but  the  time 
may  come,  probably  will  come,  when  public  duty  shall  demand  that  it 
be  closed,  and  that  in  lieu  more  vigorous  measures  than  heretofore  shall 
be  adopted." 

He  closes  this  wise  and  statesman-like  message,  in  the 
following  memorable  words;  words  the  more  they  are  pon- 
dered by  the  American  people,  in  the  light  of  the  present, 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.  571 

the  more  deep  will  be  the  regret  that  this  great  and  good 
man,  was  not  permitted  himself  to  finish  the  work  of 
restoring  the  Union.  "  In  presenting  "  says  he,  "  the  aban- 
donment of  armed  resistance  to  the  National  authority  on 
the  part  of  the  insurgents,  as  the  only  indispensable  condition 
on  the  part  of  the  Government  to  peace,  I  retract  nothing 
heretofore  said  as  to  slavery.  I  repeat  the  declaration  made 
a  year  ago,  that  while  I  remain  in  my  present  position,  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  retract  or  modify  the  Emancipation  Proclamation; 
nor  shall  1  return  to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free  by  the  terms 
of  that  proclamation,  or  by  any  of  the  acts  of  Congress." 
Rather  than  do  this  he  would  retire  from  the  office  of 
President. 

"  If  the  people  "  said  he,  "  should  by  whatever  mode  or 
means,  make  it  an  Executive  duty  to  reenslave  such  persons, 
another,  and  not  I,  must  be  their  instrument  to  perform  it. 
In  stating  a  single  condition  of  peace,  I  mean  simply  to  say, 
that  the  war  will  cease  on  the  part  of  the  Government, 
whenever  it  shall  have  ceased  on  the  part  of  those  who 
began  it." 

This  session  of  Congress  went  forward  with  the  work  of 
removing  from  the  Statute  book,  all  laws  which  had  been 
passed  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  slavery,  and  creat- 
ing disabilities  on  the  part  of  the  negro  race.  A  law  was 
enacted  providing  that  no  person  should  thereafter  be  dis- 
qualified from  carrying  the  United  States'  mails  on  account 
of  color.  At  this  session,  the  law  finally  passed  and  received 
the  prompt  approval  of  the  President,  giving  freedom  to  the 
families  of  colored  soldiers. 

Senator  Wilson,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  speaking  of  the  resolution,  said:  "  The  committee 
have  three  times  reported  the  substance  of  this  resolution. 
It  simply  provides  that  the  wives  and  children  of  soldiers  of 
the  Republic  shall  be  made  free.  The  needs  of  the  country 
have  placed  weapons  in  the  hands  of  the  slaves.  They  are 
to-day  in  the  trenches  before  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  and 
OJL  the  shores  of  the  Carolinas;  and  they  keep  watch  and 
ward  over  the  Mississippi  from  Cairo,  to  the  Gulf,  They 
are  everywhere  doing  their  duty  bravely  and  well.  Butler 


572       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

and  Banks,  Meade  and  Burnside,  Warren,  Hancock,  and 
Grant  have  all  borne  testimony  to  their  fidelity,  their  cour- 
age, and  their  services.  It  is  estimated  that  from  75,000  to 
100,000  persons,  wives  and  children  of  these  soldiers,  are 
held  in  slavery.  It  is  a  burning  shame  to  the  country;  it  is 
an  indecency  to  the  American  people,  to  hold  'the  wives  and 
children  in  slavery,  of  men  who  are  perilling  their  lives  for 
the  country."  The  joint  resolution  making  free  the  wives 
and  children  of  colored  soldiers,  passed  the  House  on  the 
22d  of  February,  1865. 

Senator  Trumbull,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary,  of  the  Senate,  on  the  23d  of  February,  moved  to 
proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  bill,  which  had  been  re- 
ported from  that  committee,  providing:  for  a  bust  of  the  late 
Chief  Justice  Taney  to  be  placed  in  the  Supreme  Court 
room.  Mr.  Sumner  objected  that  an  emancipated  country 
should  make  a  bust  to  the  author  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision. 
Senator  Trumbull  said:  "He  (Taney,)  was  a  great,  and 
learned,  and  an  able  man,  and  he  trusted  the  Senate  would 
take  up  and  pass  the  bill.* 

Mr.  Sumner  in  reply,  said  : 

•  The  Senator  from  Illinois  says  that  this  idea  ot  a  bust  is  not  to  be  hooted  down 
Let  me  tell  that  Senator  that  the  name  of  Taney  is  to  be  hooted  down  the  page  of 
history.    Judgment  is  beginning  now;  and  an  emancipated  country  will  fasten 
upon  him  the  stigma  which  he  deserves.    The  Senator  says  that  he  for  twenty-five 
years  administered  justice.  He  administered  justice  at  last  wickedly,  and  degraded 
the  judiciary  of  the  country,  and  degraded  the  age. 

Mi.  JOHNSON.  I  cannot  fail  to  express  my  astonishment  at  the  course  of  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  which  he  thinks  it,  I  suppose,  his  duty  to 
pursue.  Sir,  if  the  times  in  which  -we  are  living  are  honestly  and  truly  recorded 
by  the  historian,  I  think  the  honorable  member  from  Massachusetts  will  be  very 
happy  if  he  stands  as  pure  and  as  high  upon  the  historic  page  as  the  learned  Judge 
who  is  now  no  more. 

The  honorable  member  seems  to  suppose  that  the  decision  in  the  Dred  Scott  case 
was  a  decision  of  the  Chief  Justice  alone.  It  was  not  so.  In  that  decision  a  majority 
of  the  court  concurred.  Whether  that  decision  is  right  or  not,  permit  me  to  say  to 
the  honorable  member  there  are  men  belonging  |to  the  profession  at  least  his 
equals,  who  think  it  to  have  been  right ;  but  whether  right  or  wrong,  those  who 
knew  the  moral  character  of  the  Chief  Justice  as  well  as  I  did,  would  blush  to  say 
that  his  name  is  to  be  execrated  among  men.  Sir,  the  decisions  of  that  learned 
jurist  are  now  quoted  with  approbation  everywhere,  and  there  is  not  a  judge  upon 
the  bench  now,  three  or  four  of  them  having  been  selected  by  the  present  incum- 
bent of  the  Presidential  office,  who  will  not  say  at  once  that  a  brighter  intellect 
never  adorned  the  judicial  station.  But  it  is  a  matter  of  history.  Every  Judge  who 
has  been  at  the  head  of  that  tribunal  has  his  bust  placed  in  that  court  room.  Does 
the  honorable  member  wish  to  have  it  unknown  in  future  times  that  there  was 

•  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  1012-13. 


SPEECH  OF  SUMNER.  573 

such  a  Chief  Justice  ?  I  suppose  he  does ;  I  presume  he  does ;  and  why  ?  Because 
he  differed  with  him.  If  so,  to  be  consistent,,  he  will  be  compelled  to  wish  that 
two-thirds  of  the  profession  in  the  United  States,  and  two-thirds  of  the  country, 
should  be  forgotten  in  all  after  time,  for  I  am  sure  I  am  not  mistaken  in  supposing 
that  at  least  that  number  will  be  found  in  opposition  to  the  peculiar  opinions  of 
the  honorable  member  from  Massachusetts.  ***** 

Mr.  SUMNEK.  I  objected  to  this  joint  resolution  some  days  ago,  when  it  was  re- 
ported by  the  Senator  from  Illinois,  [Mr.  TKUMBUXL,]  and  he  was  disposed  to  hurry 
it  at  once  upon  the  Senate,  to  the  exclusion  of  important  business.  I  objected  to  it 
again  to-day,  but  it  was  from  no  indisposition  to  discuss  it. 

I  know  well  the  trivial  apology  which  may  be  made  for  this  proposition,  and  the 
Senator  from  Maryland  [Mr.  JOHNSON,]  has  already  shown  something  of  the  hardi- 
hood with  which  it  may  be  defended.  But  in  the  performance  of  public  duty  I  am 
indifferent  to  both. 

"  The  apology  is  too  obvious.  '  Nothing  but  good  of  the  dead.'  This  is  a  familiar 
saying,  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  may  be  acknowledged.  But  it  is  entirely  inap- 
plicable when  statues  and  busts  are  proposed  in  honor  of  the  dead.  Then,  at  least, 
truth  must  prevail. 

"  If  a  man  has  done  evil  during  life  he  must  not  be  complimented  in  marble. 
And  if  indiscreetly  it  is  proposed  to  decree  such  a  signal  honor,  then  the  evil  he 
has  done  must  be  exposed ;  nor  shall  any  false  delicacy  seal  my  lips.  It  is  not 
enough  that  he  held  high  place,  that  he  enjoyed  worldly  honors,  or  was  endowed, 
with  intellectual  gifts. 

"  Who  wickedly  is  wise,  or  madly  brave, 
Is  but  the  more  a  fool,  the  more  a  knave. 

"  What  is  the  office  of  Chief  Justice,  if  it  has  been  used  to  betray  Human  Rights? 
The  crime  is  great  according  to  the  positon  of  the  criminal. 

"  If  you  were  asked,  sir,  to  mention  the  incident  of  our  history  previous  to  the 
rebellion  which  was  in  all  respects  most  worthy  of  condemnation,  most  calculated 
to  cause  the  blush  of  shame,  and  most  deadly  in  its  consequences,  I  do  not)  doubt 
that  you  would  say  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  especially  the  wicked  opinion  of 
the  Chief  Justice  on  that  occasion.  I  say  this  with  pain.  I  do  not  seek  this  debate. 
But  when  a  proposition  is  made  to  honor  the  author  of  this  wickedness  with  a 
commemorative  bust  at  the  expense  of  the  country,  I  am  obliged  to  speak  plainly. 

"  I  am  not  aware  that  the  English  judges  who  decided  contrary  to  Liberty  in  the 
case  of  ship-money,  and  thus  sustained  the  king  in  those  pretensions  which  ended 
in  civil  war,  have  ever  been  commemorated  in  marble.  I  am  not  aware  that  Jef- 
freys, Chief  Justice  and  Chancellor  of  England,  famous  for  his  talents  as  for  his 
crimes,  has  found  any  niche  in  Westminster  Hall.  No,  sir.  They  have  been  left  to 
the  judgment  of  history,  and  there  I  insist  that  Taney  shall  be  left  in  sympathetic 
companionship.  Each  was  the  tool  of  unjust  power.  But  the  power  which  Taney 
served,  was  node  other  than  that  Slave  Power  which  has  involved  the  country  in 
war. 

"  I  speak  what  cannot  be  denied  when  I  declare  that  the  opinion  of  the  Chief 
Justice  in  the  case  of  Dred  Scott,  was  more  thoroughly  abominable  than  anything 
of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  courts.  Judicial  baseness  reached  its  lowest  point  on 
that  occasion.  You  have  not  forgotten  that  terrible  decision  where  a  most 
unrighteous  judgment  was  sustained  by  a  falsification  of  history.  *  *  * 

"Sir,  it  is  not  fit,  it  is  not  decent,  that  such  a  person  should  be  commemorated  by 
a  vote  of  Congress ;' especially  at  this  time  when  liberty  is  at  last  recognized.  If 
you  have  money  to  appropriate  in  this  way,  let  it  be  in  honor  of  the  defenders  of 
liberty  now  gathered  to  their  fathers.  There  was  John  Quincy  Adams.  There  also 
was  Joshua  B.  Giddings.  Let  their  busts  be  placed  in  the  court  room,  if  you  please, 
where  with  marble  lips  they  can  plead  always  for  human  rights,  and  teach,  judge, 
and  advocate,  the  glory  and  the  beauty  of  justice.  Then  will  you  do  something 
not  entirely  unworthy  of  a  regenerated  land ;  something  which  will  be  an  example 
for  future  times;  something  which  will  help  to  fix  the  standard  of  history. 

"  I  know  that  in  the  court  room  there  are  buste  of  the  other  Chief  Justices.  Very 
well.  So  in  the  hall  of  the  doges,  at  Venice,  there  are  pictures  of  all  who  filled  that 


574       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

high  office  in  unbroken  succession  with  the  exception  of  Marino  Faliero,  who, 
although  as  venerable  from  years  as  Taney,  was  deemed  unworthy  of  a  place  in 
that  line.  Where  his  picture  should  have  been,  there  was  a  vacant  space  which 
testified  always  to  the  justice  of  the  republic.  Let  such  a  vacant  space  in  our  court 
room  testily  to  the  Justice  of  our  Republic.  Let  it  speak  in  warning  to  all  who 

would  betray  liberty. 

t 

Senator  Hale  said,  "  I  am  not  willing  to  pass  an  appropri- 
ation, to  do  honor  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  nor  to  its 
author."  He  said : 

"  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  was  at  that  time  the  thrall  of  slavery, 
Just  as  much  so  as  Gurth,  the  son  of  Beowulph,  and  Wamboa,  son  of  Witless,  that 
had  a  ring  about  their  necks  by  which  they  were  marked  '  born  thrall  of  Cedric,  of 
Rotherwood.'  The  Supreme  Court,  the  thrall  of  slavery,  did  not  think  it  prudent 
to  publish  the  decision  which  they  made  at  December  term,  1855,  and  for  what  rea- 
eon  ?  There  was  a  Presidential  election  coming  on  in  the  fall  of  18.56 ;  and  if  the 
decision  had  been  made  at  the  sitting  of  1855,  and  the  public  had  known  it;  if  the 
decision  which  was  afterward  proclaimed  in  1857,  had  been  declared  in  1855,  or  the 
early  part  of  1856,  the  sage  of  Wheatland  would  now  be  an  ex-Senator  instead  of 
an  ex-President.  The  Supreme  Court  kept  back  the  decision. 

Senator  Wilson  said,  "  I  have  no  heart  to  follow  any  man 
to  the  grave  with  reproaches,  nor  to  dishonor  his  name,  or 
defame  his  memory.  But  I  am  impelled  by  an  imperative 
sense  of  duty  to  vote  against  the  resolution  to  perpetuate 
in  marble,  the  features  of  the  Judge  who  pronounced  the 
Dred  Scott  decision,  the  greatest  crime  in  the  judicial  annals 
of  the  Republic."  He  said: 

"  You  may,  sir,  erect  statues  to  him ;  you  may  pass  resolutions,  you  may  pro- 
nounce eulogies ;  but  the  future,  the  coming  future,  grand  and  great,  of  emanci- 
pated, disenthralled,  and  regenerated  America,  will  place  him  Just  where  it  wiU 
places  others  who  were  recreant  to  liberty  and  humanity.  That  future  will  declare 
that  he  nurtured  the  spirit  of  slavery,  strengthened  its  power,  enthroned  it,  hedged 
It  around  with  Judicial  authority,  till  it,  in  the  pride  and  arrogance  of  its  power, 
raised  its  hand  against  the  Nation,  and  rushed  headlong  into  the  flre  and  blood  of 
civil  war." 

The  Senate  adjourned  without  bringing  the  resolution  to  a 
direct  vote,  and  the  friends  of  Chief  Justice  Taney  did  not 
bring  the  subject  again  to  the  attention  of  the  Senate. 

Justice  Taney  died  October  12th,  1864,  and  there  was  great 
interest  felt  by  the  people,  and  much  speculation  in  the  pub- 
lic press,  in  regard  to  his  successor.  The  office  of  Chief 
Justice,  is  only  second  in  dignity  to  that  of  President,  and 
considering  its  tenure  scarcely,  if  at  all,  inferior  to  the  Pres- 
idency in  importance.  Indeed  looking  to  the  momentous 
legal  and  Constitutional  questions  likely  to  grow  out  of  the 


CHASE  APPOINTED  CHIEF  JUSTICE.  575 

war,  the  office  of  Chief  Justice,  was  the  most  important  in 
the  Government.  Those  who  did  not  thoroughly  know  the 
magnanimity,  and  high  sense  of  duty  which  governed  Mr. 
Lincoln,  could  not  believe  he  would  nominate  Mr.  Chase  for 
that  position.  Recalling  what  was  termed  the  want  of  fidelity 
to  his  Chief  on  the  part  of  Secretary  Chase,  in  permitting  his 
friends  to  seek  his  nomination  for  the  Presidency  over  Mr. 
Lincoln,  while  continuing  to  hold  a  place  in  his  Cabinet,  and 
the  circumstances  connected  with  his  resignation  of  the  office 
of  Secretary,  they  were  quite  sure  Mr.  Chase  would  not  be 
Chief  Justice.  But  this  opinion  did  injustice  tp  Mr.  Lincoln. 
It  is  known  that  nothwithstanding  all  the  influence  brought 
in  favor  of  others  for  this  high  position,  Mr.  Lincoln 
never  hesitated  a  moment  in  his  determination  to  appoint 
Mr.  Chase.  He  believed  him  the  most  fit  man  for  the  station, 
and  he  said:  "We  have  stood  together  in  the  time  of  trial,  \ 
and  I  should  despise  myself  if  I  allowed  personal  differences,  \ 
to  affect  my  judgment  of  his  fitness  for  the  office  of  Chief 
Justice."  The  appointment  of  Salmon  P.  Chase  as  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States  was  promptly  sent  to  the  Senate> 
on  the  meeting  of  Congress,  and  as  promptly  confirmed. 

Nothing  perhaps  more  strikingly  illustrates  the  revolution 
in  opinion,  and  in  the  Government,  than  this  change  in  the 
Supreme  Court.  Taney  was  the  representative  of  slavery; 
Chase  had  long  been  the  champion  of  liberty.  Tarfey's  dy- 
nasty on  the  bench  will  ever  mark  the  period  of  the  supreme 
rule  of  slavery  in  the  Republic,  as  that  of  Chase,  the  advent 
of  universal  freedom.  The  author  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
gave  place  to  the  author  of  the  great  argument  for  freedom 
in  the  Van  Zant  case.  In  that  case,  Mr  Chase  said  to 
the  then  Chief  Justice,  "  Execrandus  qui  non  favet  libertati." 
"  He  who  will  not  favor  liberty,  shall  be  accursed."  A  maxim, 
of  which  there  has  been  no  more  striking  illustration  than 
that  furnished  by  the  posthumous  fame  of  Chief  Justice  Taney. 

The  gravity  of  the  usually  sober  proceedings  of  the  House, 
was  relieved  by  an  amusing  episode,  occurring  between  Cox 
of  Ohio,  and  Washburne  of  Illinois,  during  the  discussion  of 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill.  Mr.  Cox  made  a  curious  and 
sarcastic  speech  upon  what  he  called  "miscegenation"  charging 


576  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  Republican  party  with  being  in  favor  of  the  amalgama- 
tion of  the  black  and  white  races;  and  in  this  speech  he  was 
especially  severe  and  contemptuous  upon  the  negro.  Wash- 
burn  immediately  followed  him,  and  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing the  inconsistency  of  the  member  from  Ohio,  read  the 
following  extracts,  complimentary  to  the  negro  from  a  lively 
and  clever  book  written  by  Mr.  Cox,  and  entitled  "  The 
Buckeye  Abroad."  * 

"  We  shall  not  probably  have  the  pleasure  at  next  Congress  of  hearing  my  friend 
from  Ohio  rehearse  this  speech  here,  because  I  think,  in  the  light  of  the  recent 
elections  in  Ohio,  and  particularly  in  the  district  of  the  honorable  gentlemen,  I 
can  say  to  him  in  the  language  of  Watts,  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  utmost  kindness, 

'  You  living  man,  come  view  the  ground 
Whe're  you  must  shortly  lie.' 

"  I  desire  to  show  the  House  what  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  has  written  in  regard 
to  the  '  African,'  in  a  book  entitled  '  A  Buckeye  Abroad ;  or  Wanderings  in  Europe 
and  in  the  Orient.'  By  8.  S.  Cox.  He  is  describing  St.  Peter's,  and  says :  '  In  the  mean 
time  seraphic  music  from  the  Pope's  select  choir  ravishes  the  ear,  while  the  incense 
titillates  the  nose.  Soon  there  arises  in  the  chamber  of  theatrical  glitter' — What? — 
'a  plain  unquestioned  African!  [laughter,]  and  he  utters  the  sermon  in  facile  La- 
tinity,  with  graceful  manner.  His  dark  hands  gestured  harmoniously  with  the 
rotund  periods,  and  his  swart  visage  beamed  with  a  high  order  of  intelligence.' 
[Laughter.]  What  was  he  ?  Let  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  answer :  '  He  was  an 
Abyssinian.  What  a  commentary  was  here  upon  our  American  prejudices!  The 
head  of  the  great  Catholic  Church  surrounded  by  the  ripest  scholars  of  the  age, 
listening  to  the  eloquence'— of  whom? — •  of  the  despised  negro;  and  thereby  illus- 
trating to  the  world"— what? — 'thereby  illustrating  to  the  world  the  common  bond 
of  brotherhood  which  binds  the  human  race.'  [Roars  of  laughter.] 

"  But  the  gentleman  gee's  on  to  say :  '  I  confess  that,  at  first,  it  seemed  to  me  a 
sort  of  theatrical  mummery,  not  being  familiar  with  such  admixtures  of  society.' 
That  was  the  first  impression  of  my  young  and  festive  friend  from  Ohio  as  he  wan- 
dered through  the  gilded  corriders  of  St.  Peter's.  (Laughter.]  '  But,'  he  says, '  on  reflec- 
tion, I  discerned  in  it  the  same  influence'  which,  during  the  dark  ages,  conferred 
such  inestimable  blessings  on  mankind.  History  records  that  from  the  time  of  the 
revival  of  letters,  the  influence  of  the  Church  of  Rome  had  been  generally  favor- 
able to  science,  to  civilization,  and  to  good  government.  Why?'  Why,  asks  my 
friend  from  Ohio,  is  the  Church  of  Rome  so  favorable  to  science,  to  civilization, 
and  to  good  government?  Let  the  gentleman  answer:  •  Because  her  system  held 
then,  as  it  holds  now,  all  distinctions  of  caste  as  odious.'  [Great  laughter.]  'She 
regards  no  man,  bond  or  free,  white  or  black,  as  disqualified  for  the  priesthood. 
This  doctrine  has,  as  Macauley  develops  in  his  introductory  chapters  to  his  English 
history,  mitigated  many  of  the  worst  evils  of  society;  for  where  race  tyrannized 
over  race,  or  baron  over  villein,  Catholicism  came  between  them  and  created  an 
aristocracy  altogether  independent  of  race  or  feudalism,  compelling  even  the  here- 
ditary master  to  kneel  before  the  spiritual  tribunal  of  the  hereditary  bondman 
The  childhood  of  Europe  was  passed  under  the  guardianship  of  priestly  teachers ; 
who  taught,  as  the  scene  in  the  Sistine  chaper  of  an  Ethiop  addressing  the  proud 
rulers  of  Catholic  Christendom  teaches,  that  no  distinction  is  regarded  at  Rome, 
save  that  which  divides  the  priest  from  the  people. 

"'The  sermon  of  the  Abyssinian '—that  is,  of  this  colored  person,  this  Roman 
citizen  of  '  African  descent'— 'in  beautiful  print  was  distributed  at  the  door.  I 

*  See  Congressional  Globe,  First  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  713. 


WASHBURNE  AND  COX.  577 

bring  one  home  as  a  trophy  and  a  souvenir  of  a  great  truth  which  Americans  awe 
prone  to  deny  or  contemn.'  [Laughter.] 

"  Now,  I  ask  my  friend  from  Ohio  if  he  has  still  got  that  trophy  and  souvenir  to 
bring  into  this  Hall? 

"  Mr.  Cox.    If  the  gentleman  will  allow  me  to  reply  I  will  do  so. 

"  Mr.  WASHBUHNE,  of  Illinois.  I  believe  I  have  never  in  my  life  refused  to  yield 
to  my  friend  from  Ohio,  but  he  refused  to  yield  to  me  when  he  had  the  floor  just 
now,  and  as,  of  course,  I  always  like  to  be  equal  with  him  in  politeness,  I  must 
decline  to  yield  now." 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  strong  hopes,  that  the  constitutional 
amendment  abolishing  and  prohibiting  slavery  throughout 
the  Republic,  might  now,  at  the  2d  session  of  the  38th  Con- 
gress be  passed,  notwithstanding  it  had  failed  at  the  previous 
session.  Hence,  as  we  have  seen,  he  earnestly  in  his  mes- 
sage urged  the  measure  upon  Congress.  The  fact  that  the 
people  had  by  such  a  decided  majority  declared  in  favor 
of  this  measure,  strengthened  the  hope  that  it  might  now 
obtain  the  requisite  constitutional  majority  of  two-thirds.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  resolution  had  passed  the  Sen- 
ate, with  only  six  negative  votes,  and  that  a  motion  to  recon- 
sider was  pending  in  the  House,  when  the  first  sessson  of 
this  Congress  adjourned. 

On  the  6th  of  January  1865,  Mr.  Ashley,  of  Ohio,  who 
had  entered  the  motion  to  reconsider,  called  it  up  and  made 
an  able  speech  in  its  favor.* 

Mr.  Orth,  of  Indiana,  spoke  .earnestly  in  favor  of  the  res- 
olution. Messrs.  Townsend  of  New  York,  Holman,  Cra- 
vens and  Voorhees  of  Indiana,  spoke  against  it. 

Mr.  Yoorhees  said :  f 

"  Such  an  act  should  not  be  consummated  amid  the  fiery  passions  and  vehement 
hates  engendered  by  civil  war  It  should  be  the  work  of  calmness  and  of  peace.  It 
is  to  last  for  all  time.  There  is  an  idea  of  perpetuity  attached  to  constitutions  and 
constitutional  amendments  which  does  not  belong  to  ordinary  acts  of  Legislation. 
They  should  therefore  be  the  work  of  unclouded  wisdom,  and  not  spring  from  the 
wrath  and  smoke  of  the  battle-fleld.  If  we  have  spent  a  large  portion  of  our  time 
here  since  the  war  commenced  in  repealing  or  revising  or  amending  our  hasty  and 
crude  legislation,  it  should  admonish  us  to  refrain  from  laying  a  rude  and  inno- 
vating hand  on  the  Constitution  itself.  When  the  sky  shall  again  be  clear  over  our 
heads,  a  peaceful  sun  illuminating  the  land,  and  our  great  household  of  States  all 
at  home  in  harmony  once  more,  then  will  be  the  time  to  conisder  what  changes, 
if  any,  this  generation  desires  to  make  on  the  work  of  Washington,  Madison,  and 
the  revered  sages  of  our  antiquity." 

Mr.  Kasson  of  Iowa,  spoke  very  ably  in  favor  of  the  amend- 
ment. After  replying  to  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Mallory  and 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  141. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  page  138. 

37 


578       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

other  members  of  the  Kentucky  delegation   against  the  res-,, 
olution.     He  said  :* 

"  I  appeal  from  that  old  Kentucky  to  that  yonng  giant  Kentucky  that  Is  now  ris- 
ing In  its  place  and  representing  the  purer  democracy  of  our  fathers.  That  young 
giant  springing  like  Minerva  full  armed  from  the  front  of  Jove,  which  took  action  in 
Its  Legislature  on  Friday  last  In  the  spirit  of  this  amendment,  and  which  has  an 
eloquent  exponent  upon  this  floor,  [Mr.  TEAMAN,]  from  whom  we  have  heard  once 
on  this  question.  I  appeal  to  that  young  Kentucky,  infused  with  the  life  of  the 
times,  capable  o*  appreciating  the  spirit  of  events,  competent  to  understand  the 
necessity  of  a  modification  of  our  institutions  which  is  required  by  the  times,  and 
by  circumstances.  And  to  that  Kentucky  I  submit  the  argument  which  I  render 
here,  for  it  will  meet  me  on  the  terms  and  premises,  and  logic  which  I  have  sought 
humbly  to  submit  to  gentlemen  on  that  side  of  the  House  to-day.  *  *  * 

"  One  of  its  effects  as  stated  to  me  yesterday  on  competent  authority  was  that 
one  of  the  'institutions'  subordinate  to  the  institution  of  slavery  had  been  called 
into  play  against  some  soldiers  of  our  Army  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  and  es- 
caped. It  is  well  known  that  it  is  a  recognized  business  in  parts  of  the  South  to 
keep  and  train  blood-hounds  for  the  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves.  I  speak  of  it  as  a 
fact  well  known  and  not  denied  by  anybody.  My  information  is  this,  that  four 
union  soldiers  recently  escaped  from  one  of  the  rebel  camps  were  pursued  by  the 
aid  of  that  subordinate  institution  and  overtaken.  A  ring  was  formed  about  them 
and  the  blood-hounds  were  let  in  on  these  four  soldiers,  who  were  torn  to  pieces 
amid  the  jeers  and  shouts  of  the  rabble  which  encircled  them !  Tell  me  that  It  is 
my  duty  to  act  in  any  way  for  the  protection  of  that  institution !  Let  gentlemen 
go  home  to  their  constituents  if  they  will,  and  say  that  they  voted  for  the  perpetu- 
ation of  an  institution  capable  of  effects  of  that  kind,  one  which  denies  the  consti- 
tutional rights  of  our  citizens  in  the  South,  suppresses  the  freedom  of  speech  and 
of  the  press,  throws  types  into  the  rivers  when  they  do  not  print  its  will,  and  vio- 
lates more  clauses  of  the  Constitution  than  were  violated  even  by  the  rebels  when 
they  commenced  this  war,  and  which  has,  in  effect,  been  in  chronic  and  constant 
rebellion  against  the  provisions  of  our  national  Constitution  for  the  last  twenty 
years.'  ***»##»*##*  * 

"  I  had  rather  stand  solitary,  with  my  name  recorded  for  this  amendment,  with 
the  hope  of  justice  twenty  years  hence,  than  to  have  all  the  honors  which  could  be 
heaped  upon  me  by  any  political  party  in  opposition  to  this  doctrine.  You  cannot 
resist  the  tide  of  modern  civilization.  It  commenced  with  our  Revolution,  and  it 
will  flow  on  until  unforseen  obstacles  shall  block  up  its  course.  It  was  sustained 
by  the  spirit  of  Washington,  and  Madison  and  Jefferson,  who  denounced  this  in- 
stitution ;  it  was  strengthened  by  France,  when  that  great  empire  then  flourished 
with  the  liberal  genius  of  a  republic,  pronounced  a  decree  for  the  entire  abolition 
of  slavery  throughout  her  then  extended  colonial  dominions.  Thence  it  passed  to 
England,  and,  although  a  bitter  enemy  of  France,  and  disliking  everything  fa- 
vored by  the  French  people,  yet  after  twenty  years  of  contest  under  the  leader- 
ship of  men  whose  names  stand  high— none  higher— on  the  roll  of  English  history 
or  of  fame,  freedom  became  a  fixed  fact  throughout  all  the  dominions  of  Great 
Britain.  Subsequently  it  even  permeated  the  arbitrary  despotism  of  Russia,  and 
now.  by  a  decree  of  the  imperial  Government,  seven  million  serfs  are  set  free  and 
restored  to  the  natural  rights  of  mankind." 

Fernando  Wood  of  New  York,  opposed  the  resolution,  as 
did  many  others  who  sympathized  with  him  politically. 

Mr.  Farnsworth  of  Illinois,  an  early  radical  abolitionist, 
one  of  the  band  of  men  which  had  under  the  lead  of  Love- 
joy,  built  up  the  Liberty  party  in  Illinois  and  the  north-west, 

*  Congressional  Gk>be,  2d  session,  38th  Congress,  page  193. 


DEBATE    ON    THE    CONSTITUTIONAL    AMENDMENT.  579 

spoke  strongly  in  favor  of  the  amendment.  Perhaps  the 
ablest  speech  against  the  resolution  was  made  by  Mr.  Pen- 
dleton,  the  leader  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  House,  and 
late  its  candidate  for  the  Vice  Presidency.  He  denied  the 
constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  pass  the  amendment. 
After  ingeniously  arguing  the  constitutional  question  he 
closed  with  the  following  eulogy  upon  the  Constitution  "  as 
it  is."  * 

"  This  Constitution  demands  the  highest  admiration  of  my  intellect.  It  has  re- 
ceived the  profound  homage  of  my  heart.  The  oath  which  I  have  taken  commands 
me  to  perform  that  duty  which  my  intellect  and  my  heart  impose  upon  me ; 
and  I  intend,  through  evil  and  through  good  report,  through  whatever  storm  of 
popular  disfavor,  to  stand  by  it  as  I  understand  it,  even  to  the  end.  I  love  my 
whole  country,  South  as  well  as  North ;  and  it  is  because  I  love  it  that  no  act  of  mine 
shall  retard  the  restoration  of  peace  or  the  reconstruction  of  that  Union  which 
made  it  all  my  country.  I  am  a  Northern  man ;  I  have  their  prejudices ;  I  love  my 
section ;  I  love  its  people ;  I  love  its  institutions ;  I  am  jealous  of  its  honor ;  and 
no  act  of  mine  shall  stain  the  lustre  of  the  fame  of  its  good  faith.  I  am  a  citizen  of 
Ohio.  It  was  the  home  of  my  fathers,  and  it  is  the  home  of  my  children ;  and  I 
will  stand  by  this  Constitution  because  I  wish  to  preserve  forever  the  rights  and 
dignities  of  my  State,  and  maintain  forever  the  liberties  of  its  citizens. 

"  I  am  not  influenced,  therefore,  by  any  peculiar  love  for  the  people  of  the  South; 
by  any  peculiar  regard  for  their  institutions.  I  stand  unmoved  by  the  con- 
siderations which  have  been  addressed  to  us.  It  is  nothing  to  me  that  gentlemen 
from  slaveholding  States  approve  this  amendment;  it  is  nothing  to  me  that  the 
tide  of  the  popular  sentiment  runs  in  favor  of  it ;  it  is  nothing  to  me  that  we  of 
Northern  States  who  believe  as  I  do,  stand  alone,  if  alone  we  must  stand.  I  in- 
tend to  do  my  duty  as  I  understand  it,  and  I  am  prepared  for  the  consequences  be 
they  what  they  may." 

Mr.  Jenkes  of  Rhode  Island  said : 

"But  in  this  contest  slavery  commenced  the  fight ;  it  [chose  its  own  battle-field; 
it  has  fought  its  battle,  and  it  is  dead.  In  the  course  of  our  victorious  march,  that 
battle-field  has  come  into  our  possession,  and  the  corpse  of  our  dead  enemy  is  up- 
on it.  Let  us  bury  it  quickly,  and  with  as  little  ceremony  as  possible,  that  the  foul 
odor  of  its  rotting  carcass  may  no  longer  offend  us  and  the  world." 

Mr.  Woodbridge   of  Vermont,  denying  property  in  man 
said: 

t  "  Coming  from  the  Green  Mountain  State,  where  the  mountain  brooks  leap 
from  rock  to  rock,  in  the  full  play  of  freedom ;  where  the  winds  of  heaven  sing 
the  song  of  freedom  among  the  trees  upon  her  mountain  tops,  and  where  a  good 
old  judge,  fifty  years  ago,  said  to  a  claimant  who  claimed  and  presented  a  bill  of 
sale  for  a  slave,  "  Show  me  a  bill  of  sale  from  God  Almighty,  and  your  title  will  be 
recognized,'  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  say  that  in  my  judgment  there  can  be  no 
property  in  man." 

"  It  will  end  in  the  triumph  of  the  Union ;  it  will  end  in  the  honor  of  the  glori- 
ous old  flag,  so  that  it  shall  float  again  over  every  inch  of  the  soil  of  the  Union ; 
but  not  alone  because  of  Lincoln,  not  alone  because  of  Farragut,  not  because  of 
Sherman,  not  because  of  Grant,  but  because  of  God.  Slavery  has  been  tried  at  the 

*  Congressional  Globe,  2d  Sess.  38  Congress,  p.  224-5. 

t  Congressional  Globe,  2d  session  38th  Congress,  p.  243-4. 


580  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  Of  SLAVERY. 

bar  of  Omnipotence  and  been  found  wanting.  Its  history  is  not  written  in  the 
history  of  the  nineteenth  century.  When  we  come  to  the  great  and  final  victory 
it  will  not  be  a  victory  alone,  sir,  but  it  will  be  a  change  of  front  of  the  universe. 
Sir,  it  will  open  to  the  oppressed  people  of  Europe  renewed  hope  of  freedom  for 
themselves  and  their  children. 

"  The  adoption  of  this  amendment  will  be  beneficial  to  the  South.  Sir,  I  know 
that  this  war  will  end ;  and  I  entreat  gentlemen  upon  the  other  side  of  the  House 
to  act  with  us  in  putting  down,  by  constitutional  means,  the  cause  of  this  great  and 
direful  calamity.  The  war  will  end  victoriously  for  us;  but  I  want  this  resolution 
to  pass,  and  then,  when  it  does  end,  the  beautiful  statue  of  the  goddess  of  Liberty 
Which  now  crowns  the  majestic  dome  above  our  heads  may  look  north  and  south 
east  and  west,  upon  a  free  nation,  untarnished  by  ought  inconsistent  with  free- 
dom—redeemed, regenerated,  and  disenthralled  by  the  genius  of  universal 
emancipation." 

Mr.  Thayer,  representing  faithfully  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, appropriately*  called  the  Keystone  State,  in  reply  to 
Pendleton  and  his  eloquent  expression  of  attachment  to  his 
native  State,  and  his  omission  to  express  his  higher  allegi- 
ance to  the  Republic  said  :  * 

"  Sir,  I  reverence  the  gentleman's  affection  and  allegiance  to  his  native  State ;  I 
entertain  the  highest  respect  toward  him  for  cherishing  those  feelings.  But,  sir,  I 
would  have  been  glad  to  have  seen  his  great  talents  directed  to  maintain  not  only 
the  glory  of  his  native  State,  but  also  the  sovereignty  and  perpetuity  of  this 
great  brotherhood  of  States,  the  glory  of  this  great  American  nation,  now 
receiving  its  baptism  of  blood  and  fire.  I  should  have  preferred,  sir,  in  a  great 
crisis  like  the  present,  to  listen  not  to  such  partisan  and  sectional  cries  as 
'Long  live  Ohio!'  or  'Long  live  Massachusetts!'  or  'Long  live  Pennsylvania!' 
but  to  that  nobler,  better  shout  which  now  bursts  like  the  roar  of  the  ocean  from 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  brave  men,  as  they  hurl  themselves  upon  the  common 
enemy  of  the  American  people.  '  Long  live  the  nation  !'  Long  live  the  United 
States  of  America — one  and  inseparable  !'  " 

One  of  the  ablest  and  most  eloquent  speeches  in  favor  of 
the  amendment  was  made  by  Mr.  Rollins  of  Missouri.  He 
said  "The  rebellion  instigated  and  carried  on  by  slavehold- 
ers, has  been  the  death-knell  of  the  institution./  *  He  said 

•'I  am  a  believer  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  wherein  it  is  asserted  that 
'  all  men  are  created  equal.'  I  believe  that  when  it  says  '  all  men'  it  means  every 
man  who  was  created  in  the  '  image  of  his  Maker'  and  walks  on  God's  foot-stool, 
without  regard  to  race,  color,  or  any  other  accidental  circumstance  by  which  he 
may  be  surrounded.  I  know  that  astute  politicians,  crafty  and  ambitious  men,  in 
various  periods  of  the  republic  have  tried  to  draw  a  distinction  between  this  man 
and  that  man,  because  he  happened  to  have  a  different  colored  skin ;  that  the  Dec- 
laration was  applicable  alone  to  white  men,  and  not  to  the  black  man,  the  red 
man,  or  any  other  than  the  white  man.  That  the  word  '  all'  meant  a  part,  not 
'  all !  But,  sir,  I  believe  that  that  general  clause  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  meant  by  the  immortal  man  who  penned  it,  and  the  immortal  men 
who  signed  it,  and  by  a  large  majority  of  the  great  men  of  that  day  North  and 
South,  to  assert  the  great  principle,  founded  in  the  rights  of  man,  founded  in  rea- 
son and  in  strict  accordance  to  the  law  of  morality  and  of  the  Divine  will,  that  'all 
men  are  created  equal,'  without  distinction  of  race  or  of  color.  And  although  our 

*  Congressional  Globe  2d  Session,  38th  Congress,  page  246. 

*  Congressional  Globe,  2d  session,  38th  Congress,  page  258-260. 


DEBATE   ON    THE    CONSTITUTIONAL   AMENDMENT.  581 

ancestors  failed  to  apply  the  principle,  although  they  were  derelict  in  duty  in  liv- 
ing up  to  the  great  enunciation  of  principles  which  they  made  to  the  world  and 
mankind,  it  is  no  proof  to  my  mind  that  they  did  not  mean  exactly  what  I  say 
they  meant  in  the  expression  to  which  I  have  referred.  *  *  *  * 

"  An  anti-slavery  man  in  sentiment,  and  yet,  heretofore  a  large  owner  of  slaves 
myself— not  now,  however— not  exactly  with  my  consent,  but  with  or  without  my 
consent.  The  convention  which  recently  assembled  in  my  State,  I  learned  from 
a  telegram  a  morning  or  two  ago,  had  adopted  an  amendment  to  our  present  State 
constitution  for  the  immediate  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves  in  the  State.  I  am 
no  longer  the  owner  of  a  slave,  and  I  thank  God  for  it.  If  the  giving  up  of  my 
slaves  without  complaint  shall  be  a  contribution  upon  my  part  to  pr.omote  the  pub- 
lic good,  to  uphold  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  restore  peace  and  pre- 
serve this  Union,  if  1  had  owned  a  thousand  slaves,  they  would  most,  cheerfully  have 
been  given  up.  I  say  with  all  my.heart,  let  them  go,  but  let  them  not  go  without  a 
sense  of  feeling  and  a  proper  regard  on  my  part  for  the  'future  of  themselves  and 
their  offspring !" 

Of  the  power  of  the  slaveholders  in  ruling  the  Republic, 
he  used  the  following  language : 

"  Sir,  the  peculiar  friends  of  slavery  have  controlled  the  government  for  much 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  since  its  establishment ;  and  but  for  their  own  wick- 
edness and  folly  might  have  saved  the  institution,  and  had  their  full  share  in  its 
management  for  many  years  to  come.  If  they  have  lost  the  political  control,  all  are 
blameless  save  themselves ! 

'  But  yesterday,  the  word  of  Csesar  might 

Have  stood  against  the  world ;  now  lies  he  there, 

With  none  so  poor  as  to  do  him  reverence.' 

Of  the  necessity  to  abolish  slavery,  to  secure  permanent 
peace,  he  said  :  *  rft 

"  We  never  can  have  an  entire  peace  in  this  country  as  long  as  the  institution  of 
slavery  remains  as  one  of  the  recognized  institutions  of  the  country.  It  occurs  to 
me  that  the  surest  way  to  obtain  peace  is  to  dispose  of  the  institution  now.  From 
whatever  cause,  whether  it  be  from  Northern  intermeddling — if  you  so  call  it ;  and 
there  has  been  far  too  much  of  this — or  from  Southern  arrogance  and  dictation  and 
agitation,  whether  from  one  cause  or  the  other,  or  both,  slavery  will  always  be  a 
disturbing  element  !  There  will  be  no  peace,  there  will  be  no  perfect  Union  in  this 
country  until  some  way  or  other  we  shall  have  disposed  of  it.  You  cannot  get 
over  moral  convictions.  And  so  long  as  the  General  Government  is  connectexi 
with  slavery  or  associated  with  it  in  any  way,  the  great  tideof  emigration  that  will 
flow  into  the  South,  carrying  new  ideas  of  human  rights,  this  institution  will  be  a 
disturbing  element,  and  we  will  have  a  continued  agitation  until,  in  some  way  or 
other,  this  question  is  disposed  of.  I  have  therefore  brought  myself  up  to  the'point 
We  may  as  well  unsheath  the  sword  and  cut  the  Gordian  knot!" 

Of  Mr.   Lincoln's  proposition  for  compensated  emancipa- 
tion, he  said : 

"And,  sir,  if  ever  a  set  of  people  made  a  mistake  on  earth,  it  was  the  men  ol 
Kentucky,  by  whom  I  was  somewhat  governed  myself  when  three  years  ago  they 
rejected  the  offer  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who,  wiser  than  we  were, 
seeing  the  difficulties  before  us,  but  seeing  the  bow  of  promise  set  in  the  sky,  and 
knowing  what  was  to  come,  proposed  to  us  to  sweep  the  institution  of  slavery  from 

*  Congressional  Globe  2d  session,  38th  Congress,  page  260-1. 


682       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  border  States,  offering  the  assistance  of  the  United  States  to  aid  in  compeii- 
sating  the  ioyal  men  of  those  States  for  their  losses  in  labor  ahd  property.  I  say 
that  the  un wisest  of  all  acts,  so  far  as  the  border  States  were  concerned,  was  the 
rejection  of  this  liberal  offer  on  the  part  of  the  Executive  of  the  United  States.  I 
voted  for  the  proposition  at  flrst ;  and  then  most  unwisely  changed  my  ground, 
showing  the  versatility  of  the  man,  and  would  perhaps,  if  it  had  come  to  a  final 
vote,  have  opposed  it,  because  my  constituents  were  likely  to  be  offended  by  the 
passag^  of  such  a  law.  They  are- now  convinced,  when  their  slaves  are  gone  and 
their  pockets  are  empty,  that  T  was  right  in  the  flrst  place,  and  they  were  wrong.  1 
have  read  in  the  papers  of  this  morning  that  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky,  after 
electing  that  distinguished  and  able  man,  James  Guthrie,  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  have  passed  a  resolution  in  favor  of  the  emancipation,  'with  the 
content  of  the  owners,  and  with  compensation." 

Of  the  first  introduction  of  slavery  into  the   country  he 
said: 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  I  regret  that  the  action  of  our  ancestors  in  reference  to  slavery  in- 
flicted this  evil  upon  us.  And  when  I  speak  of  our  ancestors,  I  mean  those  of 
Plymoth  rock  and  those  of  James  river.  And  while  in  this  house  and  in  the  other 
end  of  this  Capitol,  I  have  heard  attacks  on  the  pilgrim  fathers,  and  while  I  saw 
lately,  a  disreputable  statement  concerning  the  early  settlers  of  Virginia,  yet  I 
have  no  sympathy  with  the  spirit  which  prompts  such  efforts.  Doubtless  there 
were  bad  men  as  well  as  honest  and  good  men  among  the  original  settlers  of  both 
the  northern  and  the  southern  sections  of  our  country.  Through  the  promptings 
of  cupidity  and  avarice,  slavery  was  flrst  established  in  this  country.  Could  our 
ancestors  who  countenanced  this  institution  in  its  establishment,  witness  the 
scenes  of  the  present  time,  they  would  doubtless  feel  that  they  committed  an  un- 
pardonable sin.  And  for  this  sin  the  North  and  the  South  are  equally  responsible 
The  people  of  both  sections  were  engaged  in  this  infamous  traffic,  and  we  are  this 
day  gathering  the  fruits  of  their  iniquity.  It  is  thus  that 

'  Even  handed  justice 

Commends  the  ingredients  of  our  poisoned  chalice 

To  our  own  lips;' 
or,  as  the  same  great  master  expresses  it — 

'  That  we  but  teach 

Bloody  instructions  which,  being  taught,  return 

To  plague  the  inventor." ' 

Speaking  of  Kentucky  he  said : 

"  I  again,  Mr.  Speaker,  refer  to  the  State  of  Kentucky,  she  was  admitted  in- 
to the  Union  in  1799.  She  is  the  oldest  daughter  in  the  family  of  States.  She  was 
the  flrst  that  was  admitted  after  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  The 
great  men  of  Kentucky  of  that  day,  proud  and  venerable  names,  advocated  the 
propriety  of  a  system  of  gradual  emancipation.  Will  my  friend  from  the  Maysville 
district,  [Mr,  WADSWORTH,]  will  my  friend  from  the  Louisville  district  [Mr.  MAL- 
LORY,]  will  any  of  my  friends  who  oppose  this  amendment  declare  that  it  would 
not  have  been  a  great  boon  if  the  original  constitution  of  Kentucky  had  disposed 
of  slavery  forever  ?  Will  my  very  excellent  friend  [Mr.  CLAY]  say  that  it  would 
not  have  been  better  for  his  distinguished  and  venerable  father,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  convention  which  framed  the  flrst  Constitution  of  Kentucky,  would 
it  not  have  been  better  for  his  immediate  ancestors,  to  have  met  firmly  the  ques- 
tion at  that  day,  and  thus  relieved  the  State  from  slavery,  and  the  people  of  that 
noble  Commonwealth  of  the  terrible  sorrows  which  have  since  fallen  upon  them?' 

Of  the  effects  of  slavery  upon  Missouri,  he  eloquently  said  . 

"  I  come  now  to  speak  a  word  in' reference  to  my  own  State  of  Missouri.  She 
came  into  the  Union  as  it  were  in  the  midst  of  a  revolution.  For  the  purpose  only 


DEBATE   ON  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT.  583 

of  having  a  few  thousand  slaves  there,  the  whole  continent  shook  with  the  agita- 
tion of  this  Missouri  question.  We  were  fighting  for  the  privilege  of  holding  a  few 
slaves  in  bondage  in  that  great  State.  We  forgot  the  paramount  good  in  this  mis- 
erable struggle.  Does  my  friend  [Mr.  HALL,]  from  the  district  adjoining  the  one 
which  I  represent,  does  any  man  upon  this  floor  tell  me  that  it  would  not  have 
been  better  for  Missouri  at  once,  in  1820  to  have  passed  an  ordinance  for  the  grad- 
ual or  immediate  emancipation  of  her  slaves,  driving  the  institution  beyond  her 
boundaries  1  If  there  is  such  a  man  he  is  not  as  enlightened  on  the  subject  to-day 
as  I  am :  he  has  not  learned  as  much  as  I  have  done. 

"  Why,  sir,  what  is  Missouri  to-day,  and  what  would  she  have  been  had  there 
been  incorporated  at  that  time  with  her  organic  law,  an  ordinance  declaring  the 
institution  of  slavery  forever  abolished  within  her  limits  ?  We  would  have  been 
as  Ohio,  and  Illinois  and  Iowa.  We  would  have  been  rid  of  this  curse  which  is 
ever  reappearing,  the  curse  of  Slavery,  the  raw  head  and  bloody  bones,  and  we  would 
have  been  clear  of  all  these  troubles.  We  would  have  had  no  bands  of  guerrillas 
watering  the  soil  of  our  State  with  the  blood  of  our  peaceful  citizens.  We  would 
have  had  no  armed  bodies  of  men  stationed  in  all  our  borders  to  keep  the  peace. 
Look  at  Illinois,  just  across  the  Father  of  Waters.  She  came  into  the  Union  in 
1818,  two  years  before  Missouri,  and  with  less  population,  fewer  mineral  resources, 
not  so  many  rivers,  no  better  facilities  for  commerce,  yet  she  has  four  thousand 
miles  of  railroad,  while  Missouri  has  only  twelve  hundred.  Illinois  has  a  prosper- 
ous, happy  and  peaceful  population  of  two  million,  while  we  have  only  half  this 
number,  and  our  people  are  leaving  in  every  direction,  seeking  homes  in  the  terri- 
tories, in  the  distant  mountains,  in  South  America,  in  Mexico,  in  Illinois,  flying 
away  from  the  horrble  spectre  of  this  infernal  rebellion.  Why  is  this  ?  I  know  of 
but  one  real,  substantial,  specific  reason,  and  that  is  that  the  framers  of  the  Mis- 
souri constitution  allowed  slavery  to  remain,  while  Illinois  was  made  forever  free 
by  the  ordinance  of  1787,  penned  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  a  son  of  Virginia,  and  by 
Which  Virginia  ceded  an  empire  within  itself  (the  Northwestern  Territory)  to  the 
United  States. 

"  I  have  been  looking  up  for  light  from  above,  and  I  begin  to  see  it  streaking 
along  the  horizon,  however  it  may  be  with  other  gentlemen  in  this  hall." 

He  then  indulged  in  the  following  predictions  of  the  future: 

"When  the  poor  and  humble  farmers  and  mechan  ics  of  the  States  of  Alabama  and 
Mississippi  shall  have  left  the  bloody  trials  in  which  they  are  now  engaged  to  tear 
down  this  temple  of  human  liberty ;  when  they  will  return  perhaps  to  their  deso- 
lated homes ;  when  they  shall  look  once  more  upon  and  hug  to  their  bosoms  the 
wives  and  children  whom  they  love,  in  poverty  and  in  rags  ;  when  they  will  go, 
perhaps  without  an  arm,  or  without  an  eye,  or  without  a  leg,  and  in  poverty  to 
those  who  are  dependent  upon  them  for  support  in  life,  taught  by  experience,  they 
will  ask  the  question  of  themselves,  '  Why  all  this?  What  have  we  been  fighting 
for  ?'  Thev  will  bring  to  mind  the  sweet  memories  of  other  days.  They  will  re- 
member the  peaceful  and  happy  home  which  they  were  induced  to  leave,  and 
which  they  enjoyed  under  the  benign  influences  of  wholesome  and  liberal  laws 
passed  here,  and  they  will  inquire  '  By  what  sophistry,  by  what  appeal,  by  what 
force,  by  what  maddening  influence  is  it  that  we  have  been  induced  to  enter  into 
this  terrible  rebellion  ?  Not  to  promote  any  interest  of  wife  and  children,  but  to 
destroy  all  the  blessings  vouchsafed  to  us  and  to  them  by  a  free  government  and 
equitable  laws  ;'  and  they  will  further  ask,  '  Who  has  been  the  author  of  my  mis- 
fortunes, and  the  ruin  of  my  family,  my  all?'  Sir,  they  will  point  to  those  who 
hold  the  power  at  Richmond ;  they  will  direct  their  vengeance  against  them  ;  and 
Davis  and  his  traitorous  crew,  as  I  have  said  upon  a  former  occasion,  will,  like 
Actseon  of  old,  be  in  the  end  destroyed  by  their  own  friends." 


He  concluded  by  saying  : 


"  Let  ours  be  the  '  bright  particular  star'  next  to  the  star  that  led  the  shepherds 
to  Bethlehem,  which  shall  lead  the  downtrodden  and  oppressed  of  all  the  wvrUl  into 


584       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

an  harbor  of  peace,  security  and  happiness.  And  let  us,  kneeling  around  the  altar, 
all  thank  God,  that  although  we  have  had  our  trials,  we  have  saved  our  country ; 
that  although  we  have  been  guilty  of  sins,  we  have  wiped  them  out,  and  that  we  at 
length  stand  up  a  great  and  powerful  people,  honored  by  all  the  earth,  '  redeemed, 
regenerated,  and  disenthralled  by  the  genius  of  universal  emancipation.'  [Loud 
applause  on  the  floor  and  In  the  galleries,  which  was  checked  by  the  Speaker.] 

The  foregoing  speech  made  by  a  man  who  had  been  a 
large  slaveholder,  held  the  House  and  the  crowded  galleries 
in  the  most  profound  attention.  Few  more  effective  speech- 
es have  ever  been  made  in  the  Halls  of  Congress. 

Mr.  Garfield  of  Ohio,  traced  in  a  graphic  manner  the  his- 
tory of  the  slave  power — its  former  arrogance,  and  its  present 
prostration :  * 

"Who  does  not  remember  that  thirty  years  ago,  a  short  period  in  the  life  of  a 
nation,  but  little  could  be  said  with  impunity  in  these  Halls  on  the  subject  of  slav- 
ery ?  How  well  do  gentlemen  here  remember  the  history  of  that  distinguished  pre- 
decessor of  mine,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  lately  gone  to  his  rest,  who,  with  his  forlorn 
hope  of  faithful  men  took  his  life  in  his  hands,  and  in  the  name  of  justice  protested 
against  the  great  crime,  and  who  stood  bravely  in  his  place  until  his  white  locks, 
like  the  plume  of  Henry  of  Navarre,  marked  where  the  battle  of  freedom  raged 
fiercest.  We  can  hardly  realize  that  this  is  the  same  people,  and  these  the  same 
Halls,  where  now  scarcely  a  man  can  be  found  who  will  venture  to  do  more  than 
falter  out  an  apology  for  slavery,  protesting  at  the  same  time  that  he  has  no  love 
for  the  dying  tyrant.  None,  I  believe,  but  that  man  of  more  than  supernal  bold- 
ness from  the  city  of  New  York,  [Mr.  FERNANDO  WOOD]  has  ventured  this  session 
to  raise  his  voice  in  favor  of  slavery  for  its  own  sake.  He  still  sees  in  its  features 
the  reflection  of  divinity  and  beauty,  and  only  he.  '  How  art  thou  fallen  from 
heaven,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning !  How  art  thou  cut  down  to  the  ground, 
which  didst  weaken  the  nations !'  Many  mighty  men  have  been  slain  by  thee ; 
many  proud  ones  have  humbled  themselves  at  thy  feet !  All  along  the  coast  of 
the  political  sea  they  lie  like  stranded  wrecks,  broken  on  the  headlands  of  free- 
dom. How  lately  did  its  advocates  with  impious  boldness  maintain  it  as  God's 
own,  to  be  venerated  and  cherished  as  divine.  It  was  another  and  higher  form  of 
civilization.  It  was  the  holy  evangel  of  America,  dispensing  its  blessings  to  the 
wilderness  of  the  west.  In  its  mad  arrogance  it  lifted  its  hand  to  strike  down  the 
fabric  of  the  Union,  and  since  that  fatal  day  it  has  been  a  '  fugitive  and  a  vaga- 
bond upon  the  earth ;'  and  like  the  spirit  that  Jesus  cast  out,  it  has  since  then 
been  '  seeking  rest  and  finding  none.'  It  has  sought  in  all  the  corners  of  the  Re- 
public to  find  some  hiding  place  in  which  to  shelter  itself  from  the  death  it  has  so 
richly  earned.  It  sought  an  asylum  in  the  untrodden  territories  in  the  West,  but 
with  a  whip  of  scorpians,  indignant  freedom  drove  it  hence.  I  do  not  believe  a 
loyal  man  can  now  be  found  that  would  consent  that  it  should  again  enter  them. 
It  has  no  hopes  of  harbor  there.  It  found  no  protection  or  favor  in  the  hearts  or 
consciences  of  the  freemen  of  the  Republic,  and  has  fled  from  its  last  hope  of  safe- 
ty to  the  shield  of  the  Constitution.  We  propose  to  follow  it  there  and  hurl  it  aa 
Batan  was  exiled  from  heaven.' 

And  now,  after  these  long  discussions,  rose  the  still  tall, 
and  scarcely  bent  form  of  the  venerable  leader  of  the 
House,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  to  close  the  debate  on  this  great 

*  Congressional  Globe  2d  session,  38th  Congress,  page  263. 


STEVENS'  SPEECH.  585 

measure.  Instantly  the  members  of  the  House  gathered 
around  him,  filling  the  seats  and  aisles,  and  every  available 
spot  near  the  "  old  man  eloquent."  Intelligence  was  sent  to 
the  Senate  that  Thad.  Stevens  was  speaking  on  the  Consti- 
tutional Amendment,  and  directly  many  of  the  Senators 
came  in,  and  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  to  hear  the  ven- 
erable anti-slavery  leader  speak  on  the  measure  that  was  to 
consummate  the  labors  of  forty  years  with  complete  success. 
As  soon  as  Senators  and  members  could  get  their  places, 
the  House  and  crowded  galleries  were  hushed  into  deepest 
silence.  He  said:  * 

r  «  *  *  *  *  From,  my  earliest  youth  I  was  taught  to  read  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  to  revere  its  sublime  principles.  As  I  advanced  in  life  and  be- 
came somewhat  enabled  to  consult  the  writings  of  the  great  men  of  antiquity,  I 
found  in  all  their  works  which  have  survived  the  ravages  of  time,  and  come 
down  to  the  present  generation,  one  unanimous  denunciation  of  tyranny  and  of 
Slavery,  and  eulogy  of  liberty.  Homer,  JEschylus  the  great  Greek  tragedian, 
Cicero,  Hesiod,  Virgil,  Tacitus,  and  Sallust,  in  immortal  language,  all  denounced 
slavery  as  a  thing  which  took  away  half  the  man,  and  degraded  human  beings, 
and  sang  peans  in  the  noblest  strains  to  the  goddess  of  liberty.  And  my  hatred 
of  this  infernal  institution  and  my  love  for  liberty  were  further  inflamed,  as  I  saw 
the  inspired  teachings  of  Socrates  and  the  divine  inspirations  of  Jesus. 

"  Being  fixed  in  these  principles,  immovably  and  immutably,  I  took  my  stand 
among  my  fellow-citizens,  and  on  all  occasions,  whether  in  public  or  in  private,  in 
season,  and,  if  there  could  be  such  a  time,  out  of  season,  I  never  hesitated  to  express 
those  ideas  and  sentiments,  and  when  1  went  first  into  public  assemblies,  forty 
years  ago,  I  uttered  this  language.  I  have  done  it  amid  the  pelting  and  hooting  of 
mobs,  but  I  never  quailed  before  the  infernal  spirit,  and  I  hope  I  never  shrank  from 
the  responsibility  of  my  language. 

"  When,  fifteen  years  ago,  I  was  honored  with  a  seat  in  this  body,  it  was  danger- 
ous to  talk  against  this  institution,  a  danger  which  gentlemen  now  here  will  never 
be  able  to  appreciate.  Some  of  us,  however,  have  experienced  it ;  my  friend  from 
Illinois  on  my  right  [Mr.  WASHBURNE]  has.  And  yet,  sir,  I  did  not  hesitate,  in  the 
midst  of  bowie-knives  and  revolvers,  and  howling  demons  upon  the  other  side  of 
the  House,  to  stand  here  and  denounce  this  infamous  institution  in  language  which 
possibly  now,  on  looking  at  it,  I  might  deem  intemperate,  but  which  I  then  deemed 
necessary  to  rouse  the  public  attention  and  cast  odium  upon  the  worst  institu- 
tion upon  earth,  one  which  is  a  disgrace  to  man  and  would  be  an  annoyance  to 
the  infernal  spirits. 

"  Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  occupy  so  much  time,  and  I  will  only  say  one  word 
further.  So  far  as  the  appeals  of  the  learned  gentleman  [Mr.  PENDLETON]  are  con- 
cerned, his  pathetic  winding  up,  I  will  be  willing  to  take  my  chance,  when  we  all 
molder  in  the  dust.  He  may  have  his  epitaph  written,  if  it  be  truly  written,  'Here 
rests  the  ablest  and  most  pertinacious  defender  of  slavery  and  opponent  of  lib- 
erty ;'  and  I  will  be  satisfied  if  my  epitaph  shall  be  written  thus:  '  Here  lies  one 
who  never  rose  to  any  eminence,  and  who  only  courted  the  low  ambition  to  have 
it  said  that  he  had  striven  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  poor,  the  lowly,  the 
downtrodden  of  every  race  and  language  and  color.  [Applause.] 

"  I  shall  be  content  with  such  a  eulogy  on  his  lofty  tomb,  and  such  an  inscriptioD 
on  my  humble  grave,  to  trust  our  memories  to  the  judgment  of  other  ages." 

»  Congressional  Globe,  2d  session,  38th  Congress,  page  265-6. 


586       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  spectacle  presented  during  the  delivery  of  the  above 
speech  was  deeply  impressive.  The  Diplomatic  circle  was 
crowded,  the  House  was  filled,  the  galleries  were  packed 
with  distinguished  citizens  from  every  section,  the  floor  and 
lobbies  of  the  Hall  itself,  were  filled  with  distinguished  sol- 
diers and  civilians  who  gathered  to  hear  the  debate,  and  who 
now  listened  to  the  Pennsylvania  statesman,  as  he  narrated 
the  progress  of  the  anti-slavery  cause  from  its  feeble  begin- 
ning, down  to  its  now  near  approaching  and  final  triumph. 
As  the  vote  was  taken  on  the  final  passage  of  the  Joint  Reso- 
lution, the  most  intense  anxiety  was  felt  in  regard  to  the  re- 
sult No  one  knew  with  certainty  what  would  be  that  result. 
"Whether  a  sufficient  number  of  Democratic  votes  could  be 
obtained  to  secure  its  passage  was  uncertain.  As  the  clerk 
called  the  roll,  there  was  perfect  silence ;  no  sound  except 
that  made  by  a  hundred  pencils  quickly  marking  the  ayes 
and  noes  as  the  members  responded.  When  the  call  was 
finished  it  was  found  there  were  119  ayes,  and  56  nays:  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  having  voted  for  the  resolution  it  was 
adopted.* 

•The  following  is  a  list  of  the  ayes  and  noes,  on  the  passage  of  the  Resolution, 
taken  from  the  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  531. 

YEAS— Messrs.  Alley,  Allison,  Ames,  Anderson,  Arnold,  Ashley.  Bailey,  Augus- 
tus C  Baldwin,  John  D.  Baldwin,  Baxter,  Beaman,  Blane,  Blair,  Blow,  Boutwell, 
Boyd,  Brandegee,  Broomal,  William  G.  Brown,  Ambrose  W.  Clark,  Freeman 
Clarke,  Cobb,  Coffroth,  Cole,  Colfax,  Creswell,  Henry  Winter  Davis,  Thomas  T. 
Davis,  Dawes,  Deming,  Dixon,  Donnelly,  Driggs,  Dumont,  Eckley,  Eliot,  English, 
Farnsworth,  Frank,  Ganson,  Garfleld,  Gooch,  Grinnell,  Griswold,  Hale,  Herrick, 
Higby,  Hooper,  Hotchkiss,  Asahel  W.  Hubbard,  John  H.  Hubbard,  Hulburd, 
Hutchins,  Ingersoll,  Jenckes,  Julian,  Kasson,  Kelley,  Francis  W.  Kellogg,  Orlando 
Kellogg,  King.  Knox,  Littlejohn,  Loan,  Longyear,  Marvin,  McAllister,  McBride, 
McClung,  Mclndoe,  Samuel  F.  Miller,  Moorhead,  Morrill,  Daniel  Morris,  Amos 
Myers,  Leonard  Myers,  Nelson,  Norton,  Odell,  Charles  O'Neill,  Orth,  Patterson, 
Perharn,  Pike,  Pomeroy,  Price,  Radford,  William  H.  Randall,  Alexander  H.  Rice, 
John  H.  Rice,  Edward  H.  Rollins,  James  S.  Rollins,  Schenck,  Scofleld,  Shannon, 
Sloan,  Smith,  Smithers,  Spalding,  Starr,  John  B.  Steele,  Stevens,  Thayer,  Thomas, 
Tracy,  Upson,  Van  Valkenburgh,  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  William  B.  Washburne, 
Webster,  Whaley,  Wheeler,  Williams,  Wilder,  Wilson,  Windom,  Woodbridge, 
Worthington,  and  Yeaman— 119. 

NAYS— Messrs.  James  C.  Allen,  William^J.  Allen,  Ancona,  Bliss,  Brooks,  James 
S.  Brown,  Chanler,  Clay,  Cox,  Cravens,  Dawson,  Denison,  Eden,  Edgerton,  Eldridge, 
Finck,  Grider,  Hall;  Harding,  Harrington,  Benjamin  G.  Harris,  Charles  M.  Harris, 
Holman,  Philip  Johnson,  William  Johnson,  Kalbfleisch,  Kernan,  Knapp,  Law, 
Long,  Mallory,  William  H.  Miller,  James  R.  Morris,  Morrison,  Noble,  John  O'Neill, 
Pendleton,  Perry,  Pruyn,  Samuel  J.  Randall,  Robinson,  Ross,  Scott,  William  G. 
Stee-e,  Stiles,  Strouse,  Stuart,  Sweat,  Townsend,  ;Wadsworth,  Ward,  Chilton  A. 
White,  Joseph  W.  White,  Winfleld,  Benjamin  Wood,  and  Fernando  Wood— 56. 

NOT  VOTING— Messrs.  Lazear,  Le  Blond,  Marcy,  McDowell,  McKlnney, 
Middleton,  Rogers,  and  Voorhees— 8. 


PASSAGE  OP  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT.  587 

When  the  name  of  English,  a  democrat  from  Connecticut 
was  called  and  he  answered  aye,  there  was  great  applause  in 
the  House  and  galleries ;  so  it  was  when  Ganson,  HerricS, 
Nelson,  Odell,  Radford,  and  Steele,  democrats  from  New 
York,  were  called  and  they  voted  aye. 

When  the  Speaker  made  the  formal  annunciation,  "  The 
Constitutional  majority  of  two-thirds  having  voted  in  the 
affirmative,  the  joint  resolution  is  passed,  "  it  was  received 
with  an  uncontrollable  outburst  of  enthusiasm.  The  Repub- 
lican members,  regardless  of  the  rules,  instantly  sprang  to 
their  feet,  and  applauded  with  cheers ;  the  example  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  spectators  in  the  galleries,  who  waved  their 
hats,  and  the  ladies  their  handkerchiefs,  and  cheers  and  con- 
gratulations continued  for  many  minutes.  Finally  Mr.  Inger- 
sall  of  Illinois,  representing  the  district  of  Owen  Lovejoy,  in 
honor  as  he  said  of  the  sublime  event,  moved  that  the 
House  adjourn.  The  motion  was  carried,  but  before  the 
members  left  their  seats  the  roar  of  artillery  announced  to 
the  people  of  Washington,  that  the  amendment  had  passed 
Congress.  The  personal  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  hastening 
to  the  White  House,  exchanged  congratulations  with  him  on 
the  auspicious  result.  The  passage  of  the  resolution  was 
not  unexpected  to  him,  and  it  filled  his  heart  with  joy.  He 
saw  in  it  the  complete  consummation  of  his  own  great  work, 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  As  the  leader  in  the 
overthrow  of  slavery,  he  had  seen  his  proclamation  sanc- 
tioned by  an  emphatic  majority  of  the  people  at  the  Presi- 
dential election,  and  now  the  Constitutional  majority  of  two- 
thirds  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  had  voted  to  submit  to  the 
people  the  Constitutional  amendment,  which  would  finish 
the  "job." 

In  the  evening,  a  vast  crowd  of  enthusiastic  and  rejoicing 
friends,  marched  with  music  to  the  White  House,  publicly 
to  congratulate  the  President  on  the  passage  of  the  resolu- 
tion. Mr.  Lincoln  addressing  the  crowd  said :  "  The  occa- 
sion is  one  for  congratulation  to*  the  country  and  the  whole 
world."  He  informed  them  that  Illinois  had  already  ratified 
the  amendment,  and  that  it  had  already  been  ratified  by  one 


588      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

branch  of  the  Maryland  Legislature ;  but  he  was  proud  that 
Illinois  had  been  the  State  first  to  act. 

The  joint  resolution  was  inadvertently  presented  to  the 
President,  and  signed  by  him.  But  he  suggested  that  the 
action  of  Congress  was  perfect  of  itself,  and  did  not  need  the 
the  signature  of  the  Executive  to  render  it  valid.  Judge 
Trumbull  presented  a  resolution,  reciting  that  the  amend- 
ment proposed  by  Congress  respecting  the  extinction  of 
slavery,  having  been  inadvertently  presented  to  the  Presi- 
dent for  his  approval,  it  was  declared  that  such  approval  was 
unnecessary  to  give  effect  to  the  action  of  Congress;  was 
inconsistent  with  the  former  practice  in  reference  to  all 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  heretofore  adopted,  and  be- 
ing inadvertently  done  should  not  constitute  a  precedent  for 
the  future.* 

Senator  Trumbull  in  his  speech  on  the  subject  reviewed 
all  the  precedents,  and  showed  that  no  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  ever  adopted  by  the  people,  had  ever  been  pre- 
sented to  the  President  for  his  approval;  and  that  the  point 
having  been  made  before  the  Supreme  Court,  that  without 
such  approval  the  amendment  was  invalid,  the  Supreme 
Court  had  held  such  approval  unnecessary ;  the  Chief  Justice 
declaring  the  opinion  of  the  court,  saying:  "The  negative 
of  the  President  applies  only  to  the  ordinary  cases  of  legis- 
lation. He  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  proposition  or  adop- 
tion of  amendments  to  the  Constitution."  The  Senate 
adopted  the  resolution  of  Senator  Trumbull  without  a  divi- 
sion, f  The  question  mav  therefore  be  considered  as  settled 
by  the  precedents  and  the  concurrence  of  all  Departments  of 
the  Government. 

The  friends  of  universal  liberty  throughout  the  Republic, 
regarded  the  passage  of  the  joint  resolution  through  Con- 
gress, as  equivalent  to  the  adoption  of  the  amendment.  The 
people  having  sanctioned  it  at  the  Presidential  election,  and 
two-thirds  of  both  branches  of  Congress  having  voted  for 
it,  it  was  not  doubted  three-fourths  of  the  States,  through 
their  Legislatures,  would  ratify  it.  The  passage  of  the 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  629. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  631. 


PASSAGE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT.  589 

resolution  through  Congress  was  therefore  celebrated  as  the 
triumph  of  freedom,  and  the  final  "  overthrow  of  slavery " 
throughout  the  Republic.  The  question  was  discussed 
whether  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  by  three-fourths  of 
the  States  represented  in  Congress,  and  who,  while  the  other 
States  were  public  enemies,  constituted  the  United  States, 
would  be  a  compliance  with  the  Constitution.  It  was  decided 
by  the  House  of  Representatives,  that  a  Constitutional  quo- 
ram  of  the  House,  was  a  majority  of  the  members  duly 
elected  to  the  House.  It  was  contended  that  a  majority  of 
three-fourths  of  the  United  States,  meant  three-fourths  of  the 
States  recognized  as  States  of  the  Union ;  those  whose  Repre- 
sentatives and  Senators  constituted  Congress  and  the  law- 
making  power.  That  States  whose  people  were  public  enemies 
and  who  were  in  open  war  seeking  to  overthrow  the  Constitu- 
tion, could  not,  while  occupying  such  an  attitude,  be  entitled 
to  vote  on  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which  they  were 
seeking  to  destroy.  As  more  than  three-fourths  of  all  the 
States  ratified  the  amendment,  the  question  never  became  a 
practical  one. 

When  in  June,  1858,  at  his  home  in  Springfield,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  startled  the  people  by  the  announcement,  "  I 
believe  this  Nation  cannot  endure  permanently,  half  slave 
and  half  free,"  and  when  in  concluding  that  very  remark- 
able speech,  with  the  prophetic  voice,  the  uplifted  eye,  the 
inspired  mien  of  a  seer,  he  exclaimed,  "  We  shall  not  fail  if 
we  stand  firm,  we  shall  not  fail.  "Wise  counsels  may  acceler- 
ate, or  mistakes  delay,  but  sooner  or  later  the  victory  is  sure 
to  come;"  he  looked  to  long  years  of  political  controversy; 
he  expected  a  severe  struggle  and  a  final  triumph  through 
the  use  of  all  the  agencies  by  which  public  opinion  is  influ- 
enced and  formed;  and  he  anticipated  the  final  triumph 
through  the  ballot-box.  By  a  mind  which  ever  sought  for 
truth,  which  followed  it  through  all  the  processes  of  reason- 
ing, with  instinctive  sagacity  he  foresaw  the  struggle,  and  the 
triumph  of  freedom.  But  he  did  not  foresee,  unless  in  those 
mysterious  dim  shadows,  which  sometimes  startle,  by  half 
revealing  the  future,  his  own  elevation  to  the  Presidency;  he 


590  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

did  not  foresee  that  he  should  be  chosen  by  God  and  the  peo- 
ple, to  lead  on  to  that  victory  which  he  then  felt  was  sure  to 
come ;  that  he  should  speak  the  word  which  should  emanci- 
pate a  race,  and  free  his  country.  Nor  did  he  foresee,  that  a 
martyr's  death  should  crown  a  life,  which  was  so  consecrated 
to  duty,  a  life  which  was  to  be  thenceforth  so  filled  with 
unselfish,  untiring  devotion  to  country  and  to  liberty,  that 
his  example  will  be  everlasting,  growing  brighter  with  years; 
forever  to  inspire  the  patriot,  and  give  courage  to  those  who 
labor,  and  struggle,  and  die,  for  the  poor,  and  the  oppressed; 
until  in  all  the  world,  there  shall  be  left  no  slave  to  be  freed, 
no  oppressor  to  be  overthrown. 

This  great  revolution,  completed  by  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitutional  amendment  has  been  sketched,  in  these  pages, 
very  imperfectly;  how  far  the  poor  description  has  lagged 
behind  the  sublime  action  of  the  drama,  none  can  better  ap- 
preciate than  the  author. 

The  visible  steps  in  legislation  and  governmental  action, 
by  which  the  Republic  was  led  up  to  final  and  universal 
emancipation,  have  been  outlined.  Some  of  those  steps,  and 
the  most  important  were :  First,  The  army  was  prohibited 
from  returning  to  rebel  masters,  fugitive  slaves :  Second,  The 
employment  of  fugitive  slaves  as  laborers  in  tlie  army  was 
sanctioned :  Third,  The  passage  of  a  law  confiscating  and 
conferring  freedom  upon  slaves  used  for  insurrectionary 
purposes :  Fourth,  The  abolition  of  slavery  at  the  National 
Capital :  Fifth,  The  prohibition  of  slavery  in  all  the  territo- 
ries :  Sixth,  A  law  giving  freedom  to  all  who  should  serve  as 
soldiers  in  the  army  or  in  the  navy :  Seventh,  A  law  emanci- 
pating the  slaves  of  rebels:  Eighth,  And  most  important  of 
all,  the  great  Proclamation  of  Emancipation;  emancipating 
the  slaves  in  the  rebellious  States:  Ninth,  A  law  emancipat- 
ing the  families  of  all  those  who  should  serve  in  the  army  or 
navy  of  the  United  States :  Tenth,  The  repeal  of  the  fugi- 
tive slave  code:  Eleventh,  The  Constitutional  amendment 
abolishing  and  prohibiting  slavery  throughout  the  Republic. 

The  responsibilit}r,  the  honor  of  carrying  these  measures 
through,  and  sustaining  them,  justly  belongs  to  the  Repub- 
lican party.  This  is  the  record  on  the  slavery  question  to 


ANTI-SLAVERY  MEASURES.  591 

which  that  party  proudly  turns.  All  of  these  measures  were 
opposed  by  the  Democratic  party  as  a  party.  Individuals  of 
that  party  voted  for  some  of  the  measures,  but  such  votes 
were  few  and  scattering.  On  the  passage  of  the  bill  to  pro- 
hibit slavery  in  the  territories,  the  Democrats  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  gave  fifty  negative  votes  against  eighty- 
five  ayes  given  by  the  Republicans.  Upon  the  bill  to  repeal 
the  fugitive  slave  laws  the  vote  in  the  House  was  ayes  ninety, 
noes  sixty-two;  all  the  noes,  with  two  or  three  exceptions 
from  the  border  States,  given  by  democrats.  The  bill  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  passed  the  Senate, 
ayes  twenty-nine,  noes  fourteen ;  and  it  passed  the  House, 
ayes  ninety-twro,  noes  thirty-nine.  The  negative  votes  were 
given  by  democrats.  The  Constitutional  amendment  abolish- 
ing and  prohibiting  slavery  passed  the  House,  ayes  (119)  one 
hundred  and  nineteen,  noes  fifty-seven,  (57,)Tthe  negatives  all 
democrats.  Such  is  the  record. 

In  addition  to  the  anti-slavery  measures  above  enumerated, 
others  relatively  of  minor  importance  have  been  adopted. 
The  Statutes  of  the  United  States  have  been  purged  of  all 
laws  made  to  maintain  and  secure  slavery.  The  law  exclud- 
ing negroes  from  the  witness  stand,  and  laws  creating  various 
disabilities  have  been  annulled.  The  great  civil  rights  bill, 
designed  especially  to  secure  equality  before  the  law,  although 
vetoed  by  President  Johnson,  has  been  passed  over  his  veto, 
by  the  Fortieth  Congress.  Yet  the  great  work  is  not  entirely 
finished;  some  relics  of  the  barbarous  institution  still  linger 
in  the  Constitution  and  upon  the  statute  book.  These  with 
the  prejudices  which  have  grown  up  with  the  institution  will 
rapidly  disappear. 

The  formal  adoption  of  the  Constitutional  amendment  by 
the  States,  rapidly  followed  its  passage  through  Congress. 
The  resolution,  as  we  have  seen,  passed  Congress  on  the  31st 
day  of  January,  A.  D.  1865. 

Illinois,  as  was  fit,  being  the  home  of  Lincoln,  and  under 
his  inspiration,  took  the  lead  in  ratifying  the  amendment. 
Not  a  day  elapsed  before  it  was  ratified  by  both  branches  of 
the  Legislature,  and  the  result  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Lincoln. 
Then  came  Rhode  Island,  on  the  2d  of  February,  and  on 


592  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

the  same  day  Michigan,  and  then  regenerated  Maryland  on 
the  3d;  keeping  pace  with  her,  was  New  York  and  West 
Virginia.  Then  came  on  the  7th,  Maine  on  the  East,  and 
Kansas  on  the  West;  and  on  the  8th,  Massachusetts  and 
Pennsylvania;  and  on  the  9th,  Old  Virginia,  through  her  few 
loyal  legislators;  then  on  the  10th,  Ohio,  and  redeemed  Mis- 
souri; on  the  16th,  young  Nevada,  and  Indiana,  and  Louisi- 
ana, and  then  Minnesota,  on  the  8th  and  23d.  Then  followed 
Wisconsin,  Vermont,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Connecticut, 
New  Hampshire,  South  Carolina,  Alabama,  North  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Oregon,  California,  Florida,  New  Jersey,  and  Iowa, 
in  the  order  in  which  they  are  named.  Thirty-two  States  in 
all,  have  filed  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  official  evidence 
of  their  ratification  of  the  amendment.  Kentucky,  Delaware, 
Mississippi,  and  Texas  have  as  yet,  failed  to  ratify. 

It  must  have  been  a  proud  moment,  when  William  II. 
Seward  as  Secretary  of  State,  on  the  18th  day  of  December, 
1865,  officially  proclaimed  the  ratification  of  the  amendment, 
and  certified  that  the  same  "  has  become  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  valid,  as  a  part  of  the  Constitution,  of  the  United 
States.*  Who  could  have  anticipated  when  Mr.  Seward,  in 

*  The  following  correspondence  gives  in  a  semi-official  form  the  dates  of  the 
ratification : 

WASHINGTON,  July  23, 1866. 
Hon.  W.  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  Stale, 

My  Dear  Sir:  *  *  *  May  I  trouble  you  to  furnish  me  the  dates,  at  which  the 
several  States  adopted  the  Constitutional  amendment  prohibiting  slavery  forever 
throughout  the  Republic,  and  a  copy  of  your  official  certificate  or  proclamation, 
announcing  such  ratification  by  the  requisite  number  of  States.  I  cannot  forbear 
congratulating  you  on  the  part  you  have  taken  in  this  great  revolution.  Few  have 
had  the  felicity  of  living  to  witness  such  glorious  results  from  their  labors.  How 
few  could  have  anticipated  when  you  began  your  anti-slavery  labors,  that  you 
would  live  to  officially  proclaim  that  "  slavery  is  no  more." 

Very  Respectfully  Yours, 

ISAAC  N.  ARNOLD. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  WASHINGTON,  August  22, 1866. 
ISAAC  N.  ARNOLD,  ESQ., 

Sir:  Your  letter  of  the  23d  ultimo,  asking  to  be  furnished  the  dates  at  which  the 
several  States  adopted  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution  prohibiting  slavery, 
etc.r  was  duly  received ;  but  owing  to  the  exigencies  of  public  business  in  this 
Department,  it  has  not  been  convenient  to  answer  it  until  now. 

The  dates  of  ratification  by  the  several  States,  up  to  this  time,  are  as  follows : 
Illinois,  February  1st,  1865 ;  Rhode  Island,  February  2d,  1865:  Michigan,  February 
2d,  1865;  Maryland,  February  1st  and  3d,  1865;  New  York,  February  2d  and  3d,  1865: 
West  Virginia,  February  3d,  1865;  Maine,  February  7th,  1865 ;  Kansas,  February  7th, 
1865;  Massachusetts,  February  8th,  1865;  Pennsylvania,  February  8th,  1865;  Vir- 
ginia. February  9th,  1865;  Ohio,  February  10th,  1865;  Missouri,  February  10th,  1865; 


THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY.  593 

1849,  entered  the  Senate  of  the"  United  States  as  the  anti- 
slavery  leader,  that  he  would  live,  officially  to  proclaim  the 
overthrow  of  slavery  by  Constitutional  amendment  throughout 
the  Republic? 

Nevada,  February  16th,  1885;  Indiana,  February  16th,  1865;  Louisiana,  February 
mh,  1865;  Minnesota,  February  8th  and  23d,  1865;  Wisconsin,  March  1st,  1865;  Ver- 
mont, March  9th,  1865;  Tennessee,  April,  5th  and  7th,  1865;  Arkansas,  April  20th, 
1865;  Connecticut,  May  5th,  1865 ;  New  Hampshire,  July  1st,  1865;  South  Carolina, 
November  13th,  1865 ;  Alabama,  December  2d,  1865 ;  North  Carolina,  December  4th, 
1865;  Georgia,  December  9th,  1865;  Oregon,  December  llth,  1865;  California,  Decem- 
ber 20th,  1865;  Florida,  December  28th,  1865;  New  Jersey,  January  23d,  1866;  Iowa, 
January  24th,  1866. 

I  transmit  a  copy  of  the  certificate  of  ratification,  agreeably  to  your  request. 
Thanking  you  for  the  congratulations  with  which  you  conclude  your  letter, 

I  am,  Your  Obedient  Servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWABD. 

February  4th,  1865.  The  Delegates  from  certain  Territories  obtained  permission 
to  enter  this  paper  upon  the  Journal  of  the  House : 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  WASHINGTON,  February  1, 1865. 

Representing  Territories  which  must  soon  become  States,  as  Delegates  deprived 
of  the  inestimable  privilege  of  voting  in  this  House,  and  feeling  a  deep  interest  in 
the  proposition  to  amend  the  Federal  Constitution,  forever  prohibiting  slavery 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  demanded  alike  by  the  exigencies  of 
the  times,  the  voice  of  the  loyal  people,  and  by  our  efforts  in  the  field  to  suppress 
a  rebellion  inaugurated  and  sustained. for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating  slavery,  we 
cannot  do  less  than  state  that  the  measure  meets  our  unqualified  approbation. 

H.  P.  BENNET,  Colorado.  J.  B.  S.  TODD,  DacoKih. 

3.  F.  KINNEY,  Utah.  W.  H.  WALLACE,  Idaho. 

8.  Q.  DAILY,  Nebraska.  FRANCISCO  PEREA,  New  Mexbc. 

CHARLES  D.  POSTON,  Arizona. 

38 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

THE  THIRTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS— TO  ITS  CLOSE. 

THE  FREEDMEN'S  BUREAU  BILL — KEBELLIOUS  STATES  NOT  TO  VOTE 
IN  THE  ELECTORAL  COLLEGE — RECONSTRUCTION — TREATMENT  OP 
UNION  PRISONERS — REBEL  PRISONERS — ATTACK  OF  BROOKS 
UPON  BUTLER — His  VINDICATION  BY  BOUTWELL  AND  STEPHENS — 
CLOSE  OF  THE  THIRTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS — VALEDICTORY  OP 
SPEAKER  COLFAX. 

AT  this,  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress, 
was  finally  passed  the  act  creating  the  Freedmen's  Bu- 
reau. It  encountered  much  opposition ;  its  friends  differed 
so  widely  in  regard  to  its  provisions,  that  its  details  were 
finally  settled  by  a  conference  committee.  Mr.  Sunnier,  in 
the  Senate,  and  Mr.  Elliot,  in  the  House,  were  its  very  zealous 
and  earnest  advocates.  Mr.  Sumner  said  "  Emancipation  is 
not  enough.  You  must  see  to  it,  that  it  is  not  evaded  or 
nullified ;  and  you  must  see  to  it  especially,  that  the  new 
made  freedmen  are  protected  in  tho?°  rights  which  are  now 
assured  to  them,  and  that  they  are  saved  from  the  prevailing 
caste  which  menaces  slavery  under  some  new  alias;"  and 
this  he  declared  was  the  object  of  the  bill  creating  the  Freed- 
men's Bureau.  The  freedmen  now  rejoicing  in  recovered 
rights,  must  for  a  while  be,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
"  the  wards  of  the  nation,"  and  protected  from  the  tradi- 
tional harshness  and  cruelty  to  which  for  generations  they 
have  been  exposed.  "The  Government  must  be  to  them  a 
shield." 

After  several  ineffectual  attempts  to  agree  upon  a  bill  which 
should  be  satisfactory  to  both  Houses  of  Congress,  a  com- 
mittee of  conference,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Wilson,  Harlan 
and  Willey,  of  the  Senate,  and  Messrs.  Schenck,  Boutwell 

594 


PASSAGE  OF  THE  FREEDMEN'S  BUREAU  BILL.  595 

and  Rollins  of  the  House,  agreed  upon  a  bill  embracing, 
substantially,  the  following  provisions : 

It  established  in  the  War  Department,  to  continue  -during 
the  war,  and  for  one  year  thereafter,  "  A  Bureau  of  Refugees, 
Freedmen,  and  Abandoned  Lauds,"  to  which  was  to  be  sub- 
mitted the  supervision  of  all  abandoned  lands,  and  the  con- 
trol of  all  subjects  relating  to  refugees  and  freedmen,  from 
rebel  States,  or  any  territory  included  within  the  operations 
of  the  army.  The  Bureau  was  to  be  under  the  control  of 
a  commissioner  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Senate. 

The  Secretary  of  War  was  authorized  to  direct  the  issue 
of  provisions,  clothing,  and  fuel,  as  he  might  deem  needful 
for  the  immediate  and  temporary  shelter  and  supply  of  des- 
titute and  suffering  refugees  and  freedmen  and  their  families. 
The  President  was  authorized  to  appoint,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  one  assistant  commissioner  for  each 
of  the  States  in  insurrection,  to  aid  in  the  execution  of  the 
provisions  of  the  act.  The  commission  was  authorized  to  set 
apart,  under  the  direction  of  the  President,  for  the  use  of 
loyal  refugees  and  freedmen,  such  tracts  of  land  within 
the  insurrectionary  States,  as  had  been  abandoned  by  rebel 
owners,  or  to  which  the  United  States  had  acquired  title  by 
confiscation,  sale,  or  otherwise,  not  to  exceed  forty  acres  to 
every  male  refugee  or  freedman,  with  the  privilege  of 
purchasing  the  same. 

This  bill  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  received  the 
approval  of  the  President.  Mr.  Lincoln  selected  to  execute 
the  law,  as  the  head  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  Major  Gen- 
eral 0. 0.  Howard,  a  man  uniting  the  experience  of  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  soldiers  of  the  war,  great  practical  ability  and 
good  sense  as  an  executive  officer,  with  a  Christian  life  and 
character,  and  an  earnest,  sincere  philanthropy,  which  com- 
manded universal  respect;  no  better  appointment  could 
have  been  made. 

Congress,  before  the  day  for  counting  and  declaring  the 
electoral  vote,  passed  a  joint  resolution,  reciting  "  that  the 
inhabitants  and  local  authorities  of  the  eleven  seceding  States, 
having  rebelled  against  the  United  States,  and  having  con- 
tinued in  a  state  of  armed  rebellion  for  more  than  three  years, 


696     LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

«" 

and  being  in  a  state  of  armed  rebellion  on  the  8th  of  No- 
vember, 1864  (the  day  of  the  Presidential  election,)  there- 
fore, '  resolved,  that  the  States  named  were  not  entitled  to 
representation  in  the  electoral  college  for  the  choice  of  Pres- 
ident and  Vice  President  of  the  United  States."  '  This  joint 
resolution  was  presented  to  the  President,  and  signed  by 
him ;  but,  on  the  8th  of  February,  he  sent  to  Congress  a  mes- 
sage, stating  that  the  resolution  had  been  signed  by  the 
Executive,  in  deference  to  the  views  of  Congress,  implied  in  its 
passage  and  presentation  to  him.  He  added,  however,  this 
statement  especially  important  as  expressive  of  his  views  upon 
the  subject  of  reconstruction:  "The  two  Houses  of  Con- 
gress, convened  under  the  twelfth  article  of  the  constitution, 
have  complete  power  to  exclude  from  counting  all  electoral 
votes  deemed  by  them  to  be  illegal,  and  it  is  not  competent 
for  the  Executive  to  defeat  or  obstruct  that  power  by  a  veto, 
as  would  be  the  case  if  his  action  were  at  all  essential  in  the 
matter.  He  disclaimed  all  right  of  the  Executive  to  inter- 
fere in  any  way,  in  the  matter  of  canvassing  or  counting 
electoral  votes,  &c."  * 

On  the  8th  of  February,  1865,  both  Houses  of  Congress 
convened  in  the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
the  President  of  the  Senate  presiding,  for  the  purpose  of 
opening  and  counting  the  votes  for  President  and  Vice  Pres- 
ident. The  whole  number  of  votes  given  was  two  hundred 
and  twenty-three,  of  which  Abraham  Lincoln  received  two 
hundred  and  twelve,  and  George  B.  McClellaii  received 
twenty-one,  for  the  office  of  President ;  and  Andrew  John- 
son and  George  II.  Pendleton,  respectively,  received  the 
same  number  for  Vice  President,  and,  thereupon,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  and  Andrew  Johnson,  having  received  the 
majority  of  the  whole  number  of  the  electoral  votes  for 
President  and  Vice  President,  were  declared  duly  elected. 

The  subject  of  reconstruction  came  again  before  Congress, 
in  various  forms,  at  this  session.  The  "  Bill  to  guarantee  to 
certain  States  whose  governments  have  been  usurped  or  over- 
thrown, a  republican  form  of  government,"  was  again  con- 
sidered, January  16th,  1865. 

•  McPherson's  History,  p.  579. 


RECONSTRUCTION  IN  CONGRESS.  597 

Mr.  Elliot  moved  a  substitute  for  the  bill,  providing  that 
the  States  declared  to  be  in  rebellion  shall  not  be  permitted 
to  resume  their  political  relations  with  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  until  they  shall  have  adopted  a  State  con- 
stitution, forever  prohibiting  involuntary  servitude,  and  guar- 
anteeing to  all  persons,  freedom  and  equality  of  rights 
before  the  law.* 

Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  proposed  to  amend  by  providing  that 
Senators  and  Representatives  should  not  be  received  from 
the  rebellious  States,  until  by  act,  or  joint  resolution  of  Con- 
gress, approved  by  the  President,  or  passed,  notwithstanding 
his  objections,  such  State  shall  have  been  first  declared  to 
have  organized  a  just  local  government,  republican  in  form. 

Mr.  Arnold  of  Illinois,  offered  an  amendnent,  which  was 
accepted,  abolishing  and  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  terri- 
tory in  rebellion  against  the  United  States. f 

Mr.  Kelley  of  Pennsylvania,  proposed  to  amend  the  bill 
by  providing  that  all  colored  male  citizens  in  the  rebellious 
States,  who  could  read  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
should  be  enrolled  as  voters.  In  support  of  this  amendment 
he  said :  J 

"  The  organized  war  power  of  the  rebellion  is  on  the  eve  of  overthrow.  It  be- 
longs to  us  to  govern  the  territory  we  have  conquered,  and  the  question  of  recon- 
struction presses  itself  upon  our  attention:  and  our  legislation  in  this  behalf  will, 
though  it  comprises  no  specific  provisions  on  the  subject,  determine  whether  guer- 
rilla war  shall  harrass  communities  for  long  years,  or  be  suppressed,  in  a  brief  time 
by  punishment  administered  through  courts  and  law,  to  marauders  for  the  crimes 
they  may  commit  under  the  name  of  partisan  warfare.  At  the  close  of  an  inter- 
national war,  the  wronged  but  victorious  party  may  justly  make  two  claims ;  in- 
demnity for  the  past,  and  security  for  the  future;  indemnity  for  the  past  in  money 
or  in  territory ;  security  for  the  future  by  new  treaties,  the  establishment  of  new 
boundaries,  or  the  cession  of  military  power  and  the  territory  upon  which  it 
dwells.  Indemnity  for  the  past  we  cannot  hope  to  obtain.  When  we  shall  have 
punished  the  conspirators  who  involved  the  country  in  this  sanguinary  war,  and 
pardoned  the  dupes  and  victims  who  have  arrayed  themselves  or  been  forced  to  do 
battle  under  their  flag,  we  shall  but  have  repossessed  our  ancient  territory,  re- 
established the  boundaries  of  our  country,  restored  to  our  flag  and  Constitution 
their  supremacy  over  territory  which  was  ours  but  which  the  insurgents  meant 
to  dismember  and  possess.  The  other  demand  we  may  and  must  successfully 
make.  Security  for  the  future  is  accessible  to  us,  and  we  must  demand  it ;  and  to 
"obtain  it  with  amplest  guaranties  requires  the  adoption  of  no  new  idea,  the  making 
of  no  experiment,  the  entering  upon  no  sea  of  political  speculation.  *  *  * 

*  Congressional  Globe,  2d  session,  38th  Congress,  page  281. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  2d  session,  38th  Congress,  page  284. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  2d  session,  38th  Congress,  page  281-288. 


598       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"  Let  us  meet  the  question  fairly.  Do  our  institutions  rest  on  complexional  dif- 
ferences? Can  we  cement  and  perpetuate  them  by  surrendering  the  patriots  of 
the  insurgent  district,  shorn  of  all  political  power,  into  the  hands  of  the  traitors 
whom  we  propose  to  propitiate  by  such  a  sacrifice  of  faith  and  honor  ?  Did  God 
ordain  our  country  for  a  single  race  of  men?  Is  there  reason  why  the  intelligent, 
wealthy,  loyal  man  of  color  shall  stand  apart  abased,  on  election  day,  while  his  ig- 
norant, intemperate.vicious,  and  disloyal  white  neighbor  participates  in  making 
laws  for  his  government  ?  What  is  the  logic  that  denies  to  a  son  the  right  to  vote 
with  or  against  his  father,  because  it  has  pleased  Heaven  that  he  should  partake 
more  largely  of  his  mother's  than  of  the  father  s  complexion  ?  And  is  it  not  known 
to  all  of  us  that  well  nigh  forty  per  cent,  of  the  colored  people  of  the  south  are  chil- 
dren of  white  fathers,  who,  after  we  subjugate  them,  will,  with  professions  of  loy- 
alty only  lip  deep,  enjoy  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  reconstructed  States  ?  Shall 
he,  though  black  as  ebony  be  his  skin,  who,  by  patient  industry,  obedience  to  the 
laws,  and  unvarying  good  habits,  has  accumulated  property  on  which  he  cheer- 
fully pays  taxes,  be  denied  the  right  of  a  voice  in  the  government  of  a  State  to 
whose  support  and  welfare  he  thus  contributes ;  while  the  idle,  reckless,  thriftless 
man  of  fairer  complexion  shall  vote  away  his  earnings  and  trifle  with  his  life  or 
interests  as  a  juror?  Shall  the  brave  man  who  has  periled  life,  and  mayhap  lost 
limb,  who  has  endured  the  dangers  of  the  march,  the  camp,  and  the  bivouac  in  de- 
fense of  our  Constitution  and  laws,  be  denied  their  protection,  while  the  traitors  in 
the  conquest  of  whom  he  assisted,  enjoy  those  rights,  and  use  them  as  instruments 
for  his  oppression  and  degradation." 

He  makes  the  following  quotations  from  the  testimony  of 
Colonel  Hanks : 

"  I  knew  a  family  of  five  who  were  freed  by  the  voluntary  enlistment  of  one  of 
the  boys.  He  entered  the  ranks  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  freeing  his  family.  His 
name  was  Moore ;  he  was  owned  by  the  Messrs.  Leeds,  iron  founders ;  they  resided 
within  one  of  the  parishes  excepted  in  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  He 
was  the  flrst  man  to  fall  at  Pascagoula.  Upon  starting  he  said  to  his  family, '  I 
know  I  shall  fall,  but  you  will  be  free.' 

"  A  negro  soldier  demanded  his  children  at  my  hands.  I  wanted  to  test  his  affec- 
tion. I  said 'they  had  a  good  home.'  He  said,  'Lieutenant,  I  want  to  send  my 
children  to  school ;  my  wife  is  not  allowed  to  see  them;  I  am  in  your  service ;  I 
wear  military  clothes ;  I  have  been  in  three  battles;  I  was  in  the  assault  at  Port 
Hudson ;  I  want  my  children ;  they  are  my  flesh  and  blood.' 

"  The  grave,  long  years  hence,  will  close  over  those  who  to  the  last  day  of  their 
life  would,  were  it  in  their  power,  overthrow  the  Government  or  revenge  their 
supposed  wrongs  upon  those  who  aided  in  sustaining  it-  The  truly  loyal  white 
men  of  the  insurrectionary  districts  need  the  sympathy  and  political  support  of 
all  the  loyal  people  among  whom  they  dwell,  and  unless  we  give  it  to  them,  we 
place  them  as  abjectly  at  the  feet  of  those  who  are  now  in  arms  against  us,  as  we 
do  the  negro  whom  their  oppressors  so  despise.  I  cannot  conceive  how  the  Ameri- 
can Congress  could  write  a  page  of  history  that  would  so  disgrace  rt  in  the  eyes  of 
all  posterity  as  by  consenting  to  close  this  war  by  surrendering  to  the  unbridled 
lust  and  power  of  the  conquered  traitors  of  the  South,  those  who,  through  blood, 
terror,  and  anguish,  have  been  our  friends,  true  to  our  principles  and  our  welfare. 
To  purchase  peace  by  such  heartless  meanness  and  so  gigantic  a  barter  of  principle, 
would  be  unparalleled  in  baseness  in  the  history  of  mankind.  , 

"  We  are  to  shape  the  future.  We  cannot  escape  the  duty.  And  'conciliation, 
compromise,  and  concession,'  are  not  the  methods  we  are  to  use.  These  alas !  have 
been  abundantly  tried,  and  their  result  has  been  agitation,  strife,  war,  and  desola- 
tion. No  man  has  the  right  to  compromise  justice;  it  is  immutable;  and  He  whose 
law  it  is  never  fails  to  avenge  its  compromise  or  violation.  Ours  is  not  the  work 
of  construction.  It  is  that  of  reconstruction ;  not  that  of  creation  but  of  regenera- 
tion ;  and,  as  1  have  shown  the  principle  of  the  life  we  are  to  shape  glares  on  us 


RECONSTRUCTION  IN  CONGRESS.  599 

lighting  our  pathway,  from  every  page  of  history  written  by  our  Revolutionary 
Fathers.  Would  we  see  the  issue  of  '  compromise,  concession,  and  conciliation  T 
Sir,  we  behold  it  in  the  blazing  home,  the  charred  roof-tree ;  the  desolate  hearthslde, 
the  surging  tide  of  fratricidal  war,  and  the  green  mounds  beneath  which  sleep  half 
a  million  of  the  bravest  and  best  loved  of  our  men." 

"Winter  Davis  made  the  following  prediction  of  the  results 
which  would  follow  a  failure  to  pass  the  bill:* 

"  If  this  bill  do  not  become  a  law,  when  Congress  again  meets,  at  our  doors, 
clamorous  and  dictatorial,  will  be  sixty-five  Representatives  from  the  States  now 
In  rebellion,  and  twenty-two  Senators  claiming  admission,  and,  upon  the  theory 
of  the  honorable  gentleman,  entitled  to  admission  beyond  the  power  of  argument 
to  resist  it ;  for  peace  will  have  been  restored,  there  will  be  no  armed  power  but 
that  of  the  United  States ;  there  will  be  quiet,  and  votes  will  be  polled  under  the 
existing  laws  of  the  State,  in  the  gentleman's  view.  Are  you  ready  to  accept  that 
consequence  ?  For  if  they  come  to  the  door  of  the  House  they  will  cross  the  thresh- 
old of  the  House,  and  any  gentleman  who  does  not  know  that,  or  who  is  so  weak 
or  so  wild  as  to  suppose  that  any  declaratory  resolution  adopted  by  both  Houses  as 
a  condition  precedent  can  stop  that  flood,  had  better  put  his  puny  hands  across  the 
flood  of  the  flowing  Mississippi  and  say  that  it  shall  not  enter  the  Gulf  of  Mexico." 

Mr.  Dawes  of  Massachusetts,  said  :f 

"  My  only  purpose  Is  to  Impress  upon  this  House  the  very  conclusion  which  finds 
sanction  in  the  last  section  of  this  bill,  namely,  that  no  form  can  be  prescribed,  no 
law  laid  down  here,  no  unbending  iron  rule  fixed  by  the  central  Government,  for 
the  governing  of  that  people,  or  prescribing  the  method  in  which  they  shall  make 
their  organic  law.  Each  of  them  shall  work  out  that  problem  for  itself  and  in  its 
own  way.  That  form  and  system  which  is  best  adapted  to  Louisiana  and  Arkansas 
is  quite  different  from  that  which  is  ultimately  to  be  adopted  in  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia.  These  are  a  people  unlike  in  their  habits  and  pursuits,  in  their  no- 
tions, in  their  loyalty  or  disloyalty,  whichever  it  may  be.  In  each  one  of  these 
States  the  condition  of  things  and  feelings  is  unique,  and  finds  no  counterpart  in 
any  other.  In  the  States  more  particularly  under  consideration,  the  people  are 
struggling  to  rise  from  chaos  into  the  form  of  Republican  organic  law.  The  others 
to  which  I  have  alluded,  are  still  wandering  in  the  wilderness  of  treason  and  rebel- 
lion, and  rolling  as  a  sweet  morsel  under  their  tongue  the  sin  which  has  brought 
all  this  calamity  upon  us." 

The  bill  was  finally  laid  upon  the  table  by  ayes  80, 
noes  65. J 

The  question  of  the  admission  of  Senators  and  members 
from  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Virginia,  was  much  discussed 
in  both  Houses  of  Congress  at  this  session,  but  no  final  vote 
was  taken. 

The  public  mind  had  been  painfully  impressed  with  the 
statements  of  the  barbarities  inflicted  upon  Union  prisoners 
by  the  Confederate  authorities.  The  exchange  of  prisoners 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  969. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  937. 
J  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  page  1002. 


600       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

had  been  interrupted,  really  and  mainly  because  the  rebel 
authorities  refused  to  exchange  colored  Union  soldiers,  and 
refused  to  treat  them  as  prisoners  of  war.  The  story  of  the 
treatment  of  Union  prisoners  at  Libby  prison  and  Belle  Isle 
at  Richmond,  at  Andersonville,  Selma,  and  other  places,  and 
the  massacre  at  Fort  Pillow,  filled  the  whole  land  with  hor- 
ror. The  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  war,  were  di- 
rected by  Congress,  to  investigate,  and  their  report  confirmed 
the  conviction  that  the  most  unparalleled  cruelties  had  been 
inflicted  upon  the-  Union  prisoners.  It  was  established  that 
at  Andersonville,  in  1864,  there  were  35,000  Union  prisoners 
confined  in  a  field  of  some  thirty  acres,  and  that  30,000  of 
them  were  without  shelter,  or  even  shade ;  crowded  together, 
sleeping  upon  the  ground  without  blankets,  and  many  of 
them  partially  naked.  Their  rations  scarcely  adequate  to 
sustain  life,  and  of  a  quality  that  approaching  starvation, 
alone,  could  induce  men  to  eat.  Added  to  inadequacy  and 
uuwholesomeness  of  food,  resulting  in  a  condition  nearly  ap- 
proaching starvation,  want  of  shelter,  and  clothing,  and  the 
crowding  of  vast  numbers  into  a  small  space,  was  the  most 
brutal  and  inhuman  treatment  by  the  guard;  often  shooting 
down  unarmed  men  apparently  for  amusement.*  In  the 
Senate,  on  the  16th  of  January,  1865,  Senator  Wade  offered 
a  resolution,  that  all  Confederate  prisoners,  both  qflicers  and 
men,  should  receive  the  same  rations,  the  same  clothing,  and 
be  subject  to  the  same  treatment  in  every  respect,  as  Federal 
prisoners  of  war  in  the  power  of  the  rebels. 

Senator  Lane,  of  Indiana,  urging  the  adoption  of  the  reso- 
lution, stated  that  there  were  about  45,000  Union  prisoners 
in  rebel  prisons,  and  that  the  Government  held  about  double 
that  number  of  rebel  prisoners.  He  stated  in  substance,  that 
most  of  these  45,000  had  been  reduced  by  starvation  to  utter 
helplessness.  Those  of  them  who  escape  the  slow  torture  of 
death  by  starvation,  return  emaciated  and  feeble,  and  unfit 
for  service.  We,  as  Christians,  feed,  clothe,  and  provide  for 
the  rebel  prisoners  in  our  hands.  Those  we  return  to  them, 


*  See  testimony  on  the  trial  of  Wertz.  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Conduct  of 
the  war.  See  appeal  to  the  President  by  officers  confined  at  Charleston,  dated 
August  1864 ;  also  Report  of  Sanitary  Commission. 


TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS  BY  THE  REBELS.  601 

we  send  in  a  condition  of  greater  efficiency  than  when  cap- 
tured. "  They  are  fed  and  fattened  upon  Government  ra- 
tions. We  receive  in  return  skeletons,  shocking  to  human- 
ity." "It  is  time,"  said  he,  "we  resorted  to  a  system  of 
strict  retaliation,  marked  by  justice  in  every  feature." 
Senator  Wade  said  :* 

"Sir,  I  have  no  doubt  on  investigation  of  this  subject,  that  it  is  a  deliberate  pur- 
pose of  theirs  to  destroy  every  prisoner  that  comes  into  their  hands.  They  do  not 
intend  that  he  shall  be  returned  to  us  in  such  a  condition  that  he  can  ever  again 
take  the  field.  Their  inhuman  treatment  is  probably  owing  more  to  this  con- 
sideration than  to  mere  feelings  of  malice.  It  is  a  system  of  savage  policy,  and  it 
has  had  a  most  powerful  effect  on  our  army.  Of  the  thousands  of  prisoners  we 
have  had  in  their  hands,  scarcely  one  of  them  is  ever  returned  to  us  in  such  a  con- 
dition that  he  can  take  the  field  again ;  while  on  the  other  side  the  prisoners  that 
come  into  our  possession  are  treated  precisely  the  same  as  our  own  soldiers  are,  and 
they  go  back  refreshed,  recuperated,  and  ready  to  take  the  field  against  us,  every 
man  of  them.  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  prompt  and  stern  resort  to  this  measure  of 
retaliation  will  have  as  beneficial  an  effect  as  the  measure  to  which  I  have  referred 
had  in  the  case  to  which  it  was  applied." 

In  regard  to  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  Senator  Harlan 
said  :f 

"  I  would  rejoice  to  see  every  prisoner  of  ours  held  by  the  rebels  released  at  once, 
but  when  I  know  that  the  release  of  a  Union  prisoner  by  the  rebels  requires  the 
release  of  a  rebel  prisoner  by  our  Government,  and  that  he  will  be  at  once  thrown 
into  strongly  fortified  works,  and  that  you  will  be  compelled  to  recruit  three  other 
soldiers  to  unite  with  our  returning  prisoner  to  make  the  combat  equal ;  that  four 
lives  are  to  be  put  in  jeopardy  to  recapture  the  rebel  whom  we  have  released,  I 
cannot  criticise  the  Secretary  of  War  if  he  should  refuse  to  exchange  prisoners 
from  this  time  forward  until  the  close  of  the  war,  even  if  a  fair  exchange  could  be 
secured;  but  I  apprehend  there  are  very  few  Senators  here  who  believe  that  a  fair 
exchange  can  be  effected.  They  so  analyze  all  prisoners  that  they  hold  of  ours,  as 
to  release  those  whose  terms  of  service  have  expired  or  are  about  to  expire.  Their 
soldiers  are  mustered  in  practically  during  the  war.  Every  southern  citizen  able 
to  bear  arms  is  enrolled  as  a  soldier  during  the  continuance  of  the  war.  Then 
when  we  release  a  rebel  prisoner  we  put  him  into  their  army  during  the  continu- 
ance of  the  war,  while  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  probably,  the  soldier  received  by 
us  in  return  will  be  at  once  well  fed  and  mustered  out  of  service.  In  addition  to 
this,  we  know  from  the  facts  that  have  been  developed  by  the  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War,  that  they  do  not  return  to  us  ablebodied  men,  but  only 
exchange  the  sick  and  dilapidated  for  those  that  are  ablebodied  and  vigorous." 

Senatoiv,Sumner  said  :J 

"The  resolution  of  the  committee  sets  forth  what  we  all  too  painfully  know,  that 
our  prisoners— I  quote  now  from  the  words  of  the  resolution  —  have  been  sub- 
jected to  treatirent  unexampled  for  cruelty  in  the  history  of  civilized  war,  and 
finding  its  parallels  only  in  the  conduct  of  savage  tribes;  a  treatment  resulting  it 
the  death  of  multitudes  by  the  slow  but  designed^  process  of  starvation,  and  bj 


*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eigh  th  Congress,  p.  364. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  365. 
J  Congressional  Gl<-  be,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  381. 


602  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

mortal  diseases  occasioned  by  insufficient  and  unhealthy  food,  by  wanton  expo- 
sure of  their  persons  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  by  deliberate  assassina- 
tion of  innocent  and  unoffending  men ;  and  the  murder  In  cold  blood,  of  prisoners 
after  surrender.' " 

Sumner  went  on  to  say,  "  that  the  rule  of  retaliation  could 
not  be  acted  upon  by  our  Government.  We  could  enter  into 
no  such  competition  in  barbarity."  "  We  cannot,"  says  he, 
"  be  cruel  or  barbarous,  or  savage,  because  the  rebels,  whom 
we  are  now  meeting  in  warfare,  are  cruel,  barbarous  and 
savage."  He  quotes  Dr.  Leiber,  as  saying:  "If  we  fight 
with  Indians,  who  slowly  roast  their  prisoners,  we  cannot 
slowly  roast  in  turn  the  Indians  whom  we  may  capture." 
The  northern  people  will  not  treat  captured  southerners,  as 
our  sons  are  treated  by  them.  God  be  thanked,  you  could 
not  do  it,  and  if  you  could,  how  it  would  brutalize  our 
people."* 

Mr.  Lincoln,  when  these  reports  of  barbarities  came  to 
him,  and  were  authenticated,  was  deeply  moved;  but  when 
urged  to  retaliate  in  kind,  he  said,  "  I  never  can,  1  can  never 
starve  men  like  that." 

Why  is  it,  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  northern  people,  never 
could  carry  on  retaliation  in  kind  ?  Why  is  it,  that  the  rebel 
authorities  could  be  guilty  of  cruelties,  paralleled  alone  by 
the  Spanish  treatment  of  the  Indians,  and  by  the  Inquisition? 
Will  not  the  calm,  just  historian  of  the  future  truthfully  say, 
this  barbarity  was  the  result  of  the  brutalizing  influence  of 
slavery  ? 

Senator  Cowan  said,  "  I  think  it  would  be  impossible  to 
procure  in  the  American  army,  an  officer,  or  a  soldier  either, 
who  would  stand  by  arid  see  a  man  starve;  I  do  not  believe 
it  possible.  A  file  of  our  soldiers  might  shoot  a  man  in  re- 
taliation, but  our  soldiers  would  not  inflict  a  slow  and  terrible 
torture." 

Senator  Howard  read  from  the  report  of  the  Committee 
of  Investigation,!  to  show,  that  the  barbarities  were  resorted 
to  "  for  the  inhuman  purpose  of  destroying  the  lives  of  our 
men  by  the  slow  process  of  starvation.  After  producing 
Borne  of  the  evidence  on  the  subject,  he  said:  J 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  382. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session.  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  386-7. 
I  Congression  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congresa,  p.  188. 


TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS  BY  THE  REBELS.  603 

"  Sir,  the  barbarities  committed  upon  our  msn  at  Andersonville  are  absolutely 
Indescribable.  Human  language  is  impotent  to  bring  home  to  the  heart  and  the 
soul  of  a  man  the  horrors  of  those  scenes.  Artists  have  been  compelled  to  resort 
to  something  more  expressive  than  human  language,  and  painting;  and  engraving 
have  been  called  in  to  aid  in  conveying  to  the  mind  the  full  idea  of  the  brutalities 
practiced  by  the  rebel  authorities  upon  our  soldiers.  Out  of  those  thirty-five  thou- 
sand, I  presume  not  more  than  one-half,  if  as  many,  still  survive  to  tell  the  tale  of 
their  sufferings ;  and  the  testimony  is  as  clear  as  the  noon  day  sun  that  these  bar- 
barities were  deliberately  practiced  upon  our  men  for  the  double  purpose  of  crip- 
pling and  reducing  our  armed  force  and  of  striking  terror  into  the  Northern  popu- 
lation in  order  to  prevent  enlistments.  There  does  not  remain  ground  for  a  doubt 
that  the  Rebel  Government  designedly  resorted  to  the  slow  process  of  torture  and 
death  by  starvation,  and  to  freezing  and  starving  united,  operating  minute  by 
minute,  hour  by  hour,  day  by  day,  week  by  week,  and  month  by  month,  until  the 
man  became  a  living  skeleton  and  an  idiot,  no  longer  able  to  recognize  his  wife, 
his  children,  or  his  friends;  no  longer  of  any  value  either  to  himself  or  his  country; 
and  this  for  the  purpose  of  weakening  our  military  arm  and  deterring  our  people 
from  prosecuting  the  war. 

"  Sir,  I  ask  any  man  of  humanity,  any  man  who  feels  a  respect  for  his  country, 
does  it  not  become  us  to  punish  these  barbarities,  and  to  punish  them  in  the  only 
way  that  is  left  us  ?  which  is,  the  original  and  actual  offenders  having  made  their  es- 
cape or  not  being  in  our  power,  to  seize  upon  their  countrymen,  prisoners  in  our 
hone  Is,  and  subject  them  to  the  same  severities  practiced  against  us.  I  know,  sir,  that 
the  heart  of  a  generous  man  naturally  revolts  at  the  practice  of  retaliation.  I  am  not 
a  stranger,  I  trust,  to  the  ordinary  feelings  of  humanity :  but  when  the  voice  of  my 
own  countrymen  cries  to  me  from  the  dungeons  of  Libby,  and  from  the  putrid 
pools  of  Andersonville  and  Implores  me  to  Interpose  whatever  power  I  may  possess 
to  deter  the  rebels  from  the  infliction  of  such  cruelties  on.  them,  I  cannot,  and,  so 
help  me  God,  I  will  not  shut  my  ears  to  their  cries.  ******* 

"  Sir,  the  history  of  the  world,  certainly  the  history  of  the  civilized  world,  pre- 
sents no  parallel  to  the  brutalities  committed  by  the  rebels.  Bead  the  story  of, 
Dartmoor  prison,  you  find  nothing  to  be  compared  with  them.  Read  the  story  of 
the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta,  you  find  nothing  there.  Read  the  story  of  the  ancient 
British  hulks,  in  which  twenty  thousand  French  prisoners  were  kept  in  close  con- 
finement for  three  or  four  years  off  the  coast  of  England,  in  spaces  not  more  than 
four  and  a  half  feet  high  between  decks,  and  you  will  find  nothing  there  to  be  corn- 
Bared  with  these  cruelties.  In  the  whole  history  of  modern  ci  vilized  war,  these 
crimes  stand  out  in  hideous  prominence. 

The  cautiou8  and  careful  Senator  Foster,  of  Connecticut, 
said,  that  he  "was  astonished  that  any  intelligent  man 
should  express  a  doubt  whether  our  prisoners  in  the  hands 
of  rebels,  from  the  first  day  of  the  war,  had  been  treated 
barbarously,  inhumanly,  and  that  this  treatment  continues 
to  the  present  time."  He  said,  "  who  are  our  opponents  ? 
They  are  a  band  of  insurgents,  robbers,  traitors,  malefactors 
on  land,  and  pirates  on  the  deep;  and  because  such  men  de- 
scend to  what  would  disgrace  savages  in  the  treatment  of 
prisoners,  not  disgracing  any  National  name,  for  they  have 
no  National  name  to  disgrace,  shall  we,  who  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  each  man  feeling  that  he  has 
a  part  of  the  National  honor  to  sustain,  do  that  which 
disgraces  them  ?  No,  M«r.  President,  no,  no."  * 

*  Congiessional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eigth  Congress,  p.  411-12. 


604       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Senator  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  who  opposed  the  resolution, 
said,  "  I  do  not  doubt  now,  that  there  have  been  cruelties, 
not  justified  by  the  usages  of  Christian  warfare,  inflicted  upon 
our  prisoners  in  the  South."  * 

Senator  Reverdy  Johnson,  opposing  the  resolution,  said: 
"  What  I  want,  therefore,  is  such  a  system  of  exchange  as 
may  put  an  end  to  these  cruelties  in  the  future,  leaving  the 
past  where  it  is;  leaving  the  Rebel  Government,  if  they  have 
resorted  to  the  enormities  stated  in  this  resolution,  as  I  have 
no  doubt  they  have,  to  the  judgment  of  the  civilized  wprld, 
which  will  pronounce  a  judgment  of  infamy  to  all  concerned 
in  them."f 

Senator  Wade,  in  speaking  of  the  influence  of  slavery 
upon  the  people,  said :  $ 

"  I  know  something  about  these  Southern  people.  Habituated  to  slavery,  with 
their  hearts  entirely  hardened  to  the  misfortunes  and  hardships  of  man  in  the  per- 
son of  the  poor  slave,  they  have  forgotten  that  he  is  human  and  that  they  owe  him 
any  respect ;  and  this  hardening  process  did  not  stop  with  the  slave,  but  the  poor 
•white  man  in  the  South  is  treated  even  at  a  greater  distance  and  regarded  as  occu- 
pying a  lower  position  of  degradation  than  the  negro.  They  do  not  care  anything 
about  the  private  soldiers.  They  would  as  lief  we  starved  their  private  soldiers  to 
death  as  not,  unless  they  wanted  them  returned  to  fill  up  their  armies.  They  place 
them  side  by  side  with  the  negro  whose  fate  they  care  nothing  for.  It  is  not  the 
poor  private  soldier  that  I  want  to  see  subjected  to  these  punishments,  because  he 
is  not  responsible  for  this  treatment,  and  because  these  accursed,  hardened  aristo- 
crats look  with  as  much  composure  on  his  fate  as  some  here  look  on  the  fate  of  our 
soldiers  in  their  barbarous  hands.  They  care  nothing  for  him ;  they  have  lost  all 
feelings  of  humanity  for  those  whom  they  consider  the  mere  plebeian  trash, 
whether  black  or  white.  But  when  you  touch  the  chivalry,  of  whom  their  officers 
are  composed,  when  you  subject  them  to  ignominious  labor  in  the  trenches,  or  put 
them  on  the  same  treatment  which  they  deal  out  to  our  soldiers,  my  word  for  it 
their  hearts  will  be  reached  and  a  remedy  will  soon  be  attained.  *  *  *  * 

"  Is  there  nothing  that  will  degrade  a  man?  May  he  not  steep  himself  in  crime 
so  deep  that  it  is  damnation  and  contamination  to  communicate  with  him?  If  so, 
is  not  Jeff.  Davis  that  man  ?  Before  Almighty  God,  if  war  has  brought  suffering, 
dishonor,  and  death  upon  our  people,  Davis  and  his  associates  are  responsible  for 
it;  and  if  a  common  murderer  ought  to  die  once  for  the  crime  of  murder,  Jeff. 
Davis'  death  ought  to  be  multipled  a  hundred  thousand  fold.  Not  only  that,  but 
think  of  the  meanness  that  attaches  to  his  crime.  I  was  here  when  Jeff.  Davis  and 
company  walked  up  to  your  desk,  sir,  and  raised  their  hands  to  God,  and  swore  to 
maintain  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  I  was  here  when  that  oath 
was  forgotten  and  they  raised  their  accursed  arm  against  this  Republic,  and,  with 
all  the  power  that  they  had  acquired  from  it,  turned  about  to  destroy  that 
very  Constitution  which  they  had  before  sworn  to  maintain.  Is  perjury  no  dis- 
grace ?  And  does  not  an  honest,  just  man  lose  confidence  in  his  fellow-man  when 
he  finds  him  steeped  in  perjury?  *  *  *  Sir,  his  touch  was  contamination, 
and  communication  with  him  was  dishonor.  He  had  perjured  his  soul  before  God, 
and  his  arm  was  attainted  and  reeking  with  the  blood  of  the  bravest  and  best  ol 
the  population  of  the  United  States." 


*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  412. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  454. 
J  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  495. 


TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS  BY  THE  REBELS.  605 

Senator  Chandler,  of  Michigan,  said :  * 

•*  I  saw  the  other  day  a  Captain  who  has  just  returned  from  a  seventeen  months' 
Imprisonment  in  a  Southern  prison,  a  gentleman  from  Michigan,  and  he  told  me 
that  he  was  informed  by  the  Superintendent  of  their  prison  that  it  was  their  policy, 
their  fixed  policy,  that  no  prisoner  who  remained  three  months  in  a  rebel  prison 
should  ever  be  fit  to  enter  the  United  States  army  after  his  exchange  and  return 
home.  If  this  was  the  barbarism  of  a  single  individual  who  happened  to  have  a 
number  of  our  prisoners  in  his  charge,  perhaps  it  would  not  be  proper  for  us  to  adopt 
retaliation  as  a  policy ;  but  it  has  been  proved  over  and  over  again  that  this  is  the 
policy  of  the  rebels  in  the  conduct  of  the  war,  their  settled  policy,  their  policy 
everywhere  in  every  State,  with  every  prisoner." 

Senator  Sprague,  of  Rhode  Island,  said  :  f 

"  Early  in  the  history  of  this  war  It  was  my  privilege  to  have  intimate  and  near 
friends  connected  with  the  army.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  with  them  upon 
the  battle-field.  I  saw  many  of  them  wounded,  others  struck  down.  The  patriotic 
people  of  my  State  demanded  of  me  that  their  remains  should  be  returned  to  the 
State ;  that  the  ground  of  that  State  should  be  hallowed  by  their  bones  and  re- 
mains ;  that  their  history  should  be  a  part  of  the  State.  In  obedience  to  that  de- 
mand I  traveled  with  a  proper  escort  to  endeavor  to  secure  their  bodies ;  and  what 
did  I  find  ?  I  found  that  the  friends  whom  I  had  left  wounded  upon  the  bat- 
tle-field had  been  murdered  after  we  had  left.  I  found  the  dead  that  we  were 
obliged  to  leave  upon  the  battle-field  with  their  faces  downward  as  a  mark  of  indig- 
nity. I  found  the  heads  of  the  bravest  and  best  of  my  companions  severed  from 
their  bodies  to  be  used  as  drinking  cups  by  Southern  rebels.  Of  the  remains  of 
some  of  the  best,  most  intelligent,  and  bravest  officers  that  ever  served  any  cause, 
I  found  but  the  portion  left  from  a  bonfire.  *  *  *  This  treatment  has  been 
practiced  by  the  rebels  upon  Union  soldiers  to  bring  about  the  very  result  that  has 
been  brought  about,  and  that  is,  an  exchange  of  prisoners." 

Senator  Saulsbury,  of  Delaware,  suggested  that  the  best 
measure  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering  Federal  prisoners  was 
"  peace."  To  induce  peace,  by  the  recognition  of  the  Con- 
federacy, was  doubtless  one  of  the  motives  inducing  the 
rebel  authorities  to  perpetrate  these  cruelties.  He  said  :  £ 

"  It  is  peace,  sir,  that  this  country  wants.  Give  us  peace,  and  no  Federal  soldiers 
will  ever  again  rot  in  Confederate  bastiles  or  prisons,  or  starve  in  Confederate  pens. 
Give  us  peace,  and  the  mother  whose  aching  heart  and  streaming  eyes  you  now 
witness  will  bless  you  for  your  deed.  Give  us  peace,  and  instead  of  these  acts  of 
barbarism  of  which  we  hear,  your  land  shall  again  bloom  and  blossom  as  the  rose, 
Sir,  in  the  place  of  retaliatory  measures,  in  the  stead  of  resorting  to  acts  of  cruelty 
to  meet  acts  of  cruelty,  and  to  prevent  them  in  the  future,  I  propose  that  your 
commissioners  meet,  and  I  invoke  you,  if  this  be  the  honest  aim  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  lend  him  your  willing  and  cordial  aid ;  and  then,  sir,  you 
will  have  no  need  for  retaliation ;  then,  sir,  your  soldiers  no  longer  will  be  starved 
or  murdered  or  ill  treated,  but  they  shall  return  to  their  homes  long  left,  to  cheer 
their  families,  to  rejoice  again  that  peace  blesses  the  land,  and  that  their  country 
does  not  require  any  further  sacrifice  of  life  or  blood  upon  their  part." 


«  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  496. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  516. 
I  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  520. 


606  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  resolution  was  amended  so  as  not  to  require  retalia- 
tion in  kind,  but  the  Executive  and  military  authorities  * 
were  directed  to  retaliate  upon  the  prisoners  of  the  enemy 
in  such  manner,  according  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  war,  as 
should  deter  him  from  the  perpetration  in  future  of  cruel 
and  barbarous  treatment  of  our  soldiers.  No  act  of  retalia- 
tion, under  this  resolution,  was  ever  inflicted  upon  any  rebel 
prisoner.  I  have  quoted  from  these  debates  on  the  subject 
of  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war,  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  in  the  highest  deliberative  body  of  the  country 
the  truth  of  the  charges  of  barbarity  and  cruelty  made 
against  the  rebel  authorities,  was  not  disputed,  except  as  to 
the  extent  of  those  cruelties ;  and,  also,  to  show  by  the  evi- 
dence produced  in  such  debates,  what  sort  of  enemies  slave- 
holders are,  and  by  what  agencies  they  carried  on  the  war 
to  maintain  slavery ;  and,  also,  for  the  purpose,  by  placing 
on  record  the  truth,  to  make  slaveholding  odious. 

It  was  after  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  barbarities  practiced 
upon  Union  prisoners  had  been  established,  and  proclaimed 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  that  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
deavoring to  neutralize,  or  lessen  the  odium  growing  out  of 
such  a  system,  that  rebel  agents  and  sympathizers  in  Eng- 
land raised  a  fund  for  the  purpose,  as  alleged,  of  relieving 
the  wants  of  rebel  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  Govern- 
ment. These  prisoners  were  notoriously  better  clothed,  and 
fed,  and  cared  for,  than  while  soldiers  in  the  rebel  service. 

Lord  Wharncliffe  had  been  induced  to  become  the  agent 
of  the  parties  raising  this  fund,  and  he  asked,  through  Mr. 
Adams,  representing  the  United  States  in  Great  Britain,  that 
permission  be  granted  to  an  agent  to  visit  the  military 
prisons  within  the  Northern  States,  and  minister  to  the  com- 
fort of  the  Confederate  prisoners.  Mr.  Adams  communi- 
cated this  request  to  Mr.  Seward,  who  instructed  Mr.  Adams 
to  inform  Lord  Wharncliffe  that  the  application  was  disal- 
lowed. The  Secretary  said  in  his  reply  "  that  the  United 
States  had  ample  means  for  the  support  of  prisoners,  as  well 
as  for  every  other  contingency  of  the  war,"  and  that  the 
insurgents  were  suffering  no  privations  that  appeal  for  relief 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  521. 


BROOKS'  CHARGES  AGAINST  BUTLER.  607 

to  charity,  either  at  home  or  abroad.  In  reply  to  a  letter  of 
Lord  Wharncliffe,  published  in  the  London  Times,  in  which 
he  charged  that  Confederate  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the 
Government  were  suffering  unusual  privations,  Goldwin 
Smith,  who  had  lately  returned  from  a  visit  to  the  United 
States,  during  which  he  had  visited  the  camp  where  rebel 
prisoners  were  detained,  published  a  letter,  in  which  he 
bears  testimony  that  the  rebel  prisoners  were  treated  with 
the  utmost  liberality  and  kindness.  He  expressed  his  belief 
that  the  sentiment  of  the  people  at  the  North  was  strongly 
as  possible  in  favor  of  a  humane  and  generous  treatment  of 
prisoners,  both  as  a  matter  of  duty  and  as  an  instrument  of 
ultimate  reconciliation,  and  this,  notwithstanding  they  have 
"  the  proof  before  their  eyes  that  their  own  soldiers  are 
treated  with  the  greatest  barbarity  in  Southern  prisons." 

One  of  the  most  exciting  debates  of  this  session  arose  out 
of  a  charge  made  by  Mr.  Brooks,  ofi  New  York,  against 
General  B.  F.  Butler,  of  Massachusetts,  charging  him,  while 
in  command  at  New  Orleans,  with  being  a  "  gold  robber." 
General  Butler  addressed  a  note  of  inquiry  to  Mr.  Brooks, 
which  the  latter  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  House  as  a 
question  of  privilege,  upon  the  ground  that  it  was  a  chal- 
lenge, or  a  note  preliminary  to  a  challenge.  Mr.  Boutwell 
raised  the  point  of  order,  that  the  letter  was  no  breach  of 
privilege,  and  the  Speaker  sustained  the  point  of  order,  from 
which  decision  Mr.  Brooks  appealed.  *  He  said  :  "  With  no 
desire  to  enter  into  an  epistolary  correspondence  with 
General  Butler,  whose  literary  talents  I  well  estimate,  and 
which,  if  not  altogether  Chesterfieldian,  have  nevertheless 
the  vigor  and  nerve  of  Junius."  "  I  choose  to  answer  him 
here,  when  I  made  the  remarks  of  which  he  is  supposed  to 
complain." 

Mr.  Ingersoll,  of  Illinois,  desired  that  Mr.  Brooks  would 
explain  to  the  House  what  reasons  he  had  for  calling  General 
Butler  a  "  gold  robber." 

Brooks  replied :  "  That  is  what  I  want  to  do,  but  I  cannot 
do  it  in  discussing  a  question  of  order."  Mr.  Ingersoll, 
thereupon,  moved  to  suspend  the  rules  so  as  to  allow  Mr. 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  376. 


608  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Brooks  to  proceed.  The  motion  was  agreed  to,  and  Mr. 
Brooks  proceeded,  reiterating  the  charge. 

The  House  adjourned,  Mr.  Stevens  holding  the  floor.  TKe 
next  morning  he  yielded  to  Mr.  Boutwell,  who  was  the 
immediate  representative  in  Congress  of  General  Butler. 

After  some  preliminary  remarks,  Mr.  Boutwell  said  :  * 

"  Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  come  to  the  testimony  In  reference  to  the  850,000  transac- 
tion in  New  Orleans.  I  ask  the  attention  of  the  gentleman  from  New  York  to  one 
point,  because,  when  I  have  presented  the  evidence,  I  shall  put  to  him  a  question 
on  my  own  responsibility  as  a  member  of  this  House,  as  a  Representative  of  a  dis- 
trict, as  a  citizen  of  this  country,  interested  somewhat  in  the  reputation  of  a  man 
who  is  already  historical,  and  who,  since  the  administration  of  Hastings  in  India, 
has  had  a  larger  command  and  greater  interests  of  the  country  placed  in  his  hands 
than  almost  any  other  person,  and  I  shall  expect  a  definite  and  distinct  answer  to 
that  question ;  and  therefore  I  put  him  on  his  guard  at  this  early  moment.  The 
question  I  shall  put  to  him  is,  (asking  the  Clerk  first  to  read  the  extract  from  the 
gentleman's  speech  which  was  contained  in  General  Butler's  letter,)  whether  he 
reaffirms  the  statement  which  he  made  or  whether  he  retracts  it?  And  according 
to  the  course  which  he  takes  shall  be  mine  as  to  some  observations  which  I  will 
then  submit." 

He  then  read  evidence,  showing  that  Smith,  the  claimant 
of  the  $50,000  in  gold  allowed  to  have  been  robbed  of  him 
by  General  Butler,  was  an  enemy  of  his  country,  and  the 
firm  of  which  he  was  a  member  were  agents  for  the  Con- 
federate loan.  He  then  read  the  order  of  General  Butler, 
creating'  a  military  commission,  consisting  of  General  Shep- 
ley,  "W.  N".  Mercer,  and  Thomas  J.  Durant,  to  inquire 
whether  the  specie  in  question  was  the  property  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  or  had  been  used  in  any  way  to  aid  the  Con- 
federate States.  He  then  read  the  evidence  taken  before 
such  commission,  on  both  sides,  and  after  argument  of 
counsel.  The  commission  decided  that,  "  With  regard  to 
the  $50,000,  the  commission  think  there  is  ground  for  deten- 
tion until  the  proper  department  at  "Washington  can  be 
heard  from."  This  award  was  made  June  17th,  1862,  and 
on  the  2d  of  July  thereafter  General  Butler  reports  the  facts 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  f 

He  read  other  correspondence  with  the  Secretary  of  War, 
aud  the  counsel  of  Smith,  and  then  added  : 

"  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  element  of  the  crime  of  robbery  in  this  transac- 
tion from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  The  seizure  was  made  by  a  public  officer,  a 
military  commander,  in  pursuance  of  what  he  believed  then  to  be  his  duty,  and 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  394. 
t  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  395. 


BROOKS'  CHARGES  AGAINST  BUTLER.  609 

what  I  believe  a  jury  of  his  countrymen  anywhere,  on  the  evidence,  would  find  to 
have  been  his  duty  under  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed.  He  submitted 
the  whole  question  of  the  right  of  property,  as  far  as  it  could  be  submitted,  to  a 
military  commission,  and  he  followed  the  decree,  or  award  made  by  that  commis- 
sion, and  within  fifteen  days  reported  the  facts  to  the  Government,  and  from  that 
day  to  this  he  has  always  been  ready  and  responsible.  He  has  again  and  again 
solicited  the  Department  to  take  the  money  and  assume  the  responsibility— either 
to  take  it  as  belonging  to  the  Government,  or  pay  it  over  to  Samuel  Smith  <fe  Co., 
and  relieve  him." 

Mr.  Boutwell  then,  after  reading  the  charge  made  by  Mr. 
Brooks,  demanded  whether  he  reaffirms  the  charge,  or  re- 
tracts it  ?  and  closed  by  stating,  "  I  yield  the  floor  for  a 
reply." 

Mr.  Brooks  said  :  "  When  the  gentleman  concludes  I  shall 
be  happy  to  make  reply.  The  introduction  of  his  remarks 
shows  that  he  is  not  entitled  to  courtesy." 

"  Mr.  BOUTWELI/.  I  understand,  then,  that  the  gentleman  is  neither  prepared  at 
this  moment  to  reaffirm  the  statement  made  in  that  speech,  nor  to  retract  it.  On 
this  evidence,  conclusive  as  to  the  falsity  of  the  charge,  the  gentleman  from  New 
York  stands  silent,  and  will  neither  reaffirm  the  declaration  that  he  has  made  to 
this  House  and  to  the  country,  that  Major  General  Butler  of  the  army  is  a  gold 
robber,  nor  will  he,  upon  this  evidence,  retract  it.  Has  it  made  no  impression  upon 
him?  Does  he  not  comprehend  it?  Does  he  yfet  persist  in  allowing  that  declaration 
made  in  his  speech  to  stand  upon  the  record  ?  If  he  has  a  name  to  live,  does  not 
the  dread  of  posterity  inspire  him  to  do  justice  to  a  servant  of  the  country?  Is  he 
still  silent  ?  Has  he  no  voice  to  reaffirm  what  he  has  declared,  or  is  he  yet  destitute, 
shall  I  say  of  manliness,  to  admit  that  he  was  mistaken?" 

Mr.  Brooks,  in  reply,  among  other  things,  said :  * 

"  No  man,  Mr.  Speaker,  did  more,  or,  I  might  say,  as  much,  to  excite  and  arouse 
the  feelings  of  this  country,  and  to  bring  about  that  hostility  which  led  to  the  clash 
of  arms  as  Major  General  Butler.  Belonging  to  the  Democratic  party,  and  the  most 
ultra  of  that  party,  he  was  ever  first  and  foremost  in  stimulating  and  encouraging 
that  hostility  and  invective  which  would  lead  to  excitement  and  to  war;  and  when- 
ever the  Democratic  party  was  disposed  to  compromise  or  make  concessions  in  any 
way  which  would  lead  to  pacification,  he  was  the  last  of  all  to  yield,  and  the  first 
and  foremost  to  bring  about  that  collision  of  opinion  which  would  lead  to  this 
clash  of  arms.  And  yet  I,  who  am  of  the  school  of  Clay,  and  of  Massachusetts' 
own  Webster,  trained  in  obedience  to  the  Constitution  and  laws,  never  even 
responsible  for  any  of  the  errors  of  the  Democratic  party,  hardly  connected  with 
that  party  except  so  far  as  it  chose  to  honor  me  here  with  its  sympathy  and  its 
votes,  elected  here  upon  the  floor  of  this  House  in  opposition  to  the  machinery  of  that 
party ;  I  am  denounced  by  the  Representative  of  this  General  Butler  as  a  man 
more  disposed  to  welcome  a  rebel  uniform  of  gray  than  the  blue  uniform  of  a 
soldier  of  the  United  States ! 

"  Sir,  in  the  Charleston  Convention,  which  led  to  the  rupture  of  the  Democratic 
party  and  the  election  of  Lincoln,  if  Butler  himself  had  been  the  paid  agent  of 
Jeff.  Davis  and  of  the  conspirators  to  destroy  this  Union,  he  could  not  have  a«ted  a 
more  efficient  or  a  more  fatal  part  in  sundering  and  dividing  that  party  and  bring- 
ing about  this  collision  than  he  did  as  a  delegate  from  Massachusetts  to  that  con- 
vention. I  never  voted  in  my  life  for  Jefferson  Davis,  while  Major  General  Butler 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  397. 

39 


610  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

voted  fifty-seven  times  in  the  Charleston  Convention  for  this  same  Jefferson  Davis, 
to  make  him  President  of  the  United  States.  Compare  my  record  then,  then,  with 
his.  Compare  my  past  with  his.  A  sagacious  man,  like  General  Butler,  a  man  of 
talent  and  power  and  capacity,  must  have  known  very  well,  while  he  was  thus 
acting  in  the  Charleston  Convention,  where  all  that  action  would  lead ;  that  it 
would  lead  to  a  disruption  of  the  party  of  the  Democracy,  and  in  that  disruption 
to  a  triumph  of  the  Republican  party.  ******* 

"  The  honorable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  was  pleased  to  say  that  since  the 
record  of  Hastings  in  India  no  man  had  had  so  wide  and  so  extensive  a  command 
as  Major  General  Butler.  The  honorable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  will  permit 
me  to  say  that  I  think  that  was  a  most  unfortunate  allusion.  The  history  of  Hast- 
ings in  India  is  in  a  good  degree  the  history  of  Major  General  Butler  at  New  Or- 
leans and  throughout  all  those  regions  on  the  Mississippi.  I  will  not  recall  that 
history ;  but  I  will  recall  the  fact  that  years  afterward  the  proudest  and  the  loftiest 
spirits  in  the  British  Parliament,  from  Burke  onward,  arraigned  Hastings  for  his 
conduct  in  India  as  I  have  arraigned  Butler  here ;  and  as  others  hereafter  will 
arraign  him  on  the  floor  of  this  House,  for  his  conduct  in  New  Orleans  and  else- 
where. And,  sir  the  history  of  Butler  will,  I  venture  to  predict,  be  the  fate  of 
Hastings  ;  supported  by  a  ministry,  though  but  feebly  and  partially  supported, 
yet  recorded  in  history  as  a  plunderer  and  a  robber,  and  bequeathing  to  posterity 
a  name  immortal  for  that  plunder  and  robbery  alone." 

Mr.  Stevens  in  conclusion,  among  other  things,  said :  * 

"  The  evidence  has  done  great  justice  and  great  favor  to  Major  General  Butler, 
for,  sir,  there  is  not  a  candid  man,  there  is  not  an  honest  man  in  this  House  who 
will  dare  to  say  that  that  evidence  is  not  a  complete  and  perfect  vindication  of 
Major  General  Butler  from  all  the  charges  made  against  him  by  the  gentleman 
from  New  York ;  it  not  only  vindicates  him,  but  shows  him  to  have,  in  all  his  acts 
and  in  all  his  correspondence,  acted,  not  only  like  an  honest  man  and  faithful 
officer,  but  like  a  gentleman  and  a  well  educated  man.  The  whole  of  the  corres- 
pondence would  do  credit  not  only  to  his  heart  but  to  his  great  ability  and  his 
scholarship  and  his  professional  learning.  And  I  will  say  here  that,  so  far  as  pro- 
fessional learning  goes,  I  was  long  ago  struck  with  his  correspondence  with  the 
gentleman  who  was  sent  down  there  by  the  Government,  Mr.  Beverdy  Johnson, 
General  Butler  showed  more  ability,  more  knowledge  of  the  law  of  nations,  and 
was  more  correct  in  his  positions  than  that  gentleman;  and  if  General  Butler's 
doctrine  had  prevailed,  $800,000  in  gold,  which  was  seized  by  him,  would  have  been 
kept  from  supplying  the  rebel  armies,  to  which  it  was  applied,  when  turned  over, 
under  the  advice  of  the  eminent  counsel  to  whom  I  refer." 

Of  the  great  public  services  rendered  by  Butler,  he  said : 

"  The  gentleman  says  that  General  Butler  has  done  no  service  to  his  country. 
Service  to  his  country!  If  it  is  true  that  he  helped  to  kill  the  Democratic  party, 
he  did  a  great  deal  of  service  to  the  country.  [Laughter.]  I  do  not  know  that  fact. 
That  took  place  before  secession,  and  is,  therefore,  a  little  further  back  than  I 
choose  to  go.  But  if  he  was  wrong  then,  the  gentleman  from  New  York  has  been 
going  wrong  ever  since  and  getting  worse  all  the  time,  while  General  Butler  has 
been  getting  better  and  better,  and  is  now  an  excellent  man.  I  wish  to  God  they 
would  all  reform  in  the  same  way.  [Laughter.]  Did  he  not  come  on  in  the  midst 
of  peril  and  seize  Baltimore,  which  others  had  failed  to  do?  Did  he  not  go  to  New 
Orleans  and  seize  it,  and  administer  its  affairs  better,  and  to  the  greater  satisfac- 
tion of  every  loyal  man,  than  has  been  done  since,  although  I  do  not  draw  com- 
parisons? Talk  about  that  being  a  parallel  with  the  administration  of  Warren 
Hastings!  All  that  I  have  to  say  is  this :  Warren  Hastings  was  made  immortal  by 
the  talents  of  the  counsel  who  prosecuted  him.  He  was  acquitted,  as  the  public 

.  *  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth.  Congress,  p.  400. 


CLOSE  OF  THE  THIRTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS.  611 

will  acquit  General  Butler.  The  only  difference  is  that  there  has  been  no  pure  and 
upright  and  manly  eloquence  in  this  prosecution,  to  immortalize  General  Butler 
as  in  the  case  of  Warren  Hastings." 

He  thus  speaks  of  John  Brown : 

"  He  also  talks  about  John  Brown.  The  gentleman  well  knows  that  that  class  of 
people  to  whom  he  referred  were  very  few  in  the  United  States.  None  of  the  Re- 
publican party  belonged  to  that  class.  But,  sir,  I  will  state  the  difference  between 
John  Brown  and  the  gentleman  from  New  York.  While  I  have  not  a  word  to  say 
in  extenuation  of  the  conduct  of  John  Brown,  nor  anything  to  say  against  his 
sentence,  yet,  sir,  there  are  times  in  the  history  of  men  when  there  are  such  great 
evils  that  the  motives  of  some  men  who  attempt,  although  in  an  irregular  manner, 
to  eradicate  those  evils,  will  overshadow  all  the  irregularities  in  the  eye  of  pos- 
terity, although  we  here  at  the  moment  cannot  forget  or  forgive  them.  There  are 
times,  sir,  when  posterity  will  look  beyond  the  immediate  step  to  see  where  a  man 
proposed  to  land,  what  were  his  intentions  and  his  motives,  and  they  will  judge 
according  to  the  ulterior  design.  Now,  sir,  the  motive  of  John  Brown  —  honest,  up- 
right, but  mistaken  in  his  means  —  no  man  who  loves  freedom  can  help  applaud- 
ing, although  none  of  us  would  justify  the  means.  But  upon  the  principle  which 
I  have  mentioned,  when  the  gentleman  from  New  York  and  myself  will  be  mol- 
dering  in  the  dust  and  forgotten,  or  only  unpleasantly  remembered,  the  memory 
of  John  Brown,  I  will  venture  to  predict,  will  grow  brighter  and  brighter  through 
coming  ages ;  and  the  State  of  Virginia  itself,  by  its  own  freemen  and  its  own 
freedmen,  will,  within  the  lives  of  some  ^now  present,  raise  a  monument  to  his* 
memory  upon  the  very  place  where  his  gallows  stood." 

Nothing  could  be  more  complete  and  conclusive  than  this 
vindication  of  General  Butler,  so  far  as  regards  the  transac- 
tion in  question.  The  charge  has  never  since  heen  repeated. 

The  Thirty-eighth  Congress  drew  towards  its  close.  It 
had  done  its  duty.  Differing  with  the  Executive  on  points 
of  administration,  as  many  of  its  members  did,  yet  it  had 
faithfully  sustained  him  in  carrying  on  the  war.  It  had 
placed  in  his  hands,  with  perfect  confidence,  the  vast  re- 
sources of  the  country.  It  had  voted  increased  taxes  to 
maintain  the  National  credit.  It  had  amended  the  Enroll- 
ment Law  to  give  it  more  efficiency.  It  had  obliterated  for- 
ever from  the  National  Statute  Book  the  barbarous  slave  code. 
More  than  all,  and  above  all,  it  had  passed  the  constitutional 
amendment,  prohibiting  and  abolishing  slavery  forever. 
The  records  of  this  Congress,  and  those  of  the  Thirty- 
seventh,  are  full  of  the  wisest  statesmanship  and  eloquent 
expressions  of  the  noblest  sentiments  of  patriotism  and 
humanity.  These  records  will  long  be  consulted,  for  the 
story  of  the  forensic  conflict  between  liberty  and  slavery. 
That  conflict  is  there  recorded  in  the  speeches,  votes,  and 
legislation,  during  this,  the  most  eventful  period  of  Ameri- 
can history.  He  who  in  the  future  would  fully  comprehend 


612  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

that  history,  must  study  it  in  these  eloquent  discussions. 
The  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  ended,  and  passed  into  history, 
with  the  following  valedictory  of  Schuyler  Colfax,  Speaker 
of  the  House  :* 


"  Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  "the  parting  hour  has  come ;  and 
yonder  clock,  which  '  takes  no  note  of  time  but  from  its  loss,'  will  soon  announce 
that  the  Congress  of  which  we  are  members  has  passed  into  history.  Honored  by 
your  votes  with  this  responsible  position,  I  have  faithfully  striven  to  perform  its 
always  complex  and  often  perplexing  duties  without  partisan  bias  and  with  the 
slncerest  impartiality.  Whether  I  have  realized  the  true  ideal  of  a  just  presiding 
officer,  aiding,  on  the  one  hand,  the  advance  of  the  public  business,  with  the  re- 
sponsibility of  which  the  majority  is  charged,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  allowing  no 
trespass  on  the  parliamentary  rights  of  the  minority,  must  be  left  for  others  to  de- 
cide. But  looking  back  now  over  the  entire  Congress,  I  cannot  remember  a  single 
word  addressed  to  you  which  '  dying  I  would  wish  to  blot.' 

"  On  this  day,  which  by  spontaneous  consent  is  being  observed  wherever  our  flag 
floats  as  a  day  of  national  -rejoicing,  with  the  roar  of  cannon  greeting  the  rising 
sun  on  the  rock-bound  coast  of  Maine,  echoed  and  re-echoed  by  answering  volleys 
from  city  to  city,  and  from  mountain  peak  to  mountain  peak,  till  from  the  Golden 
Gate  it  dies  away  far  out  on  the  calm  Pacific,  we  mingle  our  congratulations  with 
those  of  the  freemen  we  represent  over  the  victories  for  the  Union  that  have  made 
the  winter  just  closing  so  warm  with  joy  and  hope.  With  them  we  rejoice  that 
the  national  standard,  which  our  revolutionary  fathers  unfurled  over  the  land,  but 
which  rebellion  sought  to  strike  down  and  destroy,  waves  as  undisputed  at  this 
glad  hour  over  the  cradle  of  secession  at  Charleston  as  over  the  cradle  of  liberty  at 
Faneuil  Hill,  and  that  the  whole  firmament  is  aflame  with  the  brilliant  glow  of 
triumphs  for  that  cause  so  dear  to  every  patriot  heart.  We  have  but  recently 
commemorated  the  birthday  of  the  Father  of  his  Country,  and  renewed  our  pledge 
to  each  other  that  the  nation  he  founded  should  not  'be  sundered  by  the  sword  of 
treason.  And  the  good  news  that  assures  the  salvation  of  the  Republic  is  doubly 
joyous,  because  it  tells  us  that  the  prayers  of  the  past  four  years  have  not  been  un- 
answered, and  that  the  priceless  blood  of  our  brave  defenders,  so  freely  offered  and 
so  profusely  spilt,  has  not  been  shed  in  vain.  We  turn,  too,  to-day,  with  a  prouder 
joy  than  ever  before  to  that  banner,  brilliant  with  stars  from  the  heavens  and 
radiant  with  glories  from  the  earth,  which  from  Bunker  Hill  to  Yorktown,  from 
Lundy's  Lane  to  New  Orleans,  and  from  the  darker  hours  of  the  rebellion  in  the 
past,  to  Savannah,  and  Fort  Sumter,  and  Charleston,  and  Columbia,  and  Fort 
Fisher,  and  Wilmington  in  the  present,  has  ever  symbolized  our  unity  and  our 
national  life,  as  we  see  inscribed  on  it  ineffaceably  that  now  doubly  noble 
inscription,  '  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable.' 

"  But,  in  this  hour  of  gladness  I  cannot  forget  the  obligations,  paramount  and 
undying,  we  owe  to  our  heroic  defenders  "on  every  battle-field  upon  the  land,  and 
every  wave-rocked  monitor  and  frigate  upon  the  sea.  Inspired  by  the  sublimest 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  they  have  realized  a  million-fold  the  historic  fable  of  Curtius 
as  they  have  offered  to  close  up,  with  their  own  bodies,  if  need  bei  the  yawning 
chasm  that  imperiled  the  Republic.  For  you  and  me,  and  for  their  country,  they 
have  turned  their  backs  on  the  delights  of  home,  and  severed  the  tenderest  of  ties 
to.  brave  death  in  a  thousand  forms ;  to  confront  with  unblanched  cheek  the 
tempest  of  shot,  and  shell,  and  flame;  to  storm  frowning  batteries  and  bristling 
intrenchments;  to  bleed,  to  suffer,  and  to  die.  As  we  look  from  this  Capitol  Hill 
over  the  nation  there  are  crushed  and  broken  hearts  in  every  hamlet ;  there  are 
wounded  soldiers,  mangled  with  rebel  bullets,  in  every  hospital ;  there  are  patriot 
graves  in  every  church  yard ;  there  are  bleaching  bones  on  every  battle-fleld.  II 
is  the  lofty  and  unfaltering  heroism  of  the  honored  living,  and  the  even  more 
honored  dead,  that  has  taken  us  from  every  valley  of  disaster  and  defeat  and 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  pp.  1423-4. 


VALEDICTORY   OF   SPEAKER   COLFAX.  613 

placed  our  feet  on  the  sun-crowned  heights  of  victory.  The  granite  shall  may 
commemorate  their  deeds.  Our  American  Valhalla  may  be  crowded  with  the 
statues  of  our  heroes.  But  our  debt  of  gratitude  to  them  can  never  be  paid  while 
time  shall  last  and  the  history  of  a  rescued  nation  shall  endure. 

"  If  my  voice,  from  this  Representative  Hall,  could  be  heard  throughout  the 
land,  I  would  adjure  all  who  love  the  Republic  to  preserve  this  obligation  evei 
fresh  in  grateful  hearts.  The  dead,  who  have  fallen  in  these  struggles  to  prevent 
an  alien  flag  from  waving  over  the  ashes  of  Washington,  or  over  the  graves  where 
sleep  the  great  and  patriotic  rivals  of  the  last  generation,  the  hero  of  New  Orleans 
and  the  illustrious  Commoner  of  Kentucky,  cannot  return  to  us.  On  Shiloh's 
plain  and  Carolina's  sandy  shores,  before  Richmond,  and  above  the  clouds  at 
liookout  Mountain,  the  patriot  martyrs  of  constitutional  liberty  sleep  in  their 
bloody  shrouds  till  the  morning  of  resurrection.  But  the  living  are  left  behind. 
And  if  the  Sacred  Record  appropriately  commends  the  poor,  who  are  ever  with  us, 
to  our  benefactions  and  regards,  may  I  not  remind  you  that  the  widow  and  the 
fatherless,  the  maimed  and  the  wounded,  the  diseased  and  the  suffering,  whose 
anguish  springs  from  this  great  contest,  have  claims  on  all  of  us,  heightened  im- 
measurably by  the  sacred  cause  for  which  they  have  given  so  much?  Thus,  and 
thus  alone,  by  pouring  the  oil  of  consolation  into  the  wounds  that  wicked  treason 
has  made,  can  we  prove  our  devotion  to  our  fatherland  and  our  affectionate 
gratitude  toward  its  defenders. 

"  And,  rejoicing  over  the  bow  of  promise  we  already  see  arching  the  storm-cloud 
of  war,  giving  assurance  that  no  deluge  of  secession  shall  again  overwhelm  or 
endanger  our  nation,  we  can  join,  with  heart  and  soul,  sincerely  and  trustingly,  in 
the  poet's  prayer : 

'  Now  Father,  lay  thy  healing  hand 
In  mercy  on  our  stricken  land  ; 
Lead  all  its  wanderers  to  the  fold, 
And  be  their  Shepherd,  as  of  old. 

'  So  shall  our  nation's  song  ascend 
To  thee,  our  Ruler,  Father,  Friend; 
While  heaven's  wide  arch  resounds  again 
With  '  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men.' ' 

"  We  go  hence  with  our  official  labors  ended,  to  the  Senate  Chamber  and  the 
portico  of  the  Capitol,  there,  with  the  statue  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  looking 
down  for  the  first  time  from  her  lofty  pedestal  on  such  a  scene,  to  witness  and 
participate  in  the  inauguration  of  the  Elect  of  the  American  people. 

"  And  now,  thanking  you  most  truly  for  the  approbation  of  my  official  conduct 
which  you  have  recorded  on  your  Journals,  I  declare  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  theThirty-eighth  Congress  of  the  United  States  adjourned  sine  die." 

NOTE.— The  following  incident  is  so  characteristic  of  Speaker  Colfax,  and  so  well 
illustrates  that  goodness  of  heart,  and  sweetness  of  disposition,  for  which  he  is 
distinguished,  that,  although  perhaps  out  of  place  here,  I  cannot  omit  it.  The  last 
days  of  this  session  were,  as  such  days  always  are,  full  of  cares  and  perplexities, 
everything  and  everybody  hurried,  and  impatient,  yet  through  all,  Colfax  retained 
his  amiability.  On  the  last  night  of  the  Session,  when  going  into  .the  Speaker's 
Room,  I  saw  a  basket  ;of  most  beautiful  flowers,  marked :  "$frs.  G.,  with  the  kind 
regards  of  Mr.  Colfax."  This  lady  was  the  wife  of  an  officer  of  the  House,  who  was 
very  ill.  This  kind  consideration,  that  did  not  forget  the  wife  of  a  subordinate 
even  in  that  last  hurried  night  of  the  Session,  shows  an  unselfish  heart  somewhat 
too  rare  among  politicians. 


OHAPTEE   XXYII. 

LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURATION— THE  END  OF  THE  WAR. 

FORT  FISHER — PEACE  CONFERENCE — WILMINGTON  AND  GOLDSBORO 
TAKEN — REBELS  RESOLVE  TO  ARM  THE  NEGRO — COLUMBUS,  S.  C., 
CAPTURED — CHARLESTON  FALLS — SECOND  INAUGURATION  OP 
LINCOLN  —  HE  GOES  TO  GRANT'S  HEADQUARTERS  —  MILITARY 
CONFERENCE — SHERIDAN  AT  FIVE  FORKS — AN  ASSAULT  ALONG 
THE  WHOLE  LINE — PETERSBURG  AND  RICHMOND  EVACUATED — 
LEE  SURRENDERS  TO  GRAND — JOHNSTON  SURRENDERS  TO  SHER- 
MAN—  ALL  REBEL  ARMIES  SURRENDER  —  THE  PRESIDENT  AT 
RICHMOND — RETURNS  TO  WASHINGTON — THE  GRAND  REVIEW  OP 
THE  ARMIES 


armies  of  the  Republic  were  not  idle  during  the  winter 
-•-  of  1864-5.  Indeed,  some  of  them  had  progressed  so  far 
South  as  to  make  the  winter  the  most  favorable  period  for  a 
campaign.  At  Christmas,  as  has  been  stated,  Sherman,  with 
his  confident,  victorious  army,  was  at  Savannah.  The  rem- 
nants of  Hood's  discomfited  and  broken  columns  had  been 
driven  towards  the  Gulf  by  the  well-organized,  and  tri- 
umphant army  of  Thomas.  Grant,  with  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  was  tightening  his  grasp  around  Petersburg 
and  Richmond,  holding  Lee  with  all  his  force,  and  ready  to 
take  advantage  of  any  diminution  of  troops  in  his  front. 

The  military  operations  of  1865  began  with  an  expedition 
by  a  land  and  naval  force  combined,  to  reduce  Fort  Fisher, 
situated  near  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  River,  and  which 
commanded  the  approach  to  "Wilmington,  North  Carolina. 
This  port  had  been  a  principal  place  of  blockade  running, 
and  foreign  trade,  by  the  rebels  during  the  war.  After  the 

614 


CAPTURE   OF   FORT   FISHER.  615 

fall  of  Savannah,  it  became  the  principal  gate  through  which 
supplies  from  abroad  could  be  passed  to  the  Confederates. 
The  almost  invulnerable  works  of  the  fort,  were  strongly 
garrisoned,  for  the  enemy  appreciated  the  importance  of  hold- 
ing this  position ;  nevertheless,  General  Grant  determined 
to  reduce  it.  On  the  13th  of  December  a  force  of  about 
6,500  men,  under  General  Butler,  started  from  Fortress 
Monroe,  to  operate  in  conjunction  with  the  naval  force  under 
Admiral  Porter  against  Fort  Fisher. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  Admiral  Porter  attacked  the 
fort,  without  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  land  forces ;  but, 
after  a  bombardment  of  five  hours  duration,  the  Admiral 
withdrew  his  fleet.  During  the  following  night,  General 
Butler's  forces  arrived,  and  on  the  25th  about  2,200  of  the 
men  were  landed.  The  attack  by  the  naval  force  was  re- 
newed. General  Weitzel,  who  had  the  immediate  command 
of  the  force  on  shore,  captured  two  batteries,  and  some 
prisoners;  but,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  ground 
and  defences,  he  reported  against  the  expediency  of  attempt- 
ing to  carry  the  place  by  assault.  In  the  evening  General 
Butler  ordered  the  trooops  to  reembark,  and  notified 
Admiral  Porter  that  he  should  sail  for  Hampton  Roads. 
General  Grant,  the  administration,  and  the  public,  were 
greatly  disappointed  at  the  result  of  this  expedition.  But 
there  was  not  a  hearty  cooperation  between  the  land  and 
naval  force. 

It  was  not  usual  for  Grant  to  abandon  an  object  deemed 
important,  until  it  was  accomplished.  Learning  that  the 
fleet  was  still  off  Fort  Fisher,  he  advised  Admiral  Por- 
ter to  hold  on,  and  that  he  would  make  another  attempt 
to  take  the  place.  He  selected  General  A.  H.  Terry  to  com- 
mand the  expedition,  and  about  1,500  men  were  added  to 
those  who  made  the  former  attempt.  The  expedition 
reached  its  destination  on  the  evening  of  the  12th.  The  troops 
disembarked  on  the  13th  of  January ;  on  the  16th  the  fort 
was  assaulted,  and  after  several  hours'  desperate  fighting  was 
captured  with  its  garrison  and  armament.  The  Union  force 
soon  acquired  entire  control  of  Cape  Fear  River.  For  this 
gallant  exploit,  General  Terry  was  made  a  Major  General. 


616       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

At  the  request  of  General  Grant,  Butler  was  relieved  from 
command,  and  Major  General  Ord  assigned  to  the  depart- 
ment of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  * 

During  the  winter  of  1865,  there  were  unofficial,  and  un- 
authorized movements  looking  towards  peace.  Before  Mr. 
Blair's  visit  to  Richmond,  an  earnest  friend  of  peace — honest, 
perhaps,  but  mistaken — approached  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  said 
in  substance  :  "  Assuming  that  Grant  is  baffled  and  delayed 
in  his  efforts  to  take  Richmond,  will  it  not  be  better  to  accept 
peace  on  favorable  terms  than  to  prolong  the  war  ?  Have 
not  nearly  four  years  of  war  demonstrated  that,  as  against  a 
divided  North,  a  united  South  can  make  a  successful  de- 
fence ?  The  South  is  a  unit,  made  so,  it  is  conceded,  by 
despotic  power.  We  of  the  North  cannot  afford  to  secure 
unity  by  giving  up  our  constitutional  government ;  we  can- 
not secure  unity  without  despotism."  The  rebels,  said 
this  advocate  for  peace,  "  will  fill  up  their  exhausted  armies 
by  300,000  negroes ;  these  negroes,  under  the  training  and 
discipline  of  white  officers,  and  with  freedom  as  their 
reward,  will  fight  for  them.  The  Union  armies  will  be  very 
greatly  reduced  next  year  by  the  expiration  of  the  term  of 
service  of  many  of  the  men.  How  will  you  fill  up  the 
ranks  ?  The  people  are  divided ;  one-third  or  more,  as  the 
elections  show,  are  positively  and  unalterably  against  the 
war ;  one-third  or  more  positively  and  unalterably  for  carry- 
ing it  on  until  the  rebellion  is  thoroughly  subjugated ;  the 
remainder  of  the  people — when  the  clouds  gather  black  and 
threatening  again,  when  another  draft  comes,  and  increased 
taxation,  the  peace  men,  and  the  timid,  facile,  doubtful  men, 
will  go  over  to  the  opposition  and  make  it  a  majority.  You 
can  now  secure  any  terms  you  please,  by  granting  to  the 
rebels  recognition.  You  can  fix  your  own  boundary.  You 
can  hold  all  within  your  lines — the  Mississippi  River,  and 
all  west  of  it,  and  Louisiana.  You  can  retain  Maryland, 
West  Virginia,  and  Tennessee.  Take  this — make  peace. 

*  When  the  Intelligence  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Fisher  reached  Washington, 
General  Butler  was  being  examined  by  the  committee  on  the  conduct  of  the  war, 
in  regard  to  the  failure  of  his  expedition.  When  the  news  was  announced, 
M  Thank  God  for  that,"  exclaimed  he. 


BLAIRS'  VISIT  TO  RICHMOND.  617 

Is  not  this  as  much  territory,  which  was  formerly  slave  terri- 
tory, as  the  Republic  can  digest  and  assimilate  to  freedom  at 
once?  Make  this  a  homogeneous  country — make  it  free, 
and  then  improve  and  develop  the  mighty  empire  you  have 
left.  If  you  succeed  in  subduing  the  entire  territory  in  re- 
bellion, can  the  nation  assimilate  it,  and  make  it  homo- 
geneous? Are  the  people  in  the  Gulf  States  sufficiently 
intelligent  to  make  freedom  a  blessing?  You  can  people, 
educate,  and  bring  up  to  the  capability  of  self-government 
the  territory  you  have  within  your  lines,  but  taking  it  all — 
with  its  people  accustomed  to  slavery,  with  the  ignorance  and 
vice  resulting  therefrom,  is  it  clear  that  it  is  worth  the  blood 
and  treasure  it  may  cost  ?  " 

The  President  was   unmoved  by  these    representations. 
His  reply  was  brief,  and  emphatic :  "  There  are,"  said  he,l 
"just  two  indispensable  conditions  to  peace — national  unity,  \ 
and  national  liberty.     The  national  authority  must  be  restored  J 
through  all  the  States,  and  I  will  never  recede  from  the  posi- 
tion I  have  taken  on  the  slavery  question."*     "The  people," 
said  he,  "  have  the  courage,  self-denial,  the  persistence,  to 
go  through,  and  before  another  year  goes  by,  it  is  reasonably 
certain,  we  shall  bring  all  the  rebel  territory  within  our  lines. 
"We  are  neither  exhausted,  nor  in  process  of   exhaustion. 
We  are  really  stronger  than  when  we  began  the  war.     The 
purpose  of   the   people   to  maintain   the  integrity  of  the 
Republic  has  never  been  shaken." 

Mr.  Lincoln  justly  regarded  the  November  election  as 
deciding  that  there  should  be  no  peace  without  union ;  no 
peace  until  the  supremacy  of  the  national  authority  should 
be  everywhere  recognized ;  no  peace  without  liberty  to  all. 

For  the  purpose  of  learning  the  views  of  the  Confederate 
leaders,  F.  P.  Blair,  sen.,  a  private  citizen,  but  a  man  of 
large  political  experience,  and  great  influence,  with  many 
family  and  personal  friends  among  the  rebels,  on  the  28th 
day  of  December,  1864,  obtained  from  the  President  per- 
mission to  pass  through  the  military  lines  South,  and  return. 
The  President  was  informed  that  he  intended  to  use  the  pass 
as  a  means  of  getting  to  Richmond,  but  no  authority  to 

*See  Mr.  Lincoln's  instructions  to  Mr.  Seward,  when  sent  to  meet  Stephens  and 
Hunter  at  Fortress  Monroe. 


618  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

speak  or  act  for  the  Government  was  conferred  upon  him. 
On  his  return  he  brought  Mr.  Lincoln  a  letter  from  Jefferson 
Davis,  addressed  to  himself,  the  contents  of  which  he  had 
been  authorized  by  Davis  to  communicate  to  the  President, 
in  which  Davis  stated  he  was  now,  as  he  always  had  been, 
willing  to  send  commissioners,  or  receive  them,  and  "  to 
enter  into  a  conference  with  a  view  to  secure  peace  to  the 
*  two  countries.' "  Thereupon  the  President  addressed  a  note  to 
Mr.  Blair,  dated  January  18th,  1865,  in  which,  after  stating 
that  he  had  read  the  note  of  Davis,  he  said  he  had  been,  was 
now,  and  should  continue,  ready  to  receive  any  agent  whom 
Davis,  or  other  influential  person  resisting  the  national  au- 
thority might  informally  send  to  him  with  a  view  of  secur- 
ing peace  to  the  people  of  "  our  common  country."  This  note 
was  delivered  by  Mr.  Blair  to  Jefferson  Davis.  The  visit  of 
Mr.  Blair  resulted  in  the  appointment  by  Davis  of  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  and  John  A.  Campbell,  to  con- 
fer with  the  President  on  the  subject  of  peace,  on  the  basis 
of  his  letter  to  Mr.  Blair.  When  their  arrival  at  the  camp 
of  General  Grant  was  announced,  Secretary  Seward  was 
charged  by  the  President  with  representing  the  Government 
at  the  proposed  informal  conference.  With  the  frankness 
which  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  instructed  Mr. 
Seward  to  make  known  to  Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter,  and 
Campbell  that  three  things  were  indispensable,  to  wit : 

1.  The  restoration  of  the  national  authority  throughout 
all  the  States. 

2.  No  receding  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  on 
the  slavery  question,  from  the  position  assumed  thereon  in 
the  late   annual  message  to   Congress,   and    in  preceding 
documents. 

3.  No  cessation  of  hostilities  short  of  an  end  of  the  war, 
and  the  disbanding  of  all  forces  hostile  to  the  Government. 

He  was  further'  instructed  to  inform  them  that  all  pro- 
positions of  theirs  not  inconsistent  with  the  above,  would  be 
considered  and  passed  upon,  in  a  spirit  of  sincere  liberality. 
He  was  further  instructed  "  to  hear  and  report,  but  not  to 
consummate  anything." 

However,  before  any  conference  was  had,  the  President 
joined  Secretary  Seward  at  Fortress  Monroe ;  and  on  the  3d 


CONFERENCE  AT  HAMPTON  ROADS.  619 

of  February,  Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter,  and  Campbell  came 
on  board  the  steamer  of  the  President,  and  had  an  interview 
of  several  hours  with  him. 

The  conditions  as  contained  in  the  President's  instructions 
to  Mr.  Seward  were  stated  and  insisted  upon.  Those  condi- 
tions, it  will  be  observed,  contained  an  explicit  statement 
that  the  Executive  would  not  recede  from  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  nor  from  any  of  the  positions  which  he  had 
taken  in  regard  to  the '  abolition  of  slavery.  The  agents  of 
Davis  were  also  informed,  that  Congress  had  by  a  constitu- 
tional majority,  adopted  the  joint  resolution,  submitting  to 
the  States  the  proposition  to  abolish  slavery  throughout  the 
Union,  and  that  there  was  every  reason  to  believe  it  would 
be  adopted  by  three-fourths  of  the  States,  so  as  to  become  a 
part  of  the  constitution.  The  rebel  agents  earnestly  desired 
a  temporary  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  a  postponement  of 
the  questions,  but  to  this  the  President  would  not  listen.  So 
far  from 'this,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  to  General  Grant:  "Let 
nothing  that  is  transpiring  change,  hinder,  or  delay  your 
military  movements  or  plans.'  The  conference  ended 
without  result.* 

*  Mr.  Stephens  is  stated  by  a  Georgia  paper,  to  have  repeated  the  following  char- 
acteristic anecdote,  as  having  occurred  during  the  interview :  "  The  three  Southern 
gentlemen  met  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Seward,  and  after  some  preliminary  remarks, 
the  subject  of  peace  was  opened.  Mr.  Stephens,  well  aware  that  one  who  asks 
much  may  get  more  than  he  who  confesses  to  humble  wishes  at  the  outset,  urged 
the  claims  of  his  section  with  that  skill  and  address  for  which  the  Northern 
papers  have  given  him  credit.  Mr.  Lincoln,  holding  the  vantage-ground  of  con- 
scious power,  was,  however,  perfectly  frank,  and  submitted  his  views  almost  in 
the  form  of  an  agreement. 

«•*  *  *  *  Da  vis  had  on  this  occasion,  as  on  that  of  Mr.  Stephen's  visit  to  Wash- 
ington, made  it  a  condition  that  no  conference  should  be  had,  unless  his  rank  as 
commander  or  President  should  first  be  recognized.  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  that  the 
only  ground  on  which  he  could  rest  the  justice  of  war — either  with  his  own  people 
or  with  foreign  powers— was  that  it  was  not  a  war  for  conquest,  for  that  the  States 
had  never  been  separated  from  the  Union.  Consequently,  he  could  not  recognize 
another  government  inside  of  the  one  of  which  he  alone  was  President ;  nor 
admit  the  separate  independence  of  States,  that  were  yet  a  part  of  the  Union. 
'  That,'  said  he,  '  would  be  doing  what  you  have  so  long  'asked  Europe  to  do  in 
vain,  and  be  resigning  the  only  thing  the  armies  of  the  Union  have  been  fighting 
for.' 

"  Mr.  Hunter  made  a  long  reply  to  this,  insisting  that  the  recognition  of  Davis' 
power  to  make  a  treaty  was  the  first  and  indispensable  step  to  peace,  and  referred 
to  the  correspondence  between  King  Charles  I.  and  his  Parliament,  as  a  trust- 
worthy precedent  of  a  constitutional  ruler  treating  with  rebels.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
face  then  wore  that  indiscribable  expression  which  generally  preceded  his  hardest 
hits,  and  he  remarked:  'Upon  questions  of  history  I  must  refer  you  to  Mi, 
Seward,  for  he  is  posted  in  such  things,  and  I  don't  pretend  to  be  bright.  My  only 
distinct  recollection  of  the  matter  is,  that  Charles  lost  his  head.'  That  settled  Mr. 
Hunter  for  a  while." 


620  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

It  appears  from  a  statement  of  Mr.  Hunter,  oue  of  the 
persons  appointed  by  Davis  to  represent  the  Confederacy 
at  this  conference,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  explicit  upon 
a  most  important  point  in  regard  to  reconstruction  as  it  is 
called.  Mr.  Hunter,  before  the  rebellion,  had  been  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  Senator  of  the  United 
States,  and  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  Confederates. 
In  a  carefully  prepared  speech  made  at  Richmond  on  his 
return  from  the  peace  conference,  he  said:  "  Whenever 
we  go  into  the  United  States  as  a  conquered  people,  we 
give  up  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  must  take 
such  as  they  choose  to  make  for  us ;  and  we  go  in  without 
representation  in  making  those  laws;  for,"  said  he,  "  Mr. 
Lincoln  told  us,  told  me,  that  while  we  could  send  Represen- 
tatives to  the  Yankee  Congress,  yet  it  rested  with  that  Con- 
gress to  say  whether  they  would  admit  them  or  not."*  If 
Mr.  Hunter  tells  the  truth,  here  is  another  expression  of 
opinion  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  directly  upon  the  point  that  it  rested 
with  Congress  exclusively  to  determine  whether  Representa- 
tives from  the  rebellious  States  should  be  admitted.  This 
statement,  made  directly  after  the  conference,  upon  a  point 
upon  which  Mr.  Hunter  would  naturally  feel  peculiarly 
solicitous,  may  be  regarded  as  entitled  to  consideration ; 
especially,  as  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  statements  and 
positions  of  Mr.  Lincoln  upon  other  occasions. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  might  now  well  feel  confident  of  early,  and 
decisive  success.  Grant  held  the  forces  of  Lee  so  that  they 
could  not  safely  leave,  their  fortifications.  Thomas,  with  a 
victorious  army,  was  in  the  "West;  Sherman,  with  his  invin- 
cible army  in  the  South,  and  it  only  remained  for  the  com- 
prehensive mind  of  Grant,  after  destroying  some  additional 
outposts,  to  close  in,  and  crush  the  waning  military  power  of 
the  rebels.  The  army  of  Hood,  having  been  defeated  and 
nearly  destroyed,  General  Grant  directed  General  Thomas 
to  send  General  Schofield,  with  his  corps  to  the  East;  it 
was  promptly  sent,  reaching  Washington  on  the  23d  of 
February,  and  was  immediately  dispatched  to  North  Caro- 
lina. That  State  was  now  constituted  a  military  Department, 

•This  speech  will  i>e  found  quoted  in  Appleton's  Encyclopedia  of  1865,  p.  191. 


THE  REBELS  RESOLVE  TO  ARM  THE  NEGROES.  621 

and  General  Schofield  assigned  to  its  command,  and  placed 
under  the  orders  of  General  Sherman.  General  Schofield,  in 
cooperation  with  the  fleet  of  Admiral  Porter,  proceeded  to 
reduce  Wilmington.  The  Union  troops  followed,  and  entered 
that  city  on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  January,  the  enemy 
having  retreated  towards  Goldsboro. 

In  this  extremity,  General  Lee  was,  on  the  2d  of  February, 
appointed  to  the  command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Con- 
federacy. The  rebel  authorities,  in  their  desperate  fortunes, 
now  resolved  to  call  upon  the  poor,  despised  negro  for  aid. 
Freedom  was  now  offered  to  him  if  he  would  fight  for  his 
master.  Mr.  Benjamin,  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  Con- 
federacy, in  a  public  meeting  after  the  peace  conference  at 
Hampton  Roads,  said  the  Confederates  had  680,000  black 
men,  and  he  expressed  his  regret  that  they  had  not  been 
called  into  the  field.  He  continued :  "  Let  us  now  say  to  every 
negro  who  wishes  to  go  into  the  ranks  on  condition  of  being 
free,  'go  and  fight  —  you  are  free.'  My  own  negroes 
have  been  to  me  and  said,  '  master  set  us  free  and  we'll  fight 
for  you.'  "  He  continued:  "You  must  make  up  your  minds  to 
try  this,  or  see  your  army  withdrawn  from  before  your  town. 
*  *  *  I  know  not  where  white  men  can  be  found." 

General  Lee  had  long  before  recommended  this  policy, 
and  declared  that  the  war  could  be  carried  on  only  by  the 
employment  of  negro  soldiers.  On  the  16th  of  February, 
the  Legislature  of  Virginia  passed  resolutions  authorizing 
and  consenting  that  such  number  of  able  bodied  slaves  might 
be  enlisted  into  the  military  service,  as  might  be  deemed 
necessary.  A  bill  was  passed  in  the  Confederate  Congress, 
authorizing  the  employment  of  slaves,  but  it  came  too  late 
to  be  of  service,  if,  indeed,  it  ever  could  have  availed. 

Sherman,  on  the  1st  of  February,  started  his  army  from 
Savannah.  A  broad  track  of  desolation,  sweeping  along  the 
great  lines  of  railroads,  marked  his  path.  On  the  17th,  he 
captured  Columbia,  South  Carolina;  thence,  he  moved  on 
Goldsboro,  North  Carolina,  by  Fayetteville,  reaching  the 
latter  city  on  the  12th  of  March,  and  opening  communica- 
tions with  General  Schofield.  On  the  25th  of  February,  Gen- 
eral Joe  Johnston  was  appointed,  by  Jefferson  Davis,  to 


622  LINCOLN  AND  T&E  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

command  the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  all  the  troops  of 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida. 

On  the  15th  of  March,  Sherman  resumed  his  march  upon 
Goldsboro,  and  after  a  severe  fight  at  Averysboro,  compelled 
the  enemy  to  retreat.  On  the  18th,  the  combined  forces  of 
the  enemy  under  Johnston,  attacked  Sherman's  advance  at 
Bentonville,  capturing  three  guns  and  driving  it  back  upon 
the  main  body,  but  on  the  night  of  the  21st,  they  retreated. 

Sherman's  forces  now  united  with  those  of  Generals  Terry 
and  Schofield.  Among  the  most  important  fruits  of  the  cam- 
paign of  Sherman  into  South  Carolina,  none  were  more 
gratifying  than  the  fall  of  Charleston.  The  march  of  Sher- 
man to  Columbia,  compelled  its  evacuation,  which  took 
place  on  the  night  of  the  17th,  and  it  was  occupied  by  the 
Union  troops  on  the  18th  of  February.  The  Union  flag  had 
been  lowered  at  Sumter,  the  14th  of  April,  1861.  For  nearly 
four  years,  this  proud  city  had  successfully  resisted  all  attacks 
upon  it,  but  was  forced  at  last  to  yield  to  the  army  of  Sher- 
man, which  had  marched  unchecked  half  across  the  Republic, 
from  North  to  South,  and  from  "West  to  East.  It  was  now 
occupied  and  held  by  colored  troops,  many  of  them  recruited 
from  South  Carolina.  Here,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the 
slave  States,  the  Union  soldiers  were  received  by  the  negroes 
with  acclamations  of  delight.  They  followed  the  National 
flag  through  the  streets  singing : 

• 

"  Ye's  long  been  a'comin, 
Ye's  long  been  a'comin,  etc., 
For  to  take  de  land. 

"  And  now  ye's  a'comin, 
And  now  ye's  a'comin,  etc., 
For  to  rule  de  land." 

"While  the  Union  .armies  were  everywhere  marching 
on  from  victory  to  victory,  let  us  return  to  the  Capital,  to 
witness  the  second  inauguration  of  him,  who  was  the  central 
figure  of  the  vast  and  complicated  machinery  now  moving 
forward  with  irresistible  force  to  crush  into  one  common 
grave,  slavery  and  rebellion. 

On  the  night  of  the  3d  of  March,  1865,  as  is  usual  on  the 
last  night  of  the  session,  the  President,  with  his  Cabinet,  was 


LINCOLN'S  DISPATCH  TO  GRANT.  623 

at  liis  room  in  the  Capitol,  to  receive  the  numerous  acts  which 
always  pass.  Congress  during  the  last  hurried  hours  of  the 
session.  The  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  on  the  3d  of  March, 
continued  its  session  fro*m  7  o'clock  in  the  evening  until  8, 
A.  M.,  on  the  morning  of  the  4th.  It  was  a  stormy  night, 
and  while  the  President  was  thus  waiting,  exchanging  con- 
gratulations with  Senators  and  members,  there  came  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  a  telegram  from  General  Grant,  announc- 
ing that  Lee  had  at  last  sought  an  interview  with  him  for  the 
purpose  of  trying  to  arrange  terms  of  peace.  "We  now  know 
from  Lee's  testimony  taken  before  a  secret  committee  of  the 
Rebel  Congress,  that  he  had  for  a  considerable  time  before 
this,  lost  hope  in  the  success  of  the  rebellion.  Lee  had  ad- 
vised General  Grant  that  he  was  clothed  with  authority  to 
act.  The  dispatch  was  handed  to  the  President,  and  after 
reading  it,  and  reflecting  for  a  few  moments,  he.  wrote  the 
following  reply,  which  was  submitted  to  his  Cabinet  then 
present.  It  was  then  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  and 
telegraphed  to  General  Grant : 

"  WASHINGTON,  March  3,  1865—12  P.M. 
"  Lieutenant  General  GRANT  : 

"  The  President  directs  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  wishes  you  to  have 
no  conference  with  General  Lee,  unless  it  be  for  the  capitulation  of 
General  Lee's  army,  or  on  some  minor  and  purely  military  .matter.  He 
instucts  me  to  say  that  you  are  not  to  decide,  discuss,  or  confer  upon 
any  political  question.  Such  questions  the  President  holds  in  his  own 
hands,  and  will  submit  them  to  no  military  conferences  or  conventions. 
Meantime  you  are  |p  press  to  the  utmost  your  military  advantages. 
"EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War." 

The  morning  of  the  4th  of  March  was  still  cloudy  and 
stormy,  but  as  the  hour  of  12  approached,  the  rain  ceased, 
the  clouds  disappeared,  and  the  bright,  genial  sun  came 
forth  in  all  its  splendor.  Crowds  of  the  best  and  noblest  of 
the  land,  those  who  had  given  their  time,  their  means,  and 
their  best  exertions  to  the  country  in  civil  and  military  ser- 
vice, had  gathered  to  the  Capital  to  witness  the  second  inau- 
guration of  a  man  now  the  most  beloved  and  revered  of  all 
in  the  land.  As  the  procession  started  for  the  Capitol,  a 


624  LINCOLN   AND   THE   OVERTHROW    OF   SLAVERY. 

brilliant  star  made  its  appearance  in  the  sky,  and  the  incident 
was  regarded  by  many,    as    an  omen  of  peace.      The  two 
Houses  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  adjourned  sine  die,  at 
12  o'clock.     A  special  session  of  the*  Senate,  had  been  con- 
vened, and  Andrew  Johnson,  at  that  hour  appeared,  took 
the  oath  of  office  and  became  Vice  President,  and  the  pre- 
siding officer  of  that  most  dignified  body  in  America,  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  There  were  then  present,  beside 
the  members  of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  the  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  their  official  robes,  the  Diplomatic  Corps, 
brilliant  in  the  Court  costumes  of  the  respective  nations  they 
represented.     A  crowd  of  distinguished  officers  of  the  army 
and  navy  in  full  uniform ;  prominent  citizens,  scholars,  states- 
men, bishops,   clergy,   governors,  judges,  editors,  from  all 
parts  of  the  Union,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate.    The  galleries 
were  full  of  ladies,  and  citizens,  especially  of  soldiers,  who 
had  come  in  from  the  hospitals  and  camps  about  Washing- 
ton, to  witness  the  inauguration  of  their  beloved  Chief.  The 
Vice  President  was  regarded  with  especial  interest.     His  en- 
trance into  the  Senate  chamber,  recalled  the  bold  and  patri- 
otic words  he  had,  from  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  hurled  against 
the  leading  traitors ;  words,  the  utterance  of  which  had  made 
him  Vice  President.     He  was  greeted  with  cheers;  cheers 
which  his  appearance  and  words  soon  silenced  into  astonish- 
ment and  liumiliation.     At  12.30,  followed  by  the  brilliant 
assembly  from  the  Senate  chamber,  the  President  was  con- 
ducted to  the  eastern  portico  of  the  Capitol,  again  to  take 
the  official  oath  of  office,  and  pronounce  m^  inaugural.     A 
vast  crowd  met  him,  but  very  different  from  that  which 
greeted  him  on  his  first  inauguration.     Now  a  crowd  of  citi- 
zens and  soldiers,  who  would  willingly  die  for  their  Chief 
Magistrate,  thronged  the  area  in  front  of  the  Capitol.  It  was 
touching  to  see  the  long  lines  of  invalid  and  wounded  soldiers 
in  the  National  blue,  some  on  crutches,  some  who  had  lost 
an  arm,  many  pale  from  unhealed  wounds,  who  had  sought 
permission  to  witness  the  scene.     As  the  President  reached 
the  platform,  and  his  tall  form,  high  above  his  associates,  was 
recognized,  cheers  and  shouts  of  welcome  filled  the  air ;  and 
not  until  he  raised  his  arm  in  token  that  he  would  speak, 
could  they  be  hushed.     He  paused  a  moment,  and  looking 


LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURATION.  625 

over  the  brilliant  scene,  still  hesitated.  "What  thronging 
memories  passed  through  his  mind  !  Here,  four  years  ago, 
he  had  stood  on  this  colonnade,  pleading  earnestly  with  hia 
"  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,"  for  peace,  but  they  would 
not  heed  him !  He  had  there  solemnly  told  them  that, 
in  their  hands,  and  not  in  his,  was  the  momentous  issue  of 
civil  war.  He  had  told  them  they  could  have  no  conflict, 
without  being  themselves  "  the  aggressors ;"  and  even  while 
he  was  pleading  for  peace,  they  took  up  the  sword,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  "  accept  war."  Now,  four  long,  weary 
years  of  wretched,  desolating,  cruel  war,  had  passed ;  those 
who  made  that  war,  were  everywhere  being  overthrown ; 
that  cruel  institution,  which  had  caused  the  war,  had  been 
destroyed,  and  the  dawn  of  peace  was  already  brightening 
the  sky  behind  the  clouds  of  the  storm ! 

Chief  Justice  Chase  administered  the  oath.  Then  with  a 
clear,  but  at  times  a  saddened  voice,  President  Lincoln 
pronounced  this  his  second  —  his  last 

INAUGURAL. 

"  FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN  : — At  this  second  appearing  to  take 
the  oath  of  the  Presidential  office,  there  is  less  occasion  for  an 
extended  address  than  there  was  at  the  first.  Then  a  state- 
ment somewhat  in  detail  of  a  course  to  be  pursued,  seemed 
very  fitting  and  proper.  Now,  at  the  expiration  of  four 
years,  during  which  public  declarations  have  been  constantly 
called  forth  on  every  point  and  phase  of  the  great  contest 
which  still  absorbs  the  attention  and  engrosses  the  energies 
of  the  nation,  little  that  is  new  could  be  presented. 

"The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly 
depends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself,  and  it 
is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satisfactory  and  encouraging  to  all. 
With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in  regard  to  it 
is  ventured. 

"  On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this  four  years  ago,  all 
thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending  civil  war. 
All  dreaded  it,  all  sought  to  avoid  it.  While  the  inaugural 
address  was  being  delivered  from  this  place,  devoted  alto- 
gether to  saving  the  Union  without  war,  insurgent  agents 
40 


626  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

were  in  the  city,  seeking  to  destroy  it  with  war  —  seeking  to 
dissolve  the  Union  and  divide  the  effects  by  negotiation. 
Both  parties  deprecated  war,  but  one  of  them  would  make 
war  rather  than  let  the  Nation  survive,  and  the  other  would 
accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish,  and  the  war  came.  One- 
eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored  slaves,  not  dis- 
tributed generally  over  the  Union,  but  localized  in  the  South- 
ern part  of  it.  These  slaves  constituted  a  peculiar  and 
powerful  interest.  All  knew  that  this  interest  was  somehow 
the  cause  of  the  war.  To  strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend 
this  interest,  was  the  object  for  which  the  insurgents  would 
rend  the  Union  by  war,  while  the  Government  claimed  no 
right  to  do  more  than  to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement 
of  it. 

"  Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or  the 
duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  anticipated 
that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease  with,  or  even  before 
the  conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each  looked  for  an  easier 
triumph,  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and  astounding. 

"  Both  read  the  same  Bible  and  pray  to  the  same  God,  and 
each  invokes  His  aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem  strange 
that  any  men  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in 
wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces, 
but  let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged.  The  prayer  of 
both  could  not  be  answered.  That  of  neither  has  been 
answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has  His  own  purposes.  Woe 
unto  the  world  because  of  offenses,  for  it  must  needs  be  that 
offenses  come,  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense 
cometh.  If  we  shall  suppose  that  American  slavery  is  one 
of  these  offenses  which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  must  needs 
come,  but  which  having  continued  through  His  appointed 
time  He  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  He  gives  to  both 
North  and  South  this  terrible  war  as  the  woe  due  to  those  by 
whom  the  offense  came,  shall  we  discern  there  any  departure 
from  those  Divine  attributes  which  the  believers  in  a  living 
God  always  ascribe  to  Him?  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently 
do  we  prajT,  that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily 
pass  away.  Yet  if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the 
wealth  piled  by  the  bondsman's  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 


LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURAL  627 

of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of 
blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn 
with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago,  so,  still 
it  must  be  said,  that,  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and 
righteous  altogether. 

u  With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firm- 
ness in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  finish 
the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  Nation's  wounds,  to  care 
for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and 
his  orphans,  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just 
and  a  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

Since  the  days  of  Christ's  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  where  is 
the  speech  of  Magistrate,  Prince,  or  Ruler,  which  can  com- 
pare with  this  ?  May  we  not,  without  irreverence,  say  that 
the  passage  commencing:  " Fondly  do  we  hope — fervently 
do  we  pray — that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily 
pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the 
wealth  piled  by  the  bondsmen's  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of 
blood  drawn  by  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another,  drawn 
with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago,  so 
still  it  must  be  said  that  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true 
and  righteous  altogether,"  is  worthy  of  that  Holy  Book, 
which  daily  he  read,  and  from  which,  during  his  long  days 
of  trial,  he  had  drawn  inspiration  and  guidance  ?  Where 
else,  but  from  the  teachings  of  the  Son  of  God,  could  he 
have  drawn  that  Christian  charity  which  pervades  that  last 
sentence,  in  which  he  so  unconsciously  describes  his  own 
moral  nature  :  "  with  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all, 
with  firmness  in  the  riff  hi  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us 
finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds,  to 
care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow,  and  his  orphans;  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and 
cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves,  and  with 
all  nations."  No  State  paper,  in  American  annals,  not  even 
Washington's  farewell  address,  has  made  a  deeper  impression 
upon  the  people. 

Coming  down  from  the  Capitol  after  its  delievery,  and 
meeting  Dr.  Channing,  the  chaplain  of  the  House,  he  said : 


628       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln's  inaugural  is  the  finest  State  paper  in  all  his- 
tory." A  distinguished  statesman  and  jurist,  from  New 
York,  after  hearing  the  inaugural,  said  to  a  friend  of  the 
President  from  Illinois :  "  As  Washington's  name  grows 
brighter  with  time,  so  it  will  be  with  Lincoln's.  A  century 
from  to-day  that  Inaugural  will  be  read  as  one  of  the  most 
sublime  utterances  ever  spoken  by  man.  As  "Washington's 
is  the  great  name  of  the  revolution,  so  will  be  Lincoln's  of 
the  civil  war;  and  Lincoln  will  perhaps  occupy  a  higher 
position  in  history  than  "Washington."  "  Yes,"  was  the 
reply,  "  if  he  crushes  the  rebellion  ;  yes,  if  he  overthrows 
slavery ;  yes,  because  the  events  with  which  he  has  had  to 
do,  affect  thirty  millions  of  people,  instead  of  three." 

This  inaugural,  in  its  solemn  recognition  of  the  justice  of 
Almighty  God  reminds  us  of  the  grand  old  words  of  the 
Hebrew  prophets.  "When  this  paper  crossed  the  Atlantic, 
there,  as  here,  it  received  the  most  profound  attention.  The 
leading  statesmen  of  the  continent,  the  leading  minds  of 
Great  Britain  and  France,  through  the  press,  and  in  Parlia- 
ment, found  no  words  adequate  to  express  their  admiration. 

There  was  one  feature  of  this  inauguration  entirely  new ; 
it  was  attended  by  a  vast  crowd  of  freedmen.  From  Wash- 
ington and  Baltimore,  from  the  country  about,  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  they  gathered  by  thousands  to  witness  the  in- 
auguration of  him  whom  they  called  their  President,  their 
benefactor.  Lincoln  possessed  those  qualities,  and  had  ren- 
dered such  services,  that,  if  he  had  lived  in  the  days  of 
mythology,  he  would  have  been  placed  among  the  gods.  A 
majority  of  the  negro  race  now  regard  him  as  Divine,  and  it 
is  doubtful  if  they  will  ever  be  able  to  see  him  simply  as  a 
man.  When  the  clouds  broke  away,  and  the  sun  came  out 
in  its  brilliancy  on  inauguration  day — especially  when  a  star 
appeared  at  mid-day,  these  simple,  excitable,  strongly  religi- 
ous and  superstitious  people,  saw  in  these  natural  exhibitions 
the  palpable  interposition  of  God. 

The  only  change  made  in  the  Cabinet,  was  one  made 
necessary  by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  who  re- 
signed to  take  his  seat  in  the  Senate.  On  the  sixth  of  March 
Hugh  McCulloch,  of  Indiana,  was  appointed  Secretary  of 


CONFERENCE  AT  GRANT'S  HEADQUARTERS.  629 

the  Treasury.  James  Speed,  of  Kentucky,  had  been,  in 
1864,  appointed  Attorney-General  in  place  of  Edward 
Bates,  who  had  resigned.  The  appointment  of  Mr.  McCul- 
loch,  from  Indiana,  led  to  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Usher, 
who  had  succeeded  Caleb  Smith,  of  Indiana,  as  Secretary  of 
the  Interior.  He  resigned,  to  take  effect  on  the  15th  of  May, 
and  James  Harlan,  Senator  from  Iowa,  was  appointed  hia 
successor. 

And  now  Mr.  Lincoln's  whole  heart  was  with  the  move- 
ments of  the  armies,  which  he  confidently  hoped  would  be 
decisive.  He  was  conscious  that  the  end  approached,  and 
determined  to  spend  some  time  at  the  headquarters  of 
General  Grant,  near  Petersburg. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  1865,  the  President,  as  Commander- 
in-Chief,  met  his  leading  and  most  trusted  generals  then  in 
the  field,  at  the  headquarters  of  General  Grant,  at  City 
Point,  to  arrange  the  final  movements  against  Lee  and  John- 
ston. An  artist  has  worthily  depicted  the  scene  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  President  and  his  Cabinet,  when  he  read  to  them 
his  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  This  meeting,  at  Grant's 
headquarters,  yet  awaits  the  pencil  which  shall  picture  this 
scene,  second  in  interest  only  to  that.  There  was  the  tower- 
ing form  of  Lincoln,  his  rugged  face  which  had  been  so 
deeply  furrowed  with  care  and  anxiety,  now  radiant  with 
hope  and  confidence.  There  was  the  short,  sturdy,  resolute 
form  of  the  hero  of  Vicksburg,  so  firm  and  iron-like ;  every 
feature  of.  his  face,  and  every  attitude  and  movement,  so 
quiet,  yet  each  expressive  of  inflexible  will,  and  never-falter- 
ing determination  "to  fight  it  out  on  this  line."  There,  too, 
was  the  tall  form  of  Sherman,  with  his  broad,  intellectual 
forehead,  his  nervous  restlessness,  his  sharply  outlined  face, 
bronzed  by  that  magnificent  campaign  from  Chattanooga  to 
Atlanta — from  Atlanta  to  the  sea — and  now  fresh  from 
the  conquest  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina.  There,  too, 
was  Meade,  the  hero  of  Gettysburg,  the  ever  faithful 
Lieutenant  of  Grant,  in  the  terrible  campaign,  now,  after 
all  its  bloody  conflicts,  to  be  crowned  with  complete  success. 
There,  too,  was  the  small,  sinewy  form  of  Sheridan,  the 
embodiment  of  fiery  energy,  and  restless  activity ;  and  there 


630  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

was  Ord,  ever  a  gallant  and  indefatigable  soldier.  Here  the 
plans  of  these  great  leaders  were  all  discussed  and  perfected, 
and  each  went  forth  to  execute  his  assigned  part,  in  the 
genera],  combined  movement  against  the  foe. 

A  general  movement  of  the  forces  around  Richmond  had 
been  decided  upon.  It  began  on  the  29th,  and  ten  days' 
marching  and  fighting  finished  the  campaign.  The  rebels, 
however,  on  the  25th,  made  one  last  effort  to  break  through 
the  lines  of  Grant;  they  assaulted  and  took  Fort  Steadman, 
and  a  part  of  the  line  to  the  right  and  left  of  it,  but  soon  the 
reserves  were  brought  up,  and  the  enemy  was  driven  back 
with  a  heavy  loss  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  900  prisoners. 
General  Grant  says  :  "  I  had  spent  days  of  anxiety  lest  each 
morning  should  bring  the  report  that  the  enemy  had  re- 
treated the  night  before.  I  was  firmly  convinced  that  Sher- 
man's crossing  the  Roanoke  would  be  the  signal  for  Lee  to 
leave.  With  Johnston  and  him  combined,  a  long,  tedious, 
and  expensive  campaign,  consuming  most  of  the  summer, 
might  become  necessary."  This,  Grant  now  determined  to 
prevent.  To  effect  this  object,  he  sent  Sheridan  with  the 
cavalry  far  to  the  left,  followed  by  Warren  with  the  Fifth 
Corps,  and  Humphreys  with  the  Second.  Troops  were 
drawn  from  the  James,  to  occupy  the  lines  around  Peters- 
burg, and  take  the  place  of  those  which  followed  Sheridan 
to  the  left.  The  cavalry  advanced  and  occupied  Dinwiddie 
Court  House.  The  line  of  entrenchments  around  Rich- 
mond and  Petersburg  extended  near  forty  miles.  Grant  had 
resolved  to  turn  Lee's  right,  and,  if  possible,  interpose  a  force 
between  him  and  escape ;  and  if  Lee  should  so  weaken  his 
lines  by  sending  troops  to  our  extreme  left,  as  to  make  it 
practicable,  assault  and  carry  the  works  in  his  front.  When 
Sheridan  reached  Dinwiddie  Court  House,  he  was,  according 
to  the  original  design,  to  cut  loose,  and  start  on  an  expedi- 
tion against  the  South-side,  and  Danville  Railroads.  But 
on  the  night  of  the  29th,  Grant  modified  his  plan  in  this 
respect,  and  wrote  to  Sheridan  :  "  I  now  feel  like  ending  the 
matter,  if  it  is  possible  to  do  so,  before  going  back.  *  * 
In  the  morning,  therefore,  push  round  the  enemy,  and  get 
on  his  right-rear.  We  will  act  altogether  as  one  army  here, 


SHERIDAN  AT  FIVE  FORKS.  631 

until  it  is  seen  what  can  be  done  with  the  enemy."  But 
Lee  had  discovered  the  movement,  and  perceiving  how  fatal 
to  him  would  be  its  success,  he  struggled  to  interpose  a 
shield,  to  ward  off  the  attack  of  the  eager  and  earnest  Sheri- 
dan. If  Sheridan  turned  his  right,  got  in  his  rear,  and  cut 
the  railroads,  his  army  was  lost.  And  yet  with  a  line  of 
works  from  north-east  of  Richmond,  extending  across  the 
James,  and  to  the  south-east  of  Petersburg,  a  distance  of 
thirty-five  miles  to  be  guarded;  a  watchful  and  powerful 
army  along  this  front  ready  to  spring  forward  and  seize  any 
weak  point,  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  detach  any  very  large 
force  to  meet  the  assault  of  Sheridan.  A  storm  interposing, 
retarded  the  approach  of  the  Union  infantry  and  artillery 
sent  to  support  Sheridan,  and  gave  Lee  time  to  concentrate 
his  force.  He  anticipated  the  attack,  and  made  an  impetu- 
ous assault  upon  Warren,  but  it  was  finally  repulsed,  with 
a  severe  loss  to  Lee. 

Sheridan  appreciating  the  vital  importance  of  seizing  Five 
Forks,  the  centre  of  five  roads,  and  situated  about  four  miles 
west  of  Lee's  entrenched  line,  and  the  key  to  the  position 
which  he  was  struggling  to  hold,  he  determined  to  secure 
the  point.  On  the  31st  of  March,  while  with  a  portion  of 
his  force,  he  occupied  the  attention  of  the  enemy,  with  an- 
other he  moved  rapidly  to  Five  Forks,  and  seized  the  posi- 
tion. The  rebel  commander  sent  a  force  too  strong  to  be 
resisted,  and  drove  out  the  cavalry  of  Sheridan,  compelling 
him  to  return  again  to  Dinwiddie  Court  House.  Here, 
pressed  by  superior  numbers,  Sheridan  dismounted  his 
troops  and  placed  them  behind  a  slight  breast-work,  and 
repulsed  an  attack  of  infantry.  Reinforcements  were 
ordered  to  join  Sheridan  as  rapidly  as  possible.  This  officer 
now,  as  soon  as  relieved,  immediately  renewed  the  attempt 
to  get  possession  of  the  important  position  of  Five  Forks. 
Towards  this  point  Lee  was  concentrating  all  the  force  he 
could  spare.  Sheridan,  at  the  head  of  the  cavalry,  again 
pushed  forward  and  drove  him  within  his  works  at  the  point 
of  the  converging  roads.  Meanwhile  the  Fifth  Corps  had 
joined  him.  While  holding  the  front,  he  made  a  feint  as 
though  to  turn  the  rebel  right,  while  he  ordered  Warren  to 


632  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

fall  with  full  force  on  their  left.  While  "Warren  executed 
this  order  with  great  personal  heroism,  capturing  men  and 
guns,  the  cavalry  charged  full  on  the  rebel  right  and  front, 
and  the  result  of  this  brilliant  affair  was  the  capture  of  5,000 
prisoners,  and  many  guns ! 

At  early  dawn  on  Sunday  morning,  the  2d  of  April,  Grant 
ordered  an  assault  upon  the  weakened  lines  in  front  of 
Petersburg.  This  was  made  along  the  whole  line  from  the 
banks  of  the  Appomattox  to  Hatcher's  Run,  by  Parke,  Wright 
and  Ord.  The  line  was  everywhere  carried,  and  then  away 
beyond  Hatcher's  Run — away  to  the  extreme  left — the  Union 
troops  carried  everything  before  them,  and  the  rebel  forces 
were  everywhere  in  full  retreat.  During  the  fierce  cannon- 
ade of  that  Saturday  night,  Lee  ordered  Longstreet,  whose 
forces  had  held  the  lines  north  of  the  James,  to  come  to  his 
relief  at  Petersburg.  The  bells  of  Richmond  tolled,  and 
the  drums  beat,  calling  militia,  citizens,  clerks,  everybody 
who  could  carry  arms,  to  man  the  lines  from  which  Long- 
street's  troops  were  retiring.  Then  in  that  ill-fated  city — 

"  The  beat  of  the  alarming  drum 

Boused  up  the  soldier,  ere  the  morning  star, 

While  thronged  the  citizens,  with  terror  dumb, 

Or  whispering,  with  white  lips,  the  foe,  they  come !  they  come  t 

"  And  there  was  mounting  in  hot  haste,  the  steed, 
The  mustering  squadron,  and  the  clattering  car 
Went  pouring  forward,  with  impetuous  speed, 
And  swiftly  forming  "— 

not  "  in  the  ranks  of  war,"  but — to  escape, 

At  eleven  A.  M.  of  that  Sunday,  Lee  sent  a  dispatch  to 
Jefferson  Davis,  which  he  received  in  church,  saying  Peters- 
burg and  Richmond  could  no  longer  be  held.  And  now 
the  commander  of  the  Confederate  army  strained  every 
nerve  to  escape ;  but  Grant  had  determined  then  and  there 
to  "  make  an  end  of  it,"  and  pressed  on  with  all  possible 
vigor.  Sheridan,  with  his  cavalry,  and  the  Fifth  Corps, 
under  Warren,  were  far  to  the  southwest,  already  blocking 
the  path  of  escape  south  of  the  Appomattox.  Crossing  to 
the  north  side,  Lee  struck  westerly  towards  Amelia  Court 
House.  All  that  night  the  remains  of  the  once  proud  and 
valiant  army  of  Northern  Virginia,  which  had  fought  and 


THE  PURSUIT  OP  LEE.  633 

struggled  with  a  heroism  worthy  of  a  nobler  cause,  pressed 
forward,  and  by  morning  were  sixteen  miles  from  Peters- 
burg.    In  the  early  dawn  of  Monday,  April  3d,  the  skirmish 
line  of  Grant's  army  advanced,  and  soon  discovered  that 
Petersburg  had  been  evacuated.     At  the   same  time  the 
troops  north  of  the  James  discovered  Richmond  to  be  on 
fire,   and   General   Weitzel   sent  forward   a  cavalry  party, 
which  entered  the  city,  and  once  more  restored  the  star- 
spangled  banner  over  the  capital.     But  not  for  Richmond 
did  the  iron  will  of  Grant  turn  aside  for  a  single  moment 
from  his  fixed  determination  to  destroy  the  army  of  Lee. 
He  pressed   the  pursuit  with  all  his  energy,  and  Lee  now 
struggled  painfully  to  escape.     During  the  3d,  Lee  reached 
Amelia  Court  House,  on  the  Danville  Road,  thirty-eight 
miles  west  of  Richmond.     There  he  expected  to  fincl  a  depot 
of  rations  for  his  nearly  famished  army;  they  had  by  mis- 
take been  forwarded  to  Richmond,  and  consumed  in  the  con- 
flagration of  that  city.     Here,  in  consequence,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  remain  until  the  5th,  to  obtain  food,  and  this  gave 
time  to  the  indefatigable  Sheridan,  with  his  cavalry,  to  strike 
the   Danville    Railroad   at  Jetersville,  seven  miles   to   the 
southwest  of  Amelia  Court  House.     Late  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  5th,  Meade,  with  the  Second  and  Fifth  Corps,  came 
up  with  Sheridan.     Lee  was  still  at  Amelia  Court  House. 
On  the  night  of  the  5th  the  rebel  commander  made  another 
move  with  the  hope  of  reaching  Farmville,  west  twenty-five 
miles ;  there  he  hoped  to  cross  the  Appomattox,  destroy  the 
bridge,  and  fly  to  the  mountains.     Meanwhile  the  army  of 
the  James,  under  Ord,  came  down,  and  a  light  column  in 
advance  met  the  head  of  Lee's  column  near  Farmville,  which 
its  commander,  General  Reed,  heroically  attacked,  and  by 
such  attack  detained.     Reed  was  killed,  sacrificing  himself 
and  his  small  command  to  secure  the  capture  of  Lee's  army. 
This  delay  enabled  General  Ord  to  come  up,  upon  which  the 
rebels  entrenched.     In  the  afternoon,  Sheridan  again  struck 
the  enemy,  capturing  sixteen  pieces  of  artillery,  400  wagons, 
and  detained  the  rebel  force  until  the  Sixth  Corps  could 
reach  him,  when  a  general  attack  was  made,  resulting  in  the 


634       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

capture  of  6,000  prisoners,  including  Ewell,  and  many  gen- 
eral officers.  The  next  day,  the  7th,  the  pursuit  was  re- 
newed, and  it  was  ascertained  that  Lee  had  succeeded  in 
crossing  to  the  north  side  of  the  Appomattox ;  but  so  close 
was  the  pursuit,  that  the  retreating  army  was  prevented  from 
destroying  the  bridge,  and  the  pursuing  column  followed  on 
its  heels.  The  escape  of  the  rebel  army  was  now  hopeless. 
It  was  between  the  Appomattox  and  the  James,  exhausted 
of  supplies,  its  cavalry  and  draught  horses  starving,  and  the 
men  by  thousands  falling  out  of  the  ranks,  from  hunger  and 
fatigue. 

Grant  seeing,  as  he  says,  that  Lee's  chance  of  escape  was 
utterly  hopeless,  magnanimously  addressed  him  a  note,  sug- 
gesting the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance,  and  stating 
that  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  shift  from  himself  the  responsibility 
of  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  asking  a  surrender.  Lee 
replied  on  the  same  day,  the  7th,  stating  that  he  too  desired 
to  avoid  useless  effusion  of  blood,  and  asked  what  terms 
would  be  offered  on  condition  of  surrender. 

Grant  replied,  on  the  8th,  that,  "  Peace  being  my  great 
desire,  there  is  but  one  condition  I  would  insist  upon,  and 
that  is  the  men  and  officers  surrendered  shall  be  disqualified 
for  taking  up  arms  against  the  Government  of  the 'United 
States  until  properly  exchanged." 

The  pursuit,  however,  was  not  relaxed.  Early  in  the 
morning  of  the  8th,  Meade  followed  Lee  north  of  the  Appo- 
mattox, while  the  tireless  Sheridan,  with  all  the  cavalry, 
pushed  straight  for  Appomattox  Station,  followed  by  General 
Ord's  command,  and  the  Fifth  Corps.  He  reached  there 
late  in  the  evening,  drove  out  the  rebels,  and  captured 
twenty-five  pieces  of  artillery,  and  four  trains  of  cars  loaded 
with  supplies  for  Lee's  army. 

The  chase  was  up.  At  midnight  Grant  received  from  Lee 
the  following  note  :* 

«  APRIL  8,  1865. 

"  GENERAL  :  I  received  at  a  late  hour  your  note  of  to-day.  In  mine 
of  yesterday  I  did  not  intend  to  propose  the  surrender  of  the  army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  but  to  ask  the  terms  of  your  proposition.  To  be 

*  Grant's  Report,  p.  41. 


LEE'S  SURRENDER.  635 

frank,  I  do  not  think  the  emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender 
of  this  army,  but  as  the  restoration  of  peace  should  be  the  sole  object 
of  all,  I  desired  to  know  whether  your  proposals  would  lead  to  that 
end.  I  cannot,  therefore,  meet  you  with  a  view  to  surrender  the  army 
of  Northern  Viaginia,  but  as  far  as  your  proposal  may  affect  the  Con- 
federate States  forces  under  my  command,  and  tend  to  the  restoration 
of  peace,  I  should  be  pleased  to  meet  you  at  ten  A.  M.  to-morrow,  on 
the  old  stage  road  to  Richmond,  between  the  picket  lines  of  the  two 
armies. 

"  R.  E.  LEE,  General 
"  Lieutenant  General  TJ.  S.  GRANT." 

Its  disingenuousness  under  the  name  of  "  frankness,"  will 
not  be  seriously  condemned  when  the  extremity  to  which  he 
and  his  "  lost  cause"  of  slavery  were  reduced,  are  remem- 
bered. He  did  not  deceive  Grant,  but  that  commander 
scorned  to  take  advantage  of  its  dissimulation  to  exact 
harder  terms,  but  in  accordance  with  his  instructions  from 
the  Secretary  of  War,  replied  as  follows  : 

«  APRIL  9,  1865. 

"  GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  I  have  no  au- 
thority to  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace;  the  meeting  proposed  for  ten 
A.  M.  to-day  could  lead  to  no  good.  I  will  state,  however,  General, 
that  I  am  equally  anxious  for  peace  with  yourself,  and  the  whole  North 
entertains  the  same  feeling.  The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  be  had 
are  well  understood.  By  the  South  laying  down  their  arms  they  will 
hasten  that  most  desirable  event,  save  thousands  of  human  lives,  and 
hundreds  of  millions  of  property  not  yet  destroyed.  Seriously  hoping 
that  all  our  difficulties  may  be  settled  without  the  loss  of  another  life,  I 
subscribe  myself,  &c., 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General 

"  General  R.  E.  LEE."  / 

On  the  9th  the  enemy  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  break 
through  the  lines  of  Sheridan,  but  as  the  infantry  of  General 
Ord  came  into  view,  the  utter  hopelessness  of  the  attempt 
was  perceived,  and  a  white  flag  was  sent,  asking  a  suspen- 
sion of  hostilities,  pending  a  negotiation  for  a  surrender. 

General  Lee  asked  an  interview  in  accordance  with  Grant's 
uote,  to  arrange  the  terms  of  surrender.  The  interview  was 


686  LINCOLN  ANI>  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

held  at  Appornattox  Court  House,  and  the  terms  of  surrender 
agreed  upon  in  writing  as  follows  :  * 

"  APPOMATTOX  COURT  HOUSE,  Va.,  April  9,  1865. 

"  GENERAL  :  In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letter  to  you 
of  the  8th  instant,  I  propose  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  army  of 
Northern  Virginia  on  the  following  terms,  to  wit :  Rolls  of  all  the 
officers  and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate,  one  copy  to  be  given  to  an 
officer  to  be  designated  by  me,  the  other  to  be  retained  by  such  officer 
or  officers  as  you  may  designate.  The  officers  to  give  their  individual 
paroles  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  until  properly  exchanged  ;  and  each  company  or  regimental  com- 
mander sign  a  like  parole  for  the  men  of  their  commands.  The  arms, 
artillery,  and  public  property  to-  be  parked  and  stacked,  and  turned 
over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me  to  receive  them.  This  will  not 
embrace  the  side-arms  of  the  officers  nor  their  private  horses  or  bag- 
gage. This  done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return  to  his 
home,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  United  States  authority  so  long  as  they 
observe  their  paroles  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside. 

"  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General 

"  General  R.  E.  LEE." 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OP  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  ) 

"  April  9,  1865.      j 

"  GENERAL  :  I  received  your  letter  of  this  date,  containing  the  terms 
of  the  surrender  of  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia,  as  proposed  by 
you.  As  they  are  substantially  the  same  as  those  expressed  in  your 
letter  of  the  8th  instant,  they  are  accepted.  I  will  proceed  to  designate 
the  proper  officers  to  carry  the  stipulations  into  effect. 

"  R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

"  Lieutenant  General  U.  S.  GRANT." 

These  terms  were  very  liberal,  magnanimous,  generous. 
Grant's  conduct  was  in  the  highest  degree  delicate,  to  wards 
an  enemy,  that  certainly,  as  a  soldier  in  the  field,  had  earned 
his  respect. 

The  stipulation  in  the  surrender,  providing  that  "  each 
officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return  to  his  home,  not  to 
be  disturbed  by  United  States  authority,  so  long  as  they  ob- 
serve their  paroles,  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  may 

*  Grant's  Report,  p.  42. 


LEE'S  SURRENDER.  637 

reside,"  gave  much  dissatisfaction  to  the  army,  and  to  the 
country.  There  were  many  officers  embraced  in  the  surren- 
der who  had  deserted  their  flag  to  join  in  the  rebellion ; 
some  who  had  never  gone  through  the  form  of  resignation. 
The  Union  soldiers  remembered  that  their  comrades  had 
been  shot  for  desertion.  General  Picket,  of  the  rebel  army, 
had  hung  the  Union  men  of  North  Carolina  for  that  fidelity 
to  their  country,  which  he  termed  treason.  He  and  his  asso- 
ciates were  now  permitted  to  return  home  unpunished,  un- 
molested. Yet  this  dissatisfaction  was  in  a  measure  lost  in 
the  universal  joy  and  acclamation  which  greeted  the  surren- 
der of  Lee.  It  was  difficult  to  exact  severe  terms  of  men  in 
the  condition  of  the  Confederates.  With  the  heavy  burden 
of  slavery  to  fight  for,  their  heroism  and  persistence  could 
not  fail  to  secure  respect.  Lee's  position,  with  all  his  faults, 
was  indeed  pathetic,  when  he  was  seen  taking  his  farewell, 
and  saying  to  his  gallant  soldiers  :  "  Men,  we  have  fought 
through  the  war  together,  I  have  done  the  best  I  could  for 
you."  It  was  not  in  the  heart  of  a  generous  foe  to  exact 
severe  terms.  His  misfortunes  almost  disarmed  justice. 
The  meeting  of  the  rank  and  file,  as  well  as  the  officers  of 
the  two  armies,  after  the  surrender,  was  most  cordial.  They 
had  learned  to  respect  each  other  as  soldiers.  They  now 
fraternized  like  long  separated  and  estranged  brothers.  The 
Confederates  were  without  shoes — in  rags  and  tatters — worn 
and  exhausted  with  terrible  marches,  constant  fighting,  hun- 
gry, and  utterly  wretched.  The  Union  soldiers  grasped  the 
hands  of  their  late  enemies,  made  them  their  guests,  divided 
their  rations,  supplied  them  with  clothing,  and  so  far  as  pos- 
sible relieved  every  want,  and  then  even  divided  with  them 
the  money  in  their  possession,  to  enable  them  to  reach  their 
homes.  At  this  time  the  Confederates  appreciated,  and 
were  most  grateful  for  the  generosity  with  which,  from  the 
Lieutenant  General  down,  they  were  treated.  They  would 
then  have  joyfully  accepted  from  the  Government  any  terms 
which  left  them  their  lives,  and  their  remaining  property. 

The  surrender  of  Lee  was  regarded  by  the  other  rebel 
commanders  as  fatal  to  the  rebellion,  and  they  rapidly 
followed  his  example. 


638  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  Grant  directed  Sherman  to  push  for- 
ward from  where  he  then  was,  and  "  let  us  see,"  said  he, 
"  if  we  cannot  finish  the  job,  with  Lee's  and  Johnston's 
armies.  *  *  *  Rebel  armies  now  are  the  only  strategic 
points  to  strike  at."  *  On  the  receipt  of  this  order  Sherman 
moved  against  Johnston,  who  retreated  rapidly  through 
Raleigh.  This,  the  capital  of  North  Carolina,  Sherman 
occupied  on  the  13th  of  April.  On  the  following  day,  news 
of  the  surrender  of  Lee,  reached  General  Sherman  at  Smith- 
field.  On  the  14th  a  correspondence  was  opened  between 
Sherman  and  Johnston,  which  resulted,  on  the  18th,  in  an 
agreement  for  the  suspension  of  hostilities,  and  a  memoran- 
dum, for  a  basis  of  peace,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
President. 

That  memorandum  provided  in  substance  : 

1.  That  the  contending  armies  should   remain  in  statu  quo    until 
after  forty-eight  hours'  notice  should  be  given  by  either  commanding 
general  to  the  other. 

2.  The  Confederate  armies  to  be  disbanded. 

"  3.  The  recognition  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  of  the 
several  State  Governments  on  their  officers  and  legislatures  taking  the 
oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  where 
conflicting  State  Governments  have  resulted  from  the  war,  the  legiti- 
macy of  all  shall  be  surnbitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

"  4.  The  reestablishment  of  all  Federal  Courts  in  the  several  States, 
with  powers  as  defined  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  Congress. 

"  5.  The  people  and  inhabitants  of  all  States  to  be  guaranteed,  as 
far  as  the  Executive  can,  their  political  right  and  franchise,  as  well  as 
their  rights  of  person  and  property,  as  defined  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  States  respectively. 

"  6.  The  executive  authority  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  not  to  disturb  any  of  the  people  by  reason  of  the  late  war  so 
long  as  they  live  in  peace  and  quiet,  abstain  from  acts  of  armed 
hostility,  and  obey  laws  in  existence  at  any  place  of  their  residence. 

"  7.  In  general  terms,  war  to  cease,  a  general  amnesty,  so  far  as  the 
executive  power  of  the  United  States  can  command,  or  on  condition  of 
disbandment  of  the  Confederate  armies,  and  the  distribution  of  arms 

*  Grant's  Report,  p.  40. 


SHERMAN'S  AGREEMENT  WITH  JOHNSTON  DISAPPROVED.    639 

and  resumption  of  peaceful  pursuits  by  officers  and  men,  as  hitherto 
composing  the  said  armies,  not  being  fully  empowered  by  our  respec- 
tive principals  to  fulfil  these  terms,  we  individually  and  officially  pledge 
ourselves  to  promptly  obtain  necessary  authority  and  to  carry  out  the 
above  programme. 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major  General, 
"  Commanding  the  Army  of  the  United  States  in  North  Carolina. 

« J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  General, 
"  Commanding  Confederate  States  Army  in  North  Carolina. 

This  basis  of  agreement  was  promptly  repudiated  by  the 
President,  every  member  of  the  Cabinet  concurring.  Indeed, 
the  country  was  astounded,  that  General  Sherman  could 
have  been  induced  to  submit  such  propositions  to  the  Presi- 
dent for  consideration.  The  Secretary  of  War,  immediately 
sent  to  General  Grant,  the  following  statement  and  order : 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  April  21,  1865. 

"  GENERAL  :  The  memorandum  or  basis  agreed  upon  between  Gene- 
ral Sherman  and  General  Johnston,  having  been  submitted  to  the  Pres- 
ident, they  are  disapproved.  You  will  give  notice  of  the  disapproval 
to  General  Sherman,  and  direct  him  to  resume  hostilities  at  the  earliest 
moment. 

"  The  instructions  given  to  you  by  the  late  President,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, on  the  3d  of  March,  by  my  telegraph  of  that  date  addressed  to 
you,  express  subtantially  the  views  of  Presidant  Andrew  Johnson,  and 
will  be  observed  by  General  Sherman.  A  copy  is  herewith  appended. 

"  The  President  desires  that  you  proceed  immediately  to  the 
headquarters  of  General  Sherman  and  direct  operations  against  the 
enemy.  Yours  truly, 

"  EDWIN,  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 
"  To  Lieutenant  General  GRANT." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  President's  instructions : 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  March  3,  1865. 
"  To  Lieutenant-General  GRANT  : 

"  The  President  directs  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  wishes  you  to  have 
no  conference  with  General  Lee,  unless  it  be  for  the  capitulation  of 
General  Lee's  army,  or  some  minor  and  purely  military  matter.  He 
wishes  me  to  say  that  you  are  not  to  decide,  discuss,  or  confer  upon 
any  political  question.  Such  questions  the  President  holds  in  his  own 


640       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

hands,  and  will  submit  them  to  no  military  conferences  or  conventions. 
Meantime  you  are  to  press  to  your  utmost  your  military  advantages. 
"  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War." 

The  Secretary  of  War  issued  the  following  statement : 

"  This  proceeding  of  General  Sherman  was  disapproved  for  the 
following,  among  other  reasons  : 

"1.  It  was  an  exercise  of  authority  not  vested  in  General  Sherman, 
and  on  its  face  shows  that  both  he  and  Johnston  knew  that  he  (Sherman) 
had  no  authority  to  enter  into  such  arrangement. 

"  2.     It  was  a  practical  acknowledgment  of  the  Rebel  Government. 

"3.  It  undertook  to  reestablish  the  Rebel  State  Governments  that 
had  been  overthrown  at  the  sacrifice  of  many  thousand  loyal  lives  and 
an  immense  treasure,  and  placed  arms  and  munitions  of  war  in  the 
hands  of  the  rebels  at  their  respective  Capitals,  which  might  be  used 
as  soon  as  the  armies  of  the  United  States  were  disbanded,  and  used 
to  conquer  and  subdue  the  loyal  States. 

"  4.  By  the  restoration  of  the  rebel  authority  in  their  respective 
States,  they  would  be  enabled  to  reestablish  slavery. 

"  5.  It  might  furnish  a  ground  of  responsibility  by  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment to  pay  the  rebel  debt,  and  certainly  subjects  loyal  citizens  of 
the  Rebel  States  to  the  debt  contracted  by  the  rebels  in  the  name 
of  the  State. 

"  6.  It  puts  in  dispute  the  existence  of  loyal  State  Governments 
and  the  new  State  of  Western  Virginia,  which  had  been  recognized  by 
every  department  of  the  United  States  Government. 

"  7.  It  practically  abolished  the  confiscation  laws,  and  relieved  rebels 
of  every  degree  who  had  slaughtered  our  people,  from  all  pains  and 
penalties  for  their  crimes. 

"  8.  It  gave  terms  that  had  been  deliberately,  repeatedly,  and 
solemnly  rejected  by  President  Lincoln,  and  better  terms  than  the  rebels 
had  ever  asked  in  their  most  prosperous  condition. 

"  9.  It  formed  no  basis  of  true  and  lasting  peace,  but  relieved  the 
rebels  from  the  pressure  of  our  victories,  and  left  them  in  a  condition 
to  renew  their  effort  to  overthrow  the  United  States  Government,  and 
subdue  the  loyal  States,  whenever  their  strength  was  recruited  and  an 
opportunity  should  offer." 

Sherman's  career,  up  to  the  time  of  this  negotiation  with 
Johnston,  had  been  illustrious.  He  had  rendered  such  signal 


REBEL  FORCES  EVERYWHERE  SURRENDER.  641 

services  to  his  country,  he  had  added  such  honor  to  her  arms, 
that  he  had  earned  the  right  to.  her  most  favorable  construc- 
tion to  every  act,  and  an  indignant  negative  to  any  suggestion 
of  improper  motive. 

Stanton,  in  expressing  the  disapproval  of  the  Executive  to 
the  terms  extended  to  Johnston,  was  emphatic,  and  decided, 
but  not  more  so  than  was  the  general  judgment  of  the 
country. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th,  General  Grant  arrived  at  the 
camp  of  General  Sherman,  and  communicated  the  disap- 
proval of  the  President,  to  the  terms  which  had  been  agreed 
upon.  Notice  was  immediately  given  of  the  termination  of 
the  truce,  and  a  demand  was  made  by  Sherman,  for  the  sur- 
render by  Johnston,  of  his  army  on  the  same  terms  as  were 
given  to  Lee.  A  meeting  between  Sherman  and  Johnston, 
was  held  on  the  26th,  which  resulted  in  the  surrender  and 
disbandment  of  Johnstorf's  army  upon  substantially  the 
terms  given  to  Lee. 

The  surrender  of  the  other  rebel  forces  quickly  followed. 
General  Howell  Cobb  surrendered  to  General  Wilson,  at 
Macon,  Georgia,  on  the  20th  of  April.  On  the  14th  of  April, 
General  Dick  Taylor  surrendered  all  the  forces  east  of  the 
Mississippi  to  General  Canby.  On  the  26th  of  May,  General 
Kirby  Smith  surrendered  his  entire  command  to  General 
Canby.  With  this  last  surrender,  there  was  left  no  organized 
rebel  forces  anywhere  within  the  territory  of  the  United 
States. 

On  the  llth  of  May,  Jefferson  Davis,  flying  in  disguise 
towards  the  sea,  was  captured  at  Irwinsville,  Georgia. 

The  President,  as  has  been  stated,  remained  at  City  Point 
after  the  conference  of  the  military  leaders,  to  witness  the 
execution  of  the  plans  then  determined  upon.  As  the  oper- 
ations against  Lee's  army  progressed,  he  telegraphed  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  through  him  to  the  exulting  people 
of  the  loyal  State?,  the  joyous  news  of. the  brilliant  successes 
of  the  army. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  April,  the  Union  troops 
took  possession  of  the  burning  Capital  of  the  Confederacy, 
and  extinguished  the  fire,  caused  by  the  reckless  carelessness 
41 


642     LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

of  the  rebels.  Among  the  first  to  enter  Richmond,  were  the 
colored  troops  of  General  Weitzel's  command.  They  marched 
into  the  city,  singing  their  favorite  song  of  "  John  Brown." 
With  drums  beating,  flags  waving,  bands  playing,  the  Union 
column  passed  up  the  streets,  flanked  with  the  raging  fire, 
and  then,  stacking  arms,  they  went  to  work  with  a  will  to 
save  Richmond,  from  this  conflagration.  Fully  one-third  of 
this  beautiful  city  was  burned  by  a  fire  commenced  by  the 
Confederates  setting  fire  to  tobacco  warehouses,  Government 
foundries,  and  other  property  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  Union  army.  On  the  day  of  its  capture,  Pres- 
ident Lincoln,  with  his  youngest  son,  Admiral  Porter,  and  a 
few  attendants,  visited  the  city.  His  coming  -was  unan- 
nounced, and  he  walked,  leading  his  little  boy  by  the  hand, 
from  the  landing  to  the  headquarters  of  General  Weitzel, 
just  vacated  by  Jeiferson  Davis.  The  news  of  his  arrival 
spread  through  the  city,  and  immediately  the  exulting  ne- 
groes from  all  quarters  came  running  to  see  their  deliverer. 
Their  enthusiasm  was  uncontrollable.  They  danced,  sung, 
shouted,  cried  with  joy.  Their  delight  was  mingled  with 
gratitude;  thanks  to  God,  and  to  Lincoln,  were  mingled 
together  in  such  a  way  as  would  have  been  deemed  very 
irreverent,  did  not  their  earnestness,  their  sincerity,  and  their 
ignorance  excuse  them.  Mr.  Lincoln  held  a  brief  reception 
at  the  General's  headquarters ;  drove  about  the  city,  and  at 
6  P.  M.,  returned  to  City  Point.  On  Thursday,  he  again 
visited  Richmond,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Lincoln,  Vice 
President  Johnson,  and  several  Senators.  On  this  occa- 
sion he  was  visited  by  prominent  citizens  of  Richmond, 
anxious  to  know  what  would  be  the  policy  of  the  Gov- 
ernment towards  them.  Without  committing  himself  to 
anything  specific,  he  easily  satisfied  them  that  his  course 
would  be  generous,  forgiving,  and  magnanimous.  In 
one  of  these  interviews>  I  have  reason  to  believe  the 
President  stated  his  views  of  the  necessity  of  National 
Union  substantially  as  set  forth  in  his  first  Inaugural  Address, 
and  more  fully  in  his  Message  of  December,  1862.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  in  that  message,  he  said :  "  That  portion 
of  the  earth's  surface  which  is  owned  and  inhabited  by  the 


THE  UNITED  STATES  MUST  CONSTITUTE  ONE  FAMILY.        643 

people  of  the  United  States,  is  well  adapted  to  be  the  home 
of  one  National  family ;  and  it  is  not  well  adapted  for  two  or 
more."* 

Our  fathers  had  organized  this  "  national  family  "  under 
the  Constitution,  and  it  became  his  especial  duty,  as  Presi- 
dent, to  maintain  and  perpetuate  it.  This  duty  he  had  en- 
deavored faithfully  to  discharge.  The  patriotism  of  the  loyal 
people  embraced  every  portion  of  the  Republic.  Their 
pride  had  long  dwelt  upon  the  idea  of  a  vast  Republic 
"whose  dominion  shall  be  also  from  the  one  sea  to  the 
other,  and  from  the  flood  unto  the  world's  end."f 

The  loyal  people  had  fought  the  war  through,  because 
they  would  not  give  up  this  idea.  The  vast  extent  of  the 
country  and  its  future  greatness  and  glory  had  long  been  to 
him  a  source  of  national  pride.  Virginians  must  learn  to 
substitute  in  their  affections  the  Nation  for  the  State :  they 
need  not  love  Virginia  less,  but  they  must  love  the  Republic 
more.  The  people  have  overcome  the  rebellion,  not  only 
because  it  was  their  duty  under  the  Constitution,  but  also 
because  they  wanted  the  aid  of  the  insurgent  States  to  enable 
them  to  realize  their  great  destiny.  The  South  is  an  essential 
part  of,  and  must  help  to  build  up,  the  great  Republic. 

In  reply  to  a  suggestion  from  the  Virginians,  that  it  was 
difficult  to  love  a  country  so  vast,  and  that  patriotism  was 
always  strongest  among  a  people  inhabiting  a  country  with  a 
small  territory,  as  illustrated  by  the  Scotch  and  the  Swiss, 
where  every  person  identifies  his  own  home  with  his  country, 
and  the  difficulty  of  embracing  in  one's  affections,  a  whole 
continent,  the  pride  and  glory  of  the  Roman  citizen  in 
the  Roman  Empire  was  recalled.  But  perhaps  a  better 
answer  to  this  may  be  found  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  message  before 
referred  to,  in  which  he  says,  speaking  of  our  whole  country, 
"  Its  vast  extent,  and  its  variety  of  climate  and  productions, 
are  of  advantage,  in  this  age,  for  one  people,  whatever  they 
might  have  been  in  former  ages.  Steam,  telegraphs,  and 
intelligence  have  brought  these  to  be  an  advantageous  com- 
bination for  one  united  people."  The  continent  is  "our 

*  Annual  Message  of  December,  1862.; 
1 72  Psalm,  v.  8. 


644  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

national  homestead."  This,  in  all  "its  adaptations  and  apti- 
tudes, demands  union  and  abhors  separation."  Now  that 
slavery  is  eradicated,  we  shall  soon  cease  to  quarrel,  and 
become  a  homogeneous  people.  Virginia  will  again  become 
a  leading,  possibly,  the  leading  S+ate,  and  before  twenty 
years,  she  will  thank  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation. 

Mr.  Lincoln  returned  to  Washington  on  the  9th  of  April. 
He  had  scarcely  reached  the  "White  House  before  the  news 
of  Lee's  surrender  reached  him.  No  language  can  ade- 
quately describe  the  patriotic  joy  and  deep  gratitude  to 
Almighty  God  which  filled  the  heart  of  the  President  and 
the  people.  All  the  usual  manifestations  of  delight,  illumi- 
nations, processions,  with  banners  and  music  were  given ; 
but  beneath  all  these  outward  manifestations,  there  was  a  deep, 
solemn,  religious  feeling,  that  God  had  given  us  these  great 
victories,  and  that  He  had  in  His  Providence  a  great  future 
for  our  country. 

The  last  battle  had  been  fought,  the  last  victory  won,  the 
Union  triumph  was  complete,  the  rebellion  utterly  crushed, 
and  slavery  overthrown ;  and  now,  though  not  in  order  in 
point  of  time,  let  us,  before  dismissing  from  these  pages  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Eepublic,  anticipate  that  final  review  of 
the  troops  of  Grant  and  Sherman  before  they,  having  fin- 
ished their  work,  retired  to  their  homes  among  the  people. 
This  review  was  an  event  full  of  moral  sublimity.  The 
bronzed  and  scarred  veterans,  who  had  survived  the  battle- 
fields of  four  years  of  active  war,  the  hardy  frames  of  those 
who  had  marched  and  fought  their  way  from  New  England, 
and  the  Northwest,  to  New  Orleans  and  Charleston;  those 
who  had  withstood  and  repelled  the  terrific  charges  of  the 
rebels  at  Gettysburg ;  those  who  had  fought  beneath,  and 
above  the  clouds  at  Lookout  Mountain;  who  had  taken 
Vicksburg,  Atlanta,  New  Orleans,  Savannah,  Mobile,  Peters- 
burg, and  Richmond  ;  whose  campaigns  extended  over  half 
a  continent ;  the  triumphal  entry  of  these  heroes  into  the 
National  Capital  of  the  Republic  which  they  had  saved  and 
redeemed,  was  deeply  impressive.  Triumphal  arches,  gar- 
lands, wreaths  of  flowers,  evergreens,  marked  their  pathway. 


REVIEW  OP  THE  ARMIES.  645 

President  and  Cabinet,  Governors  and  Senators,  ladies, 
children,  citizens,  all  united  to  express  the  nation's  gratitude 
to  those  by  whose  heroism  it  had  been  saved. 

But,  there  was  one  great  shadow  over  the  otherwise  bril- 
liant spectacle.  Lincoln,  their  great  hearted  chief,  he  whom 
all  loved  fondly  to  call  their  "  Father  Abraham  ;"  he  whose 
heart  had  been  ever  with  them  in  the  camp,  and  on  the 
march,  in  the  storm  of  battle,  and  in  the  hospital ;  he  had 
been  murdered,  stung  to  death,  by  the  fang  of  the  expiring 
serpent  which  these  soldiers  had  crushed.  There  were 
many  thousands  of  these  gallant  men  in  blue,  as  they  filed 
past  the  White  House,  whose  weather-beaten  faces  were  wet 
with  tears  of  manly  grief.  How  gladly,  joyfully  would  they 
have  given  their  lives  to  save  his. 

And  now  these  grand  armies  were  disbanded,  and  hastened 
to  the  homes  which  they  had  voluntarily  left,  to  be  wel- 
comed by  family  and  friends,  and  cheered  and  cherished  for 
life  by  the  thanks  of  a  grateful  people. 


CHAPTEE   XXVIII, 


COST  OP  THE  WAR-LINCOLN'S   "  POLICY,"  — HIS  ASSASSINATION 
FUNERAL— THE  GRIEF  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


NUMBER  OF  TROOPS  FURNISHED  BY  THE  SEVERAL  STATES — COST  IN 
MEN  AND  MONEY  OF  THE  WAR — COLORED  TROOPS — LINCOLN'S 
"POLICY" — His  VIEWS  OF  THE  POWERS  OF  CONGRESS  OVER  THE 

REBELLIOUS  STATES No  RIGHT  TO  VOTE  IN  THE  ELECTORAL  COL- 

LEGE — LOYALTY  SHOULD  BE  THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION — 
LINCOLN'S  VIEWS  OF  NEGRO  SUFFRAGE — FAITH  MUST  BE  KEPT 
WITH  THE  NEGRO  RACE  —  TlIE  ASSASSINATION  —  FUNERAL — 
NATIONAL  GRIEF. 

THE  military  power  of  the  rebellion  was  now  crushed. 
Looking  over  the  Republic  from  North  to  South,  from 
East  to  West,  it  is  difficult  to  realize  fully  the  immense  cost 
of  this  slaveholders'  war.  A  great  price,  a  terrible  retribu- 
tion had  been  visited  upon  the  people,  for  the  existence  of 
slavery.  Perhaps  it  is  not  extravagant  to  say,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Mr.  Lincoln's  second  inaugural,  that  "the  war  had 
continued,  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  had  been  sunk, 
and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  had  been 
paid  by  another  drawn  with  the  sword." 

With  the  war,  the  cause  of  the  war  disappeared.  Some 
few  dry  statistics  and  considerations,  will  aid  in  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  magnitude  of  the  conflict.  The  population  of  the 
twenty-three  loyal  States,  and  which,  during  the  war,  con- 
stituted the  United  States,  was  22,046,472.  This  includes  Mis- 
souri, Kentucky,  and  Maryland,  which  furnished  soldiers  for 
the  armies  on  both  sides,  and  which  had  a  population  of 

646 


COST  OF  THE  WAR. 


647 


3,025,745  ;  and,  also,  California  and  Oregon,  on  the  Pacific, 
and  so  distant  from  the  scene  of  conflict,  that  they  contri- 
buted comparatively  few  men,  leaving  a  population  from 
which  the  soldiers  were  mainly  taken,  at  18,588,268.  The 
population  of  the  eleven  seceding  States  was  9,103,333. 
The  war  was  mainly  fought  by  American  citizens,  although 
there  were  some  German  and  Irish  regiments,  and  many  of 
Irish,  German,  Norwegian,  and  other  nationalities,  in  the 
ranks  of  the  regiments  made  up  mainly  of  American  birth. 
There  was  no  large  accession  to  the  population  by  emigra- 
tion during  the  war.  The  number  of  emigrants  in  1860  was 
153,000,  and  it  decreased  during  the  first  two  years  of  the 
war  ;  and  the  increase  in  1863  and  1864  was  to  fill  up  the 
vacancies  in  the  ranks  of  laborers.  The  emigrant  was  not 
enrolled,  nor  drafted  into  the  military  service.  The  whole 
number  of  Union  soldiers  mustered  into  service  during  the 
war,  was  2,690,401  —  fourteen  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  population.*  The  number  of  deaths  in  battle,  and 

*  The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  troops  furnished  by  each  State,  as 
reported  to  Congress  by  the  War  Department  : 

Aggregate 
States.  Aggregate. 


Maine  .............................................................................................    71,745 

New  Hampshire  .............................................................................    34,605 

Vermont  .........................................................................................    35,256 

Massachusetts  .................................................................................  151,785 

Rhode  Island  .................................................................................    23,711 

Connecticut  ............................................  :  .......................................  .    57,270 

New  York  .......................................................................................  455,568 

New  Jersey  ................  .....  .  ...............................................................    79,511 

Pennsylvania  .................................................................................  366,326 

Delaware  ........................................................................................    13,651 

Maryland  ................................................................  '.  ......................    49,730 

West  Virginia  ...................  ..  ...........................................................    30,003 

District  of  Columbia  .....................................................................    16,872 

Ohio  ................................................................................................  317,133 

Indiana  ......................................................  *  ........  .........................  195,147 

Illinois  ............................................................................................  258,217 

Michigan  ..................................  -  .....................................................    90,119 

Wisconsin  .......................................................................................    96,118 

Minnesota  .......................................................................................    25,034 

Iowa  ................................................................................................    75,860 

Missouri  .......................................  ,  ..................................................  108,773 

Kentucky  .......................................................................................    78,540 

Kansas  ............................................................................................    20,097 


Total 5,653,662 


redu'd  to  3 
yr"B  stan'd. 
56,595 
30,827 
29,052 
123844 
17,878 
60,514 
380,980 
55,785 
267,558 
10,303 
40,692 
27,653 
11,506 
239,976 
152,283 
212,694 
80,865 
78,985 
19,675 
68,182 
86,192 
70,348 
18,654 

2,129,041 


648       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

from  wounds,  was  96,089 ;  from  disease,  184,331 ;  total, 
280,420,  or  about  ten  and  a  half  per  cent.  This  is  accord- 
ing to  the  records  of  the  War  Department.  The  actual 
number  is  a  little  higher.  Fifty-seven  Generals  died  during 
the  war;  thirty:seven  of  them  in  battle  or  from  wounds; 
twenty  from  disease.  The  cost  of  the  war  to  the  United 
States  was  $3,098,233,078.  The  States  expended  in  bounties, 
&c.,  as  estimated  by  committee  of  Congress,  $500,000,000. 

The  call  for  troops  made  by  the  President  in  all  amounted 
to  2,042,748,  and  the  numbered  obtained  was  2,690,401.  * 

The  whole  number  of  colored  troops  enlisted  into  the 
military  service  during  the  war,  was  178,975,  and  the  losses 
these  troops  sustained  during  that  period  by  sickness, 
wounds,  killed  in  battle,  and  other  casualties  incident  to  war, 
was  68,178.  The  aggregate  of  colored  population  in  the 
United  States  in  1860,  was  4,449,201,  of  which  3,950,531 
were  slaves,  f  Under  all  the  circumstances,  the  colored  race 
furnished  a  fair  proportion  of  soldiers. 

It  is  certain,  considering  the  desperate  and  despotic  means 
resorted  to  by  the  Confederates  to  fill  up  the  armies  of  the 
rebellion,  that  a  much  larger  proportion  of  the  people  were 
forced  into  the  military  service,  in  the  rebel,  than  in  the 
loyal  States.  The  number  of  rebel  troops  finally  surren- 
dered, was  in  round  numbers,  175,000.  The  number  of 

•The  following  table  shows  the  date  of  the  Jseveral  calls  for  troops  by  the  Presi- 
dent, the  number  required  at  each  call,  the  period  of  service,  and  the  number 
obtained.  The  table  is  compiled  from  data  in  the  War  Department : 

Date  of                                                                                 Number  Periods  of  Numbers 

call.                                                                                 called  fur.  service.  obtatned. 

April  15, 1861 75,000  3     mos  93,326 

May  and  July,  1861 582,748  3  years  714,231 

May  and  June,  1862 3     mos  15,007 

July  2, 1862 300,000  3  years  431,958 

August  4, 1862 300,000  9     mos  87,588 

June  15, 1863 100,000  6       "  16,361 

October  17, 1863 300,000  3  years) 

February  1, 1864 200,000  3     "      J 

March  14, 1864 200,000  3      "  284,021 

April  23, 1864 85,000  100    days  83,652 

July  18, 1864 500,000  l,2&3yrs  384,882 

December  19, 1864 300,000  l,2&3yrs  201.568 


Total 2,942,748  2,690,401 

280,420  died  in  battle  or  hospital ;  22,281  officers  resigned ;  privates  not  allowed  to 
resign. 
tCensosof  I860,  p.  595. 


RESULTS  OF  THE  WAR.  649 

prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  National  authorities,  during 
the  last  year  of  the  war,  was  98,802.  These  were  all  sent  to 
their  homes  by  the  United  States. 

The  theatre  of  war  was  in  the  rebellious  States.  Their 
cities  were  besieged  and  captured ;  their  territory  desolated, 
and  their  people  suffered  all  the  evils  of  war  at  their  own 
homes.  The  heroism  of  the  Confederates  was  worthy  of 
men  who  fought  for  liberty  instead  of  slavery.  The  defence 
of  Richmond  required  four  years  of  fighting,  and  in  all 
700,000  men,  before  it  was  captured.  In  what  modern  war, 
has  any  fortress,  city,  or  capital,  made  a  defense  more  heroic, 
and  persistent? 

This  gigantic  contest  has  been  carried  through  to  final 
success  by  a  people  previously  absorbed  in  trade,  and  agri- 
culture, and  charged  to  have  been  enervated  by  wealth  and 
prosperity.  The  American  people,  great  in  the  war,  were 
greater  in  their  forbearance  in  the  hour  of  victory.  The 
supremacy  of  the  law,  of  the  civil  power,  had  never  been 
disregarded.  The  Republic  comes  out  of  the  conflict  with 
no  security  of  civil  liberty  encroached  upon,  none  of  the 
guaranties  of  Magna  Charta,  and  the  Constitution  broken 
down.  No  military  commander  ever  dreamed  of  sub- 
verting the  supreme  civil  authority.  The  greatest  captain 
of  the  war,  rebuked  those  who  urged  him  to  be  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency  against  Lincoln.  All,  military  men  not 
less  than  civilians,  have  recognized  in  the  law  and  the  Con- 
stitution, the  sovereign  of  the  Union.  Even  when  the  assas- 
sin struck  down  the  Chief  Magistrate,  and  it  was  known 
that  conspirators  were  at  the  capital,  seeking  to  destroy  the 
high  officials,  the  machinery  of  the  Government  went  on 
without  a  jar ;  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  were  still 
supreme.  The  people  exhibited  as  much  moderation  and 
humanity,  as  courage  and  persistence.  The  hour  of  vic- 
tory, under  the  inspiration  of  Lincoln,  was  not  the  hour  of 
vengeance,  but  of  forgiveness.  The  war  carried  on  by  the 
Republic  against  slavery  and  rebellion,  was  a  Christian  war, 
conducted  upon  principles  of  Christian  civilization. 

It  is  this  combination  of  martial  and  civic  virtues,  which 
inspire  hopes  that  the  people  will  be  equal  to  the  great  duties 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

yet  before  them,  and  by  the  exhibition  of  which  they  have 
compelled  their  recognition  by  the  candid  world,  as  one  of 
the  great  peoples  of  modern  times. 

And  now  came  the  grave  and  difficult  work  of  building  up 
the  shattered  fragments  of  the  Republic ;  the  broken  columns 
of  the  temple  must  be  reconstructed,  with  their  foundations 
resting  firmly  upon  liberty.  To  this  work  of  reconstruction 
Mr.  Lincoln  now  addressed  himself.  He  was  no  theorist, 
but  a  practical  statesman,  looking  ever  to  the  wisest  means, 
to  secure  the  end.  In  justice  to  him,  it  must  ever  be  borne 
in  mind  that  he  lived  less  than  ten  days  after  the  surrender 
of  Lee  ;  not  long  enough  to  construct  a  policy.  Much  has 
been  said  in  regard  to  his  views  on  this  subject,  by  his  suc- 
cessor, and  those  who  follow  him.  They  have  attempted  to 
shield  the  "  Johnson  policy  "  so  emphatically  condemned  by 
the  loyal  people  of  the  United  States,  under  the  great  name 
of  Lincoln. 

Let  us  see  what  are  the  facts.  The  efforts  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  restore  certain  rebellious  States  to  their  form.er  relations 
to  the  Union,  were  made  in  the  midst  of  war,  when  he  was 
seeking,  by  every  possible  means,  to  detach  those  States  from 
the  rebellion,  and  was  anxious  to  secure  the  moral  influence 
of  the  return  to  the  Union  of  a  former  slaveholding  and  re- 
bellious State,  emancipated  and  loyal.  He  had  not  time 
before  his  death  to  develope  any  settled  policy  in  regard  to 
what  securities  and  guarantees  the  safety  of  the  Republic 
might  require,  before  restoring  to  power,  those  who  had 
sought  its  overthrow.  Philosophers  and  thinkers  had  specu- 
lated and  written  upon  the  subject,  but  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  a 
statesman,  a  man  of  affairs,  had  not  committed  himself,  be- 
cause the  subject  had  but  just  come  before  him  as  a  practical 
question,  at  J;he  time  of  his  death.  Yet  it  is  interesting  and 
instructive  to  learn  his  views  as  far  as  developed,  and  the 
indications  of  what  his  policy  would  have  been  had  he  lived; 
and  at  the  hazard  of  repetition,  I  will  recall  his  acts  and 
declarations  heretofore  mentioned  in  this  volume,  and  add 
such  others  as  are  within  my  knowledge,  that  the  people 
may  have  before  them  the  means  of  forming  an  intelligent 
judgment  on  the  subject 


LINCOLN'S  "  POLICY."  651 

It  will  be  conceded,  that  emancipation,  the  freedom  of  the 
colored  race,  was  an  indispensable  condition  to  any  plan  of 
reconstruction  which  he  would  countenance.  This  was  de- 
clared repeatedly  in  his  messages,  and  in  his  instructions  to 
Mr.  Seward  before  the  conference  at  Hampton  Roads.  Let 
us  recall  what  he  did  and  what  he  said,  indicative  of  his 
opinions  of  the  status  or  condition  of  the  rebellious  States, 
the  powers  of  the  Executive  and  Congress  over  them,  and 
the  wisest  means  by  which  they  could  be  restored  to  their 
former  relations. 

Early  in  the  conflict,  he  appointed  Military  or  Provisional 
Governors  over  the  rebellious  States.  In  his  first  Annual 
Message  of  December,  1861,  he  recommended  that  Congess 
provide  by  law  for  the  establishment  of  courts  "  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  in  all  such  parts  of  the  insurgent 
States  and  Territories  as  may  be  under  the  control  of  the 
Government,  whether  by  voluntary  return  to  its  allegiance 
and  order,  or  by  the  power  of  our  arms."  *  He  said  to  Con- 
gress, that  he  had  been  unwilling  to  go  beyond  the  pressure 
of  necessity  in  the  unusual  exercise  of  power,  "  but  the 
powers  of  Congress,  I  suppose  are  adequate  to  the  anomalous 
condition."  He  thus  recommended  Congress  to  legislate  and 
make  laws  for  the  government  of  such  portion  of  the  insur- 
gent States  and  Territories  as  might  be  under  the  control  of 
the  Government.  In  his  Proclamation  offering  amnesty  on 
certain  conditions,  and  suggesting  the  mode  of  organizing 
loyal  State  Governments  in  the  insurgent  States,  where  the 
rebel  State  and  Confederate  Governments  de  facto  had  been 
overthrown  and  expelled,  dated  December  8,  1863,  he  says : 
"  It  is  suggested  as  not  improper,  that  in  constructing  a  loyal 
State  Government  in  any  State,  the  name  of  the  State,  the 
boundary,  the  subdivision,  the  Constitution  and  the  general 
code  of  laws,  as  before  the  rebellion,  be  maintained,  subject 
to  necessary  modifications,"  etc.  f 

Referring  in  his  Message  to  this  recommendation,  he  says 
of  it :  "  The  suggestion,  as  to  maintaining  the  political  frame- 
work of  the  States,  on  what  is  called  reconstruction,  is  made 

*  See  Message  of  December,  1861. 

t  See  Message  and  copy  of  Proclamation,  December.  1863. 


652  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

in  the  hope  that  it  will  do  good,  without  danger  of  harm.   It 
will  save  labor  and  avoid  confusion." 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  suggestion  in  regard  to  the 
maiutenence  of  the  boundaries  and  names  of  the  old  States,  is  put 
exclusively  upon  the  ground  of  convenience.  As  the  hostile 
government  was  expelled  by  the  military  power  from  the 
seceding  and  belligerent  States,  and  the  territory  which  had 
been  in  rebellion  was  brought  under  National  control,  Mr. 
Lincoln,  as  President  and  Commander-in-Chief,  governed 
that  territory.  It  has  been  seen  that,  as  early  as  his  first  an- 
nual Message,  "  unwilling  to  go  beyond  the  pressure  of  neces- 
sity, in  the  unusual  exercise  of  power,"  he  asked  Congress 
to  relieve  him  by  passing  laws  establishing  courts  in  such 
conquered  territory. 

Immediately  after  the  rebel  power  was  subjugated  and 
overthrown  in  any  portion  of  the  belligerent  territory,  Mr. 
Lincoln  recognized  it  as  his  duty,  as  the  Executive,  to  pre- 
serve the  peace,  punish  crime,  prevent  anarchy,  and  see  that 
justice  was  done  to  all.  This  he  did  first  through  the  mili- 
tary power,  then,  he  appointed  Provisional  Governors,  who, 
as  the  Union  sentiment  developed  itself,  initiated  proceedings 
to  organize  civil  Government  under  the  direction  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive, as  in  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  and  Louisiana.  The 
civil  Government  thus  organized,  was  always  treated  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  as  a  permissive,  subordinate  Government,  until  it 
should  be  sanctioned  by  Congress.  The  rebel  State  Govern- 
ments he  regarded  as  public  enemies  to  be  overthrown,  and 
an  entirely  new  Government,  Republican  in  form,  was  to  be 
established  in  place  of  them.  In  initiatory  steps  to  organize 
new,  loyal,  Republican  State  Governments  in  place  of  those 
expelled  and  overthrown,  he,  as  the  Executive,  prescribed  the 
qualifications  of  voters,  and  required,  that  all  participating 
in  the  preliminary  proceedings,  should  be  loyal  to  the  Union, 
and  should  support  the  acts  of  Congress,  and  the  Proclama- 
tion emancipating  the  slaves.  Mr.  Lincoln  always  treated 
these  proceedings,  as  preliminary,  and  as  requiring  the  action 
of  Congress,  before  the  new  State  Government  would  be 
entitled  to  resume  its  former  relations,  and  be  entitled  to 


LINCOLN'S  "  POLICY."  653 

representation  in  Congress  and  to  vote  in  the  electoral 
college. 

The  evidence  of  this  will  be  more  fully  presented  here- 
after. Without  going  more  into  detail,  it  may  be  asserted 
without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  as 
President,  treated  the  Confederates  as  public  enemies ;  that 
not  only  were  all  the  acts  of  the  Confederate  Government  so 
called,  but  those  also  of  the  State  Governments  of  the  States 
in  rebellion,  regarded  and  treated  by  him  as  void,  and 
these  organizations  were  to  be  subjugated  and  overthrown ; 
and  the  territory  from  which  they  were  expelled  by  arms, 
was  to  be  governed  for  the  time  being  by  martial  law ;  but 
he  was  always  anxious  to  bring  back  such  territory,  freed 
from  the  curse  of  slavery,  to  its  "  proper  practical  relations 
to  the  Union."  In  a  letter  to  General  Banks  in  regard  to 
Louisiana,  the  President  said :  "  If  Louisiana  sends  members 
to  Congress,  their  admission  to  their  seats  will  depend,  as 
you  know  upon  the  respective  Houses  of  Congress  and  not 
upon  the  Executive." 

In  his  Proclamation  of  July  8, 1864,  Mr.  Lincoln  presented 
the  bill  which  had  passed  Congress,  and  which  for  reasons 
therein  stated  he  did  not  sign,  "  as  a  very  proper  plan  (of  re- 
construction,) for  the  loyal  people  of  any  State,  choosing  to 
adopt  it,"  and  announcing  his  intention  under  certain 
circumstances,  to  adopt  and  execute  the  plan  therein  set 
forth.  *  This  bill,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  that  of  Henry 
Winter  Davis,  reported  from  the  Reconstruction  Committee  of 
the  House,  and  the  provisions  of  which  have  been  heretofore 
given. 

After  the  conference  at  Hampton  Roads,  one  of  the  rebel 
Commissioners,  Mr.  Hunter,  formerly  a  Senator  of  the  United 
States,  and  before  the  rebellion,  a  man  of  high  personal 
character,  in  giving  a  semi-official  statement  of  these  nego- 
tiations, said :  '•  whenever  we  go  into  the  Union  as  a  con- 
quered people,  we  give  up  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  must 
take  such  as  they  choose  to  make  for  us,  and  we  go  in  without  repre- 
sentation in  making  those  laws :  for  Mr.  Lincoln  told  us,  told  me, 

*  Proclamation  of  July  8, 1864. 


654  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

that  while  we  could  send  Representatives  to  the  Yankee  Con- 
gress, yet  it  rested  with  that  Congress  to  say,  whether  they 
would  receive  them  or  not."  * 

The  Confederates  came  under  the  National  authority  as  a 
"  conquered  people"  they  submitted  without  terms,  except  as 
to  the  personal  security  of  those  who  surrendered  to  Grant 
and  Sherman.  This  speech  of  Mr.  Hunter  establishes  that 
they  came  with  knowledge  that  they  must  take  such  laws  as 
the  Government  they  had  sought  to  overthrow  should  pre- 
scribe ;  and  "  that  they  must  come  in  without  Representation 
in  making  those  laws;"  and  that  Mr.  Lincoln  notified  them 
that  it  would  be,  for  Congress  to  determine  whether  their 
Representatives  would  be  received.  This  is  in  strict -accord- 
ance with  the  statements  contained  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  carefully 
prepared  speech,  made  on  the  evening  of  the  llth  of  April,  1865. 
In  that  speech  he  said,  alluding  to  his  Annual  Message  of 
1863 :  "  I  distinctly  protested  that  the  Executive  claimed  no 
right  to  say  when  or  whether,  members  should  be  admitted  to 
seats  in  Congress  from  such  States."  A  member  of  the  Cabi- 
net, (understood  to  be  Mr.  Seward,)  said,  he  "  suggested  that 
I  should  omit  the  protest  against  my  own  power  in  regard  to 
the  admission  of  members  of  Congress,"  but  he  would  not, 
and  did  not  omit  it.  These  statements  establish  the  fact,  that 
in  his  judgment,  whether  the  people  of  a  State  which  had 
been  in  rebellion,  were  in  a  condition  to  be  represented  in 
Congress,  and  take  part  in  the  Government,  and  upon  what 
terms  they  should  be  represented,  was  a  question  for  the 
determination  of  Congress. 

Upon  the  vital  question,  when  States,  whose  people  had 
been  in  rebellion,  would  be  entitled  to  vote  in  the  Electoral 
College,  a  right  correlative  with  the  right  of  representation 
in  Congress,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  equally  explicit.  He  said  in  a 
Message,  dated  February  8,  1865 :  "  The  Joint  Resolution 
declaring  certain  States  not  entitled  to  representation  in  the 
Electoral  College  etc.,"  has  been  signed  by  the  Executive. 
But  he  went  on  to  say,  that  to  the  two  Houses  of  Congress 
belonged  exclusively  the  right  "  to  exclude  from  counting 

•  The  Speech  of  Mr.  Hunter,  making  this  report,  will  be  found  In  Appleton's 
Encyclopedia  for  1865,  p.  191. 


LINCOLN'S  "  POLICY."  655 

all  electoral  votes  deemed  by  them  to  be  illegal."  This  reso- 
lution has  been  set  forth  in  these  pages,  and  it  excluded  from 
the  Electoral  College  of  1864,  the  votes  of  the  eleven  States 
in  rebellion. 

Mr.  Lincoln  concurred  with  Congress,  that  they  ought  not 
to  vote,  for  he  signed  the  joint  resolution,  but  he  at  the  same 
time  declared  Congress  to  have  exclusive  jurisdiction  over 
the  subject.  * 

I  will  now  proceed  to  exhibit  Mr.  Lincoln's  views  upon 
another  most  important  practical  question,  in  regard  to  re- 
construction—  namely,  upon  what  basis  should  the  recon- 
structed States  be  built  ?  Should  loyalty  be  the  basis  of 
reconstruction  ?  Should  the  foundation  of  the  reconstructed 
States  be  the  Union  men,  or  the  disloyal  ?  In  all  his  efforts 
to  reconstruct,  Mr.  Lincoln  built  upon  the  loyal  Union  men, 
excluding  certain  classes  of  disloyal  both  from  voting  and 
holding  office.  In  his  message  of  December,  1863,  he  says : 
"  There  must  be  a  test,  so  as  to  build  only  from  the  sound." 
He  further  says  :  "  An  attempt  to  guarantee  a  revived  State 
Government,  constructed  in  whole,  or  in  preponderating  part 
from  the  very  element,  against  whose  hostility  and  violence 
it  is  to  be  protected,  is  simply  absurd."  f  And  so,  in  all  his 
building,  he  made  loyal  men,  union  men,  the  foundation  of 
political  power;  pardoned  rebels,  and  sincerely  repentant 
rebels,  who  took  the  amnesty  oath,  might  vote,  none  others. 
He  appointed  none  but  Union  men  to  office.  He  took  none 
of  his  provisional  Governors  from  the  rebel  ranks.  No  man 


*  The  following  Is  the  message  referred  to:  "To  THE  HONORABLE  THE  SENATE 
AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  :  The  joint  resolution  entitled,  'Joint  resolution 
declaring  certain  States  not  entitled  to  representation  in  the  Electoral  College,' 
has  been  signed  by  the  Executive,  in  deference  to  the  view  of  Congress  implied  in 
its  passage  and  presentation  to  him.  In  his  own  view,  however,  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress,  convened  under  the  twelfth  article  of  the  Constitution,  have  complete 
power  to  exclude  from  counting  all  electoral  votes  deemed  by  them  to  be  illegal ; 
and  it  is  not  competent  for  the  Executive  to  defeat  or  obstruct  that  power  by  a 
veto,  as  would  be  the  case  if  his  action  were  at  all  essential  in  the  matter.  He  dis- 
claims all  right  of  the  Executive  to  interfere  in  any  way  in  the  matter  of  can- 
vassing or  counting  electoral  votes;  and  he  also  disclaims  that,  by  signing  said  re- 
solution, he  has  expressed  any  opinion  on  the  recitals  of  the  preamble,  or  any 
Judgment  of  his  own  upon  the  subject  of  the  resolution. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  February  8th,  1865." 

From  the  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  p.  711. 

f  Message  ot  1863. 


656  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

ever  received  office  from  him,  who  could  not  take  the  "  Iron 
clad  oath."  He  did  not  say:  "Rebels  must  take  the  back  seats" 
but  he  placed  loyal  men  in  the  front  seats. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  all  kindness,  generosity,  and  magnan- 
imity, to  sincerely  repentant  rebels ;  he  harbored  no  thought 
of  vengeance,  but  to  the  brave,  persecuted,  cruelly  abused 
Union  men  of  the  rebellious  States,  his  heart  yearned  with 
affection.  Those  who,  in  times  of  trial,  had  stood  firm,  and 
maintained  their  integrity,  these  were  the  men,  to  be  en- 
trusted with  power,  and  clothed  with  authority  in  the  rebel- 
lious States.  These  were  the  men  he  ever  sought  for  to  fill 
all  places  of  honor,  emolument,  and  power.  Such  was  the 
"reconstruction  policy"  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

What  were  his  views  as  to  the  position  the  loyal  negro 
should  occupy,  in  the  reconstructed  Republic  ?  He  desired 
that  "  the  intelligent,  and  those  who  have  fought  gallantly 
in  our  ranks  of  the  colored  men,"  should  have  the  privilege 
of  voting.* 

In  his  last  speech,  before  quoted  from,  made  April  11, 
speaking  of  negro  suffrage,  he  says  :  "  I  would  myself  pre- 
fer that  suffrage  were  now  conferred  upon  the  very  intelli- 
gent, and  on  those  who  served  our  cause  as  soldiers."  The 
following  extract  from  a  letter  to  General  Wadsworth  is  in 
harmony  with  the  foregoing :  "  I  cannot  see  if  universal 
amnesty  is  granted,  how,  under  the  circumstances,  I  can 
avoid  exacting  in  return,  universal  suffrage,  or  at  least 
suffrage  on  the  basis  of  intelligence  and  military  service." 
"  Regarding  it  a  religious  duty,  as  the  nation's  guar- 
dian of  these  people  who  have  so  heroically  vindicated  their 
manhood  on  the  battle-field,  when  in  assisting  to  save  the 
life  of  the  Republic,  they  have  demonstrated  in  blood  their 
right  to  the  ballot,  which  is  but  the  humane  protection  of 
the  flag  they  have  so  fearlessly  defended."  f 

*  Letter  to  Governor  Hahn,  March  12, 1864. 

t  The  following  Is  an  extract  from  the  Wadsworth  letter.  I  have  never  seen  the 
authenticity  of  this  letter  denied,  and  it  bears  internal  evidence  of  being  genuine : 

"  NEW  YORK,  September  25. 

"  The  SautTwrn  Advocate,  of  September  12,  publishes  the  following  extracts  from 
the  late  President  Lincoln's  letter  to  General  Wadsworth,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of 
the  Wilderness.  The  letter,  which  is  of  a  private  character,  is  to  be  sent  to  General 
Wadsworth's  family.  It  shows  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  desired  the  bestowal  of  the 


LINCOLN'S  "  POLICY."  657 

There  is  further  evidence  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  had  he  lived, 
would  have  endeavored  to  secure  suffrage  to  colored  men,  at 
least  to  the  intelligent,  and  to  those  who  had  exposed  their 
lives  for  their  country  by  serving  in  the  Union  army. 

I  venture  to  place  on  record  the  opinion,  based  in  part 
upon  evidence  which  I  cannot  now  make  public,  that  had  he 
lived,  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy  would  have  embraced  general,  not 
universal  amnesty  and  negro  suffrage.*  From  this  general 
amnesty  he  would,  I  believe,  have  excepted  certain  leaders  of 
the  rebellion  whose  conduct  had  been  peculiarly  and 
flagrantly  criminal,  and  "  all  who  had  been  engaged  in  any 
way  in  maltreating  colored  persons,  or  white  persons  in 
charge  of  such,  otherwise  than  lawfully  as  prisoners  of  war."f 

elective  franchise  upon  the  blacks,  was  also  at  an  early  day  in  favor  of  granting 
universal  amnesty.    Mr.  Lincoln  says : 

*  "  '  You  desire  to  know,  in  the  event  of  our  complete  success  in  the  field,  the 
/same  being  followed  by  a  loyal  and  cheerful  submission  on  the  part  of  the  South, 
I  if  universal  amnesty  should  not  be  accompanied  with  universal  suffrage.  Now, 
1  since  you  know  my  private  inclinations  as  to  what  terms  should  be  granted 
to  the  South,  in  the  contingency  mentioned,  I  will  here  add  that,  if  our  success 
should  thus  be  realized,  followed  by  such  desired  results,  I  cannot  see,  if  universal 
amnesty  is  granted,  how,  under  the  circumstances,  I  can  avoid  exacting  in  return 
universal  suffrage,  or,  at  least,  suffrage  on  the  basis  of  intelligence  and  military 
service.  How  to  better  the  condition  of  the  colored  race  has  long  been  a  study  which 
has  attracted  my  serious  and  careful  attention ;  hence  I  think  I  am  clear  and  de- 
cided as  to  what  course  I  shall  pursue  in  the  premises,  regarding  it  as  a  religious 
duty,  as  the  nation's  guardian  of  these  people  who  have  so  heroically  vindicated 
their  manhood  on  the  battle  field,  where,  in  assisting  to  save  the  life  of  the  Repub- 
lic, they  have  demonstrated  .their  right  to  the  ballot,  which  is  but  the  humane 
protection  of  the  flag  they  have  so  fearlessly  defended.'  " 


*  The  following  note  from  the  Hon.  Charles  A.  Dana,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War, 
during  the  last  two  vears  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  will  indicate  a  portion 
of  the  evidence  on  this  subject: 

"  NEW  YORK,  November  13, 1866. 

"  My  Dear  Sir :  In  a  speech  here  before  the  election,  I  stated  that  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  death,  a  printed  paper  was  under  consideration  in  the  Cabinet  providing 
ways  and  means  for  restoring  State  Government  in  Virginia.  In  that  paper  it  was 
stated  that  all  loyal  men,  white  or  black,  were  to  be  called  upon  to  vote  in  holding  a 
State  Convention,  while  all  rebels  were  to  be  excluded.  I  said  that  I  could  not 
affirm  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  definitively  adopted  that  policy  with  respect  to  black 
suffrage,  but  that  1  knew  his  mind  was  tending  to  it,  and  that  I  was  morally  cer- 
tain he  would  have  finally  adhered  to  it.  After  Mr.  Johnson's  accession,  all  the 
provisions  of  the  paper  were  incorporated  in  the  Presidential  Proclamation  respect- 
ing the  re-organization  of  State  Governments,  with  the  single  exception  of  this 
one  making  all  loyal  men  voters,  whether  white  or  black.  ***** 

"  Yours,  very  truly, 

"  CHARLES  A.  DANA. 
"Hon.  ISAAC  N.  ARNOLD." 

t  See  President  Lincoln's  Amnesty  Proclamation  of  December  8, 1863. 

42 


658       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

There  was  no  point  in  regard  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
more  sensitive,  nothing  about  which  he  was  more  deter- 
mined than  that  the  National  faith,  pledged  to  the  negro,  that 
his  liberty,  his  person,  and  his  property  should  be  protected, 
should  be  scrupulously  kept.  Let  us  recall  some  of  his  words 
on  this  subject. 

When,  as  Commander-in-Chief,  he  declared  the  slaves  of 
the  rebel  States  free,  he  accompanied  the  decree  with  the 
pledge  "that  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States, 
including  the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will 
recognize  and  maintain  their  freedom."  In  his  Message  of 
December  8,  1863,  after  referring  to  the  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation, and  the  laws  of  Congress,  giving  freedom  to 
colored  persons,  and  authorizing  their  employment  as  sol- 
diers, he  says  :  "  These  laws  and  proclamations  were  enacted 
and  put  forth  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion.  To  give  them  their  fullest  effect,  there  had  to 
be  a  pledge  for  their  maintenance.  In  my  judgment,  they 
have  aided,  and  will  further  aid  the  cause  for  which  they 
were  intended.  To  now  abandon  them,  would  be  not  only 
to  relinquish  a  lever  of  power,  but  would  also  be  a  cruel  and 
astounding  breach  of  faith."  Therefore,  he  insisted  that  all  re- 
pentant rebels,  before  amnesty  was  extended  to  them,  should 
swear  to  support  these  very  laws  and  proclamations ;  and  he 
solemnly  declared  that  he  never  would  return  to  slavery  any 
person  who  had  been  made  free  by  that  proclamation  or  by 
those  laws.  "  Negroes,"  said  he,  in  his  letter  to  the  Illinois 
Convention,  "like  other  people,  act  upon  motives.  Why 
should  they  do  anything  for  us,  if  we  will  do  nothing  for 
them.  If  they  stake  their  lives  for  us,  they  must  be  prompted 
by  the  strongest  motives,  even  by  the  promise  of  freedom. 
And  the  promise  being  made,  must  be  kept."  Mv.  Lincoln 
was  a  man  of  great  evenness  of  temper,  rarely  excited  to 
anger;  personal  abuse  and  indignity  did  not  disturb  him, 
but  wrong,  injustice,  and  bad  faith  made  him  indignant. 
When,  therefore,  some  one  suggested  to  him  that  he  might 
placate  the  rebel  masters  and  secure  peace,  by  an  abandon- 
ment of  the  freedmen,  he  indignantly  exclaimed,  "  Should  I 
do  so,  I  should  deserve  to  be  damned  in  time,  and  in  eternity" 


LINCOLN'S  "  POLICY."  659 

These  declarations  might  be  extended  indefinitely.  But 
there  are  enough ;  the  great  heart  of  Lincoln  was  above  the 
prejudice  of  color,  and  when  he  saw  a  black  soldier,  with 
a  brave,  loyal  heart,  maimed,  with  an  arm  or  a  leg  shot  off 
in  battle,  his  heart  yearned  towards  him  all  the  more,  be- 
cause he  was  of  a  despised  race.  Had  he  lived,  no  rebel  out- 
rage would  have  been  committed  with  impunity  upon  a 
Union  soldier,  however  black  his  skin;  no  humble  school 
house  for  freedmen's  children  would  have  been  burned  by 
mobs  of  former  slaveholders;  no  churches  where  colored 
people  assembled  to  thank  God  for  sending  them  their  great 
Liberator,  "  Father  Abraham,"  would  have  been  burned  by 
pardoned  rebels.  The  army  would  have  been  used,  if  neces- 
sary, for  the  protection  of  loyal  men,  without  regard  to 
color,  and  the  Republic  would  have  been  made  the  loyal 
man's  safe  and  secure  "  Castle.'"  Such  would  have  been  "  the 
policy "  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Let  those  who  have  broken 
faith  with  the  negro,  and  been  treacherous  to  the  loyal,  never 
insult  the  memory  of  Lincoln,  by  endeavoring  to  screen  such 
perfidy  under  his  honored  name.  For  the  rest,  we  know 
how  hard  it  was  for  him  to  punish,  how  ready  to  forgive,  but 
there  was  one  offense  he  never  would  forgive,  the  violation 
of  the  Nation's  faith  to  the  negro. 

As  the  fortunes  of  the  Confederates  became  more  dark 
and  gloomy,  there  were  those  among  them  disposed  to  resort 
to  measures  still  more  black  and  desperate.  Indeed,  after 
the  Presidential  election  of  1864,  at  which  the  people  had  so 
emphatically  declared  their  determination  "  to  prosecute  the 
war  with  the  utmost  possible  vigor  to  the  complete  suppres- 
sion of  the  rebellion,"  a  reckless  and  fiendish  desperation, 
on  the  part  of  the  slaveholders,  became  manifest.  Dark  and 
mysterious  hints,  and  intimations  of  schemes,  so  infernal  in 
their  character  as  to  be  regarded  as  utterly  incredible  by  the 
loyal  people,  were  brought  to  light.  The  people  of  the 
United  States  have  ever  been  esteemed  a  bold,  manly  race, 
scorning  treachery,  cruelty,  and  all  the  malignant  practices 
of  some  of  the  more  weak  and  cowardly  races.  There  pre- 
vailed a  general  love  qf  "fair  play;"  and  arson,  and  assas- 
sination were  unknown  in  the  American  history,  and  were 


660  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

regarded  as  so  antagonistic  to  American  character,  that 
nearly  all  refused  to  believe  any  citizen  of  the  United  States 
could  be  found,  base  enough  to  perpetrate  these  cowardly 
crimes.  When,  therefore,  threats  of  the  conflagration  of 
cities,  the  spread  of  disease  and  pestilence  by  sending  into 
crowded  towns  pestilential  poison,  and  assassination,  were 
heard,  and  conspiracies  to  effect  these  objects  were  discovered, 
the  charges  were  repudiated  as  incredible ;  and  it  was  believed 
that  no  American  could  be  found  sufficiently  infernal  to  com- 
mit this  class  of  crimes.  But  the  result  proved  that  those 
who  thus  reasoned,  did  not  appreciate  the  demoralization 
and  degeneration  produced  by  slavery.  In  the  autumn  of 
1864,  Howell  Cobb  Kennedy,  alias  Robert  C.  Kennedy,  and 
others,  undertook,  at  the  instance  of  the  Confederates,  to 
execute  a  plan  of  wholesale  arson  and  murder,  by  setting  fire 
to  hotels  and  places  of  public  resort,  crowded  with  unsus- 
pecting guests,  including  women  and  children,  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Beall,  holding  a  com- 
mission from  the  rebel  authorities  at  Richmond,  acting  with 
others,  officers  of  the  army  of  the  insurgents,  was  guilty  of 
attempting  to  throw  trains  of  cars,  filled  with  peaceable  citi- 
zens, off  the  track.  For  these  and  other  offenses,  these  men 
were  tried,  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  be  hung.*  A  party, 
bearing  commissions  from  the  insurgent  government,  on  the 
12th  of  October,  1864,  crept  in  disguise  across  the  Canadian 
frontier,  into  the  peaceful  village  of  St.  Albans,  in  Vermont, 
robbed  the  banks  and  murdered  some  of  the  citizens. 

The  men  guilty  of  these  outrages  were  now  to  climax 
their  crimes,  and  to  fix  forever  upon  the  "lost  cause"  of 
Slavery  and  Rebellion,  the  infamy  of  assassinating  the  purest, 
kindest,  most  forgiving  ruler  in  all  history;  a  magistrate, 
capable  of  the  sublime,  the  Godlike  prayer,  if  they  had  given 
him  time  to  pray,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do." 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  Mr.  Lincoln  returned  from 
City  Point  to  Washington,  on  the  evening  of  the  9th  of 
April.  From  this  time  until  the  14th  were  memorable  days. 

•See  Trial  and  Sentence  of  Beall  and  Kennedy.    McPherson's  Pol.  History,  pp. 
652,553. 


LINCOLN'S  LAST  DAY.  661 

The  surrender  of  the  rebel  armies  followed  each  other  in 
rapid  succession ;  and  the  joy  of  the  people  was  inexpressible. 
The  whole  country — every  city,  town,  village,  neighborhood, 
— every  house  was  gay  with  the  Union  flag,  now  worshiped 
by  every  loyal  heart.  Every  house  was  illuminated,  bells 
were  rung,  salutes  fired,  and  every  manifestation  of  joy  and 
gratitude  to  God.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  full  of  hope  and  happi- 
ness. The  clouds  were  everywhere  breaking  away,  and  four 
years  of  sunny  peace  and  comparative  quiet,  of  happiness, 
of  the  consciousness  of  great  dutiea  well  and  successfully 
discharged,  were  rising  before  him.  On  the  morning  of  the 
14th  of  April, his  son  Robert,  just  returned  from  witnessing,  as 
an  aid  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Grant,  the  surrender  of  Lee, 
breakfasted  with  the  President.  It  was  a  happy  hour  the 
father  thus  passed  with  his  son,  listening  to  details  of  the 
event.  After  breakfast  he  spent  nearly  an  hour  with  Speaker 
Colfax,  conversing  in  regard  to  the  future,  and  explaining 
how  he  hoped  to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  war,  and  build  up 
on  a  sure  foundation  the  Great  Republic.  Then  he  received 
and  exchanged  congratulations  with  a  party  ofhis  old  Illinois 
friends.  Between  11  and  12  o'clock,  there  was  a  Cabinet 
meeting,  attended  by  Gen.  Grant,  at  which  all  remarked  the 
hopeful  and  joyous  spirit  of  the  President;  and  all  bear  testi- 
mony, that  in  this  hour  of  victory,  he  had  no  thought  of 
vengeance ;  but  his  mind  was  dwelling  upon  the.  best  means 
of  winning  back  to  sincere  loyalty,  those  who  had  been 
making  war  upon  the  country.  After  the  Cabinet  meeting, 
he  drove  out  with  Mrs.  Lincoln,  expressing  a  preference  to 
ride  without  other  company,  evidently  with  a  heart  full  of 
joy,  wishing  to  commune  alone  with  her  whose  life  had  been 
made  anxious  by  his  great  duties.  He  conversed  now  of 
happier  days.  Said  he  to  Mrs.  Lincoln,  "  We  have  had  a  hard 
time  together  since  we  came  to  Washington,  but  now  the 
war  is  over,  and  with  God's  blessing  upon  us,  we  may  hope 
for  four  years  of  happiness,  and  then  we  will  go  back  to 
Illinois,  and  pass  the  remainder  of  our  lives  in  peace.' 

In  the  early  evening  he  had  another  interview  with  Col- 
fax,  and  George  Ashmun,  who  had  presided  at  the  Chicago 
Convention,  which  nominated  him  for  the  Presidency.  In 


662  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  midst  of  the  rejoicings  at  the  capital,  it  had  been  an- 
nounced by  the  press,  that  the  President  and  General  Grant 
would  attend  Ford's  Theatre  that  evening.  General  Grant 
had  an  engagement  which  prevented  him  from  attending, 
and  Mr.  Lincoln,  although  reluctant  on  that  occasion  to  at- 
tend, was  persuaded  to  go,  that  the  people  might  not  be  dis- 
appointed. Mr.  Colfax  walked  from  the  parlor  to  the  door 
with  the  President,  and  at  the  door  bade  him  "  G-ood-bye" 
declining  his  invitation  to  accompany  him  to  the  theatre. 
Mr.  Colfax  says :  * 

"  *  *  *  My  mind  has  since  been  tortured  with  regrets  that  1 
had  not  accompanied  him.  If  the  knife  which  the  assassin  had  in- 
tended for  Grant  had  not  been  wasted,  as  it  possibly  would  not  have 
been,  on  one  of  so  much  less  importance  in  our  national  affairs,  per- 
chance a  sudden  backward  look  at  that  eventful  instant  might  have 
saved  that  life,  so  incalculably  precious  to  wife  and  children  and  coun- 
try ;  or,  failing  in  that,  might  have  hindered  or  prevented  the  escape 
of  his  murderer.  The  willingness  of  any  man  to  endanger  his  life  for 
another's  is  so  much  doubted  that  I  scarcely  dare  to  say  how  willingly 
I  would  have  risked  my  own  to  preserve  his,  of  such  priceless  vai:ie  to 
us  all.  But  if  you  can  realize  that  it  is  sweet  to  die  for  one's  country, 
as  so  many  scords  of  thousands,  from  every  State  and  county  and  ham 
let  have  proved  in  the  years  that  are  past,  you  can  imagine  the  conso- 
lation there  would  be  to  any  one,  even  in  his  expiring  hours,  to  feel 
that  he  had  saved  the  land  from  a  funeral  gloom  which,  but  a  few  days 
ago,  settled  down  upon  it  from  ocean  to  ocean  and  from  capitol  to 
cabin,  at  the  loss  of  one  for  whom  even  a  hecatomb  of  victims  could 
not  atone." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  party  reached  the  theatre  at 
about  nine  o'clock,  and  found  it  crowded  to  its  utmost 
capacity.  He  was  received,  as  he  always  was,  with  the  most 
enthusiastic  greetings.  In  the  midst  of  the  play,  a  pistol 
shot  was  heard,  and  a  man,  with  a  bloody  dagger  in  his 
hand,  leaped  from  the  President's  box  to  the  stage,  exclaim- 
ing :  "Sic  semper  tyrannis" — "  The  South  is  avenged" — and 
then  ran  behind  the  scenes.  The  President  had  been  shot 

*  See  his  speech  at  Chicago,  April  30, 1865. 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  663 

from  behind,  and  the  assassin  had  escaped.  Major  Rath- 
bone,  who  had  accompanied  the  President,  seized  the  assas- 
sin as  he  rushed  past  him,  but  the  murderer,  cutting  him 
severely  in  his  arm  with  his  dagger,  broke  from  him.  The 
President  fell  forward  as  he  was  shot,  into  the  arms  of  his 
wife,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  surgeons,  it  was  found  the 
ball  had  entered  the  brain,  creating  a  mortal  wound.  He 
was  insensible  from  the  beginning,  and  lingering  until  a  few 
minutes  past  seven,  on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  expired. 
The  rebel  leaders  had  used  the  hand  of  a  miserable,  half- 
crazed  play-actor,  by  the  name  of  John  Wilkes  Booth,  to 
assassinate  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation,  which  their 
swords  could  not  overthrow.  Booth  did  not  live  to  betray 
the  men  who  set  him  on ;  had  he  lived,  a  man  who  could 
commit  an  act  so  cowardly,  would  have  been  likely  to  have 
betrayed  his  employers  ;  but  the  exulting  words  of  the  fiend, 
as  he  leaped  upon  the  stage,  betrayed  the  source  from  which 
he  derived  his  hellish  inspiration.  Alas,  that  Virginia's 
proud  old  motto  should  have  been  thus  desecrated ! 

On  the  same  night  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  was  con- 
fined to  his  house  by  severe  injuries,  received,  by  being 
thrown  from  his  carriage,  was  attacked  in  his  bed,  terribly 
cut,  and  stabbed,  and  his  life  was  saved  only  by  the  heroic 
efforts  of  his  sons  and  daughter,  and  an  assistant  nurse, 
whose  name  was  Robinson.  Mr.  Frederick  Seward,  his  son, 
in  attempting  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  the  ruffian  into  his 
father's  sick  room,  was  struck  by  a  pistol  on  the  head,  and 
his  skull  fractured,  and  he  rendered  insensible.  The  assas- 
sin of  Mr.  Seward  was  an  accomplice  of  Booth,  who  went 
by  the  name  of  Payne,  but  whose  real  name  was  Powell ; 
and  he  had  been  a  Confederate  soldier. 

Booth,  in  attempting  to  escape,  was  shot  on  the  21st  of 
April,  by  a  soldier  named  Boston  Corbett.  Some  of  his  ac- 
complices were  arrested,  tried,  and  hung.  But  all  of  these 
were  but  the  wretched  tools  of  the  conspirators.  It  yet  re- 
mains uncertain  whether  the  conspirators  themselves  will 
ever  in  this  world  be  dragged  to  light  and  punishment. 

Andrew  Johnson,  the  Vice  President,  was  inaugurated  as 
President  on  the  morning  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  death.  After- 
wards, and  after  investigation,  he  issued  a  proclamation, 


664       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

reciting  that  it  appeared  from  evidence  in  the  Bureau  of 
Military  Justice,  that  the  murder  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
and  the  attempted  assassination  of  Mr.  Seward,  had  been 
proc  ired  by  Jefferson  Davis,  and  others  ;  and,  in  behalf  of 
the  Government,  he  offered  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
reward  for  their  capture.  * 

Whether  Jefferson  Davis,  and  the  other  leading  rebels 
named  in  the  proclamation  are  really  guilty,  or  whether,  if 
guilty,  there  is  sufficient  evidence  to  establish  that  guilt,  as 
no  trial  has  yet  been  had,  I  will  express  no  opinion.  That 
his  assassination  was  the  subject  of  frequent  remark  among 
the  slaveholders  and  rebel  leaders;  is  well  known. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  often  been  threatened  with  assassination, 
and  his  friends  had  long  felt  great  anxiety  on  the  subject, 
but  they  were  never  able  to  induce  him  to  take  precautions. 
He  walked  to  and  from  the  War,  Navy,  State,  and  Treasury 
Departments  at  all  hours,  unattended ;  drove  or  rode  on 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  Proclamation : 

"BY    THE    PRESIDENT    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA: 

"A  PROCLAMATION. 

"  Whereas,  it  appears  from  evidence  in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  that  the 
atrocious  murder  of  the  late  President,  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  attempted  as- 
sassination of  the  Honorable  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  were  incited, 
concerted,  and  procured  by  and  between  Jefferson  Davis,  late  of  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia, and  Jacob  Thompson,  Clement  C.  Clay,  Beverly  Tucker,  George  N.  Saunders, 
William  C.  Cleary,  and  other  rebels  and  traitors  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  harbored  in  Canada : 

"Now,  therefore,  to  the  end  that  justice  may  be  done,  I,  Andrew  Johnson,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  do  offer  and  promise  for  the  arrest  of  said  persons,  or 
either  of  thim,  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  so  that  they  can  be  brought 
to  trial,  the  following  rewards : 

"  One  Hundred  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of  Jefferson  Davis. 

"  Twenty-five  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of  Clement  C.  Clay. 

"  Twenty-five  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of  Jacob  Thompson,  late  of  Mis- 
sissippi. 

"  Twenty-five  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of  George  N.  Saunders. 

"  Twenty-five  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of  Beverly  Tucker. 

"  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of  William  C.  Cleary,  late  clerk  of  Clement 
C.  Clay. 

"The  Provost  Marshal  General  of  the  United  States  is  directed  to  cause  a  de- 
scription of  said  persons,  with  notice  of  the  above  rewards,  to  be  published. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of  the 
United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  second  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our 
iLord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-five,  and  of  the  independence 
*•**  *"*   of  the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty-fifth. 

"  ANDREW  JOHNSON. 
"By  the  President: 

"  W.  HUNTEB,  Acting  Secretary  qf  State." 


THE  ASSASSINATION.  665 

horseback  to  his  summer  residence  at  the  Soldiers'  Home, 
often  at  night  and  alone.  Mr.  Colfax,  in  the  speech  at 
Chicago,  already  quoted  from,  makes  the  following  statement 
on  this  subject : 

"  No  one  could  ever  convince  the  President  that  he  was  in  danger 
of  violent  death.  Judging  others  by  himself,  he  could  not  realize  that 
any  one  could  seek  his  blood.  Or  he  may  have  believed,  as  Napoleon 
wrote  to  Jerome,  that  no  public  man  could  effectually  shield  himself 
from  the  danger  of  assassination.  Easier  of  access  to  the  public  at 
large  than  had  been  any  of  his  predecessors ;  admitting  his  bitterest 
enemies  to  his  reception-room  alone ;  restive  under  the  cavalry  escort 
which  Secretary  Stanton  insisted  should  accompany  him  last  summer 
in  his  daily  journeys  between  the  White  House  and  his  summer  resi- 
dence at  the  Soldiers'  Home,  several  miles  from  Washington,  at  a 
time,  too,  as  since  ascertained  in  the  details  of  this  long-organized  plot 
discovered  since  his  death,  when  it  was  intended  to  gag  and  handcuff 
him  and  to  carry  him  to  the  rebel  capital  as  a  hostage  for  their  recogni- 
tion ;  sometimes  escaping  from  their  escort  by  anticipating  their 
usual  hour  of  attendance  ;  walking  about  the  grounds  unattended  ;  he 
could  not  be  persuaded  that  he  run  any  risk  whatever.  Being  at  City 
Point  after  the  evacuation  of  Richmond,  he  determined  to  go  thither, 
not  from  idle  curosity,  but  to  see  if  he  could  not  do  something  to  stop 
the  effusion  of  blood  and  hasten  the  peace  for  which  he  longed.  The 
ever-watchful  Secretary  of  War,  hearing  of  it,  implored  him  by  tele- 
graph not  to  go,  and  warned  him  that  some  lurking  assassin  might  take 
his  life.  But  armed  with  his  good  intentions — alas !  how  feeble  a 
shield  they  proved  against  the  death-blow  afterwards — he  went,  walk- 
ing fearlessly  and  carelessly  through  the  streets,  met  and  conferred  with 
a  rebel  leader  who  had  remained  there,  and  when  he  returned  to  City 
Point,  telegraphed  to  his  faithful  friend  and  constitutional  adviser,  who 
till  then  had  feared  as  we  all  did  at  that  time  for  his  life  : 

"  '  I  received  your  despatch  last  night,  went  to  Richmond  this  morn- 
ing, and  have  just  returned. 

"  '  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN/ 

"  When  I  told  him,  on  that  last  night,  how  uneasy  all  had  been  at 
his  going,  he  replied,  pleasantly  and  with  a  smile,  (I  quote  his  exact 
words,)  '  Why,  if  any  one  else  had  been  President  and  gone  to  Rich- 
mond, I  would  have  been  alarmed  too ;  but  I  was  not  scared  about 
myself  a  bit.' 

"  If  any  of  you  have  ever  been  at  Washington,  you  will  remember 
the  foot-path  lined  and  embowered  with  trees  leading  from  the  back 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

door  of  the  War  Department  to  the  White  House.  One  night,  and 
but  recently  too,  when,  in  his  anxiety  for  news  from  the  army,  he  had 
been  with  the  Secretary  in  the  telegraph  office  of  the  Department,  he 
was  about  starting  home  at  a  late  hour  by  this  short  route,  Mr.  Stanton 
stopped  him  and  said,  '  You  ought  not  to  go  that  way;  it  is  dangerous 
for  you  even  in  the  daytime,  but  worse  at  night.'  Mr.  Lincoln  re- 
plied, '  I  don't  believe  there's  any  danger  there,  day  or  night.'  Mr. 
Sfcanton  responded  solemnly,  '  Well,  Mr.  President,  you  shall  not  be 
killed  returning  that  dark  way  from  my  Department  while  I  am  in  it ; 
you  must  let  me  take  you  round  by  the  avenue  in  my  carriage.'  And 
Mr.  Lincoln,  joking  the  Secretary  on  his  imperious  military  orders  and 
his  needless  alarm  on  his  account,  as  he  called  it,  entered  his  carriage 
and  was  driven  by  the  well-lighted  avenue  to  the  White  House." 

The  terrible  news  of  the  death  of  Lincoln,  was  on  the 
morning  of  the  15th  borne  by  telegraph  to  every  portion  of 
the  Republic.  Coming,  as  it  did,  in  the  midst  of  universal 
joy,  no  language  can  picture  the  horror  and  the  grief  of  the 
American  people  on  its  reception.  A  whole  people  were  in 
tears. 

Persons  who  had  not  heard  the  news,  coming  into  crowded 
cities  were  struck  with  the  strange  aspect  of  the  people.  All 
business  was  suspended,  gloom,  sadness,  grief,  sat  upon  every 
face.  Strangers  who  had  never  seen  the  good  President, 
women,  and  children,  and  strong  men,  wept.  The  flag, 
which  had  everywhere,  from  every  spire  and  mast-head, 
roof,  and  tree,  and  public  building,  been  floating  in  glorious 
triumph,  was  now  lowered ;  as  the  hours  of  that  dreary  15th 
of  April  passed  on,  the  people,  by  a  common  impulse,  each 
family  by  itself,  commenced  dressing  their  houses  and  the 
public  buildings  in  mourning,  and  before  night  the  whole 
nation  was  shrouded  in  black. 

There  were  no  classes  of  people  in  the  Republic  whose 
grief  was  more  demonstrative  than  that  of  the  soldiers  and 
the  freedmen.  The  vast  armies,  not  yet  disbanded,  looked 
upon  Lincoln  as  their  father.  They  knew  his  heart  had  fol- 
lowed them  in  all  their  campaigns  and  marches  and  battles. 
Grief  and  vengeance  filled  their  hearts.  But  the  poor  negroes 
everywhere  wept  and  sobbed  over  a  loss  which  they  instinct 
ively  felt  was  to  them  irreparable.  On  the  Sunday  following 


THE   FUNERAL   OF  LINCOLN.  667 

his  death,  the  whole  people  gathered  to  their  places  of  public 
worship  and  mingled  their  tears  together  over  a  bereavement 
which  every  one  felt  like  the  loss  of  a  father  or  a  brother. 
The  remains  of -the  President  were  taken  to  the  White 
House.  On  the  17th,  on  Monday,  a  meeting  of  the  members 
of  Congress  then  in  Washington,  was  held  at  the  Capitol,  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  funeral.  This  meeting  named  a 
oommittee  of  one  member  from  each  State  and  Territory,  and 
the  whole  Congressional  delegation  from  Illinois,  as  a  Con- 
gressional Committee,  to  attend  the  remains  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  their  final  resting  place  in  Illinois.  Senator  Sumner  and 
others  desired  that  his  body  should  be  placed  under  the 
dome  of  the  Capitol,  at  Washington.  It  was  stated  that  a 
vault  had  been  prepared  there  for  the  remains  of  General 
Washington,  but  had  never  been  used,  because  the  Wash- 
ington family  and  Virginia  desired  that  his  body  should 
remain  in  the  family  vault  at  Mt.  Vernon.  It  was  said  it 
would  be  peculiarly  appropriate  for  the  remains  of  Lincoln 
to  be  deposited  under  the  dome  of  the  Capitol  of  the  Repub- 
lic he  had  saved  and  redeemed.  The  family  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
would,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  consented  to  this,  but  Gov- 
ernor Oglesby,  Senator  Yates,  and  others  from  Illinois,  were 
very  urgent  that  his  remains  should  be  taken  to  his  old  home 
at  Springfield,  and  it  was  finally  so  decided. 

The  funeral  took  place  on  Wednesday,  the  19th.  The 
services  were  held  in  the  East  Room.  It  was  a  bright, 
genial  day — typical  of  the  kind  and  genial  nature  of  him 
whom  a  nation  was  so  deeply  mourning. 

This  was  the  third  funeral  which  had  taken  place  at  the 
White  House  during  its  occupation  by  the  family  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.  First,  that  of  Colonel  Ellsworth,  at  which  the 
President  was  among  the  most  grieved  of  the  monrnera, 
tiien  that  of  his  sou,  Willie,  and  now  ihe  President  himself. 

The  funeral  services  were  very  solemn  and  touching. 
They  were  attended  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  successor,  the  Cabinet, 
the  Chief  Justice  and  his  Associates,  the  Senators  and  Mem- 
bers of  Congress,  General  Grant  and  Admiral  Farragut,  and 
a  long  list  of  military  and  naval  officers,  the  Diplomatic 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Corps,  the  Governors  of  the  States,  a  large  body  of  clergy, 
and  distinguished  citizens  from  every  portion  of  the  Republic. 

After  the  ceremonies  at  the  White  House,  the  body  was 
taken  to  the  Capitol,  and  placed  in  the  Rotunda,  beneath 
the  Statue  of  Liberty,  and  guarded  by  sad  and  weeping 
soldiers.  The  coffin  was  covered  with  a  profusion  of  sweet 
spring  flowers,  the  face  was  exposed  to  sight,  and  thousands 
came  to  take  a  last  look  before  the  procession  should  start 
for  its  destination  on  the  far-off  prairies.  His  features  were, 
as  in  HCe,  gentle,  placid  and  kind.  They  seemed,  even  in 
death,  to  express  the  Godlike  sentiments  he  had  uttered  from 
the  steps  of  the  Capitol  on  the  day  of  his  inauguration.  As 
they  looked  upon  that  face,  all  felt  that  the  rebels  had  killed 
their  best  friend. 

While  these  rites  were  going  on  at  the  Capital,  funeral 
services  were  had  everywhere  throughout  the  land.  The 
whole  Nation  suspended  business,  and  every  tongue  and 
every  pen  was  speaking  of  the  Nation's  loss,  and  of  him  of 
whom  every  heart  was  full. 

The  remains  of  the  President,  and  those  of  his  beloved 
son,  Willie  Lincoln,  were  then  taken  to  the  depot,  and  placed 
in  the  funeral  car,  prepared  to  receive  them. 

Non-commissioned  officers  of  the  Veteran  Reserve  Corps 
were  detailed,  to  act  as  a  body-guard,  to  attend  the  remains 
to  their  last  resting  place.  It  was  arranged  that  Major 
Generals  of  the  army  should  attend  the  body,  and  keep 
guard  continually,  so  that  at  all  times,  during  the  journey,  the 
coffin  should  be  under  their  special  guardianship.  It  was 
ordered  that  the  body,  with  those  who  followed  it,  the  guard 
and  attendants,  from  the  Capital,  to  the  old  home  of  the 
President  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  should  take  nearly  the 
same  route  Mr.  Lincoln  had  taken,  when  he  came  from 
Illinois  to  assume  the  «Presidencyj  thus  giving  the  people  an 
opportunity  to  show  their  respect  and  reverence.  The 
funeral  procession  left  Washington  on  Friday,  the  21st,  and 
was  to  stop  at  Baltimore,  Harrisburg,  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Albany,  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Indianapolis, 
Chicago;  thence  to  Springfield.  Thus,  traversing  the  States 


THE  FUNERAL  OF  LINCOLN.  669 

of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Illinois. 

And  now  this  long  pilgrimage  of  sorrow,  traversing  half 
the  continent,  began.  The  people  of  every  State,  city, 
town,  and  hamlet,  came  with  uncovered  heads,  with  streaming 
eyes,  with  their  offerings  of  wreaths -and  flowers,  to  witness 
the  passing  train.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  scenes. 
Minute  guns,  the  tolling  of  bells,  music,  requiems,  dirges, 
military  and  civic  displays,  draped  flags,  black,  covering 
every  public  building  and  private  house,  everywhere  indi- 
cated the  pious  desire  of  the  people  to  do  honor  to  the  dead. 
Two  thousand  miles,  along  which  every  house  was  draped  in 
black,  and  from  which,  everywhere,  hung  the  national  colors 
in  mourning.  The  funeral  ceremonies  at  Baltimore,  were 
peculiarly  impressive.  Nowhere  were  the  manifestations  of 
grief  more  universal ;  but  the  sorrow  of  the  negroes,  who 
thronged  the  streets  in  thousands,  and  hung  like  a  dark 
fringe  upon  the  long  procession,  was  especially  impressive. 
Their  coarse,  homely  features  were  convulsed  with  a  grief 
which  they  could  not  control.  Their  emotional  natures 
were  excited  by  the  scene,  and  by  each  other,  until  sobs  and 
cries,  and  tears  rolling  down  their  black  faces,  told  how 
deeply  they  felt  their  loss.  As  the  train  passed  slowly 
through  the  city  of  York,  Pennsylvania,  it  paused,  and  there 
came,  with  mournful  music,  a  procession  of  young  ladies 
with  a  wreath  of  flowers  which  was  laid  reverently  upon  the 
coffin,  and  then,  with  no  words,  but  the  eloquence  of  deep 
silence,  the  train  passed  slowly  on;  and  thence  on  to  Har- 
ris burg  ;  and  thence  to  Philadelphia,  where  the  remains  were 
to  lay  in  state  in  the  old  Independence  Hall.  A  half  mil- 
lion of  people  were  in  the  streets,  to  do  honor  to  all  that  was 
left  of  him,  who,  in  that  same  Hall  four  years  before,  had 
declared  that  he  would  sooner  die,  sooner  be  assassinated,  than 
give  up  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
He  had  been  assassinated  because  he  would  not  give  them  up. 
All  felt,  when  the  remains  were  placed  in  that  historic  Hall, 
surrounded  by  the  memories  of  the  great  men  of  the  past, 
whose  portraits,  from  the  walls,  looked  down  upon  the  scene, 
that  a  peer  of  the  best  and  greatest  of  the  revolutionary 


670       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

worthies  was  now  added  to  the  list  of  those  who  had  served 
the  Republic.  The  floral  decorations  of  the  Hall  were  pecu- 
liarly beautiful.  An  immense  cross,  terminated  by  an  anchor, 
made  of  white  camelias,  stood  at  the  head  of  the  coffin ;  circular 
wreaths,  anchors,  crosses,  and  pure  white  flowers,  everywhere 
contrasted  with  evergreens.  The  head  of  the  coffin  was  placed 
near  the  old  bell,  now  broken  and  preserved  as  a  relic,  which 
rang  out  the  joyous  peal  which  announced  the  passage  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  There  it  stood,  bearing, 
conspicuously,  the  words,  "Proclaim  liberty  throughout  the  land 
to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof."  Lincoln  had  done  this.  And, 
because  he  had  thus  proclaimed,  the  slaveholders  had 
murdered  him ! 

During  Saturday  night  of  the  22nd,  and  the  Sunday  follow- 
ing, bands  of  music  were  stationed  in  the  belfry  of  the  Hall, 
and  played  solemn  dirges  and  hymns  over  the  departed. 

The  procession  reached  New  York  on  the  24th,  and  re- 
mained until  Tuesday,  the  25th.  The  whole  city  was  draped 
in  mourning;  on  the  day  of  the  procession,  its  great  thorough- 
fare, Broadway,  was  absolutely  full,  from  the  Battery  to  Central 
Park.  Miles  of  flags  hung  out,  all  draped  in  black;  each  house 
hung  with  dark  emblems  from  roof  to  pavement;  mottoes 
everywhere  expressive  of  the  most  profound  sorrow  and  rever- 
ence. Among  the  incidents  here,  was  the  visit  to  the  remains, 
by  the  venerable  and  now  broken  frame  of  the  aged  soldier, 
General  Scott,  who  came  to  look  his  last  upon  the  features 
of  the  President  whose  first  inauguration  he  had  aided  to 
secure. 

As  the  train  passed  up  along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson 
towards  Albany,  through  all  the  towns  and  villages  of  this 
interesting  region,  every  possible  demonstration  of  grief  and 
respect  was  manifested.  In  one  of  the  towns  near  the  High- 
lands, a  tableaux  of  touching  beauty  had  been  arranged.  As 
the  train  slowly  approached  the  place,  just  as  the  sun  was 
sinking  behind  the  Catskills,  it  was  discovered  that  thou- 
sands of  the  country  people  had  gathered  around  an  open 
space,  near  the  banks  of  the  river.  This  space  was  carpeted 
and  draped  with  flags,  and  as  the  train  came  still  nearer,  slow, 
sad,  plaintive  music  was  heard,  and  a  beautiful  lady,  repre- 
senting the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  was  seen  kneeling  over  the 


THE  FUNERAL  OF  LINCOLN.  671 

grave  of  Lincoln,  holding  the  drooping  flag  draped  with 
mourning.  The  funeral  train  passed  slowly  by,  the  band  play- 
ing a  solemn  dirge,  the  setting  sun  breaking  through  gor- 
geous clouds,  lit  up  the  scene.  It  was  a  most  impressive 
spectacle. 

Then  on  to  Albany — thence  through  the  great  State  of 
New  York  to  Buffalo,  and  then  again  across  Pennsylvania — 
thence  to  Cleveland,  Columbus,  and  Indianapolis — and  thence 
to  Illinois,  reaching  Chicago  on  the  first  of  May.  Here  every 
man  had  personally  known  Mr.  Lincoln  ;  here  he  had  tried 
his  causes,  here  he  had  made  his  speeches  to  juries,  and 
arguments  to  courts.  Here  everybody  had  heard  his  politi- 
cal speeches,  and  here  he  had  been  nominated  for  the  Pres- 
idency. Here  were  his  old  neighbors  and  friends,  and  yet, 
mourning  him  deeply  and  heartily,  as  did  all,  it  scarcely  could 
surpass  the  grief  which  had  been  manifested  all  the  way  from 
the  National  Capital. 

The  body  was  placed  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Court  House, 
and  this  edifice  and  every  other  public  or  private  building  in 
the  city,  were  draped  with  flags,  and  with  emblems  of  mourn- 
ing. The  Court  House  was  decorated  with  wreaths  of  flow- 
ers, and  everywhere  were  mottoes,  expressive  of  the  univer- 
sal grief  and  reverence.  Over  the  north  door  of  the  Court 
House,  was  the  motto,  "  The  altar  of  freedom  has  borne  no 
nobkr  sacrifice."  Over  the  south  door,  "  Illinois  clasps  to  her 
bosom,  her  slain  but  glorified  son.'1 

The  funeral  train  reached  the  Capital  of  Illinois  on  the  3d 
of  May.  The  Romans  were  accustomed  to  decree  a  triumph 
to  their  returning  heroes.  What  Roman  triumph  can  be 
compared  to  the  return  of  the  remains  of  Lincoln  from 
"Washington  to  Springfield?  The  body  was  taken  to  the 
State  House,  and  the  covering  removed  from  the  face  so  that 
his  old  friends  and  neighbors  might  look  once  more  upon  the 
features  of  Lincoln.  His  remains  had  been  so  perfectly  em- 
balmed that  the  expression  was  still  natural  and  life-like. 
Here  was  seen  among  others,  that  touching  motto : 

"  He  left  us  borne  up  by  our  prayers, 
He  returns  embalmed  in  our  tears." 


672      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

The  corpse  was  taken  to  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  and  there, 
among  his  old  friends  and  neighbors,  his  clients  and  constit- 
uents, with  the  nation — the  world — for  his  mourners,  was 
he  buried. 

The  funeral  oration  was  pronounced  by  Bishop  Simpson. 
The  following  extracts  will  indicate  its  tone  and  spirit : 

"  Near  the  capital  of  this  large  and  growing  State  of  Illinois,  in  the 
midst  of  this  beautiful  grove,  and  at  the  open  mouth  of  the  vault 
which  has  just  received  the  remains  of  our  fallen  chieftain,  we  gather 
to  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  and  to  drop  the  tears  of  s'orrow  around  the 
ashes  of  the  mighty  dead.  A  little  more  than  four  years  ago,  he  left 
his  plain  and  quiet  home  in  yonder  city,  receiving  the  parting  words  of 
the  concourse  of  friends  who  in  the  midst  of  the  dropping  of  the  gentle 
shower  gathered  around  him.  *  *  * 

"  Here  are  gathered  around  his  tomb  the  representatives  of  the  army 
and  naATy,  senators,  judges,  governors,  and  officers  of  all  the  branches 
of  the  government.  Here,  too,  are  members  of  civic  processions,  with 
men  and  women  from  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  highest  occupations. 
Here  and  there,  too,  are  tears,  as  sincere  and  warm  as  any  that  drop, 
which  come  from  the  eyes  of  those  whose  kindred  and  whose  race  have 
been  freed  from  their  chains  by  him  whom  they  mourn  as  their  deliverer. 
More  persons  have  gazed  on  the  face  of  the  departed  than  ever  looked 
upon  the  face  of  any  other  departed  man.  More  races  have  looked  on 
the  procession  for  sixteen  hundred  miles  or  more — by  night  and  by 
day — by  sunlight,  dawn,  twilight,  and  by  torchlight,  than  ever  before 
watched  the  progress  of  a  procession. 

*********** 

"  If  you  ask  me  on  what  mental  characteristic  his  greatness  rested,  I 
answer,  on  a  quick  and  ready  perception  of  facts ;  on  a  memory  unusu- 
ally tenacious  and  retentive ;  and  on  a  logical  turn  of  mind,  which  fol- 
lowed sternly  and  unwaveringly  every  link  in  the  chain  of  thought  on 
every  subject  which  he  was  called  to  investigate.  I  think  there  have 
been  minds  more  broad  in  their  character,  more  comprehensive  in  their 
scope,  but  I  doubt  if  ever  there  has  been  a  man  who  could  follow,  step 
by  step,  with  more  logical  power,  the  points  he  desired  to  illustrate. 
He  gained  this  power  by  the  close  study  of  geometry,  and  by  a  deter- 
mination to  perceive  the  truth  in  all  its  relations  and  simplicity,  and, 
when  found,  to  utter  it. 

*********** 

"  But  the  great  act  of  the  mighty  chieftain,  on  which  his  fame  shaii 
rest  long  after  his  frame  shall  moulder  away,  is  that  of  giving  freedom 


BISHOP  SIMPSON'S  FUNERAL  ORATION.  673 

to  a  race.  We  have  all  been  taught  to  revere  the  sacred  characters. 
Among  them,  Moses  stands  preeminently  high.  He  received  the  law 
from  God,  and  his  name  is  honored  among  the  hosts  of  Heaven.  Was 
not  his  greatest  act  the  delivering  of  three  millions  of  his  kindred  out 
of  bondage  ?  Yet  we  may  assert  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  his  proc- 
lamation, liberated  more  enslaved  people  than  ever  Moses  set  free,  and 
those  not  of  his  kindred  or  his  race.  Such  a  power,  or  such  an 
opportunity,  God  has  seldom  given  to  man.  ***** 
"  As  a  ruler,  I  doubt  if  any  President  has  ever  shown  such  trust  in 
God,  or  in  public  documents  so  frequently  referred  to  Divine  aid.  Often 
did  he  remark  to  friends  and  to  delegations,  that  his  hope  for  our 
success  rested  in  his  conviction  that  God  would  bless  our  efforts,  because 
we  were  trying  to  do  right.  To  the  address  of  a  large  religious  body, 
he  replied,  '  Thanks  be  unto  God,  who,  in  our  national  trials,  giveth 
us  the  churches.'  To  a  minister  who  said  he  hoped  the  Lord  was  on 
our  side,  he  replied  that  it  gave  him  no  concern  whether  the  Lord  was 
on  our  side  or  not,  for,  he  added,  '  I  know  the  Lord  is  always  on  the 
side  of  right,'  and,  with  deep  feeling,  added,  '  But  God  is  my  witness 
that  it  is  my  constant  anxiety  and  prayer  that  both  myself  and  this 
nation  should  be  on  the  Lord's  side.' 

*  *  *  #  *  #  #  *  *  #  * 

"  Chieftain !  farewell !  The  nation  mourns  thee.  Mothers  shall  teach 
thy  name  to  their  lisping  children.  The  youth  of  our  land  shall  emu- 
late thy  virtues.  Statesmen  shall  study  thy  record  and  learn  lessons  of 
wisdom.  Mute  though  thy  lips  be,  yet  they  still  speak.  Hushed  is 
thy  voice,  but  its  echoes  of  liberty  are  ringing  through  the  world,  and 
the  sons  of  bondage  listen  with  joy.  Prisoned  thou  art  in  death,  and 
yet  thou  art  marching  abroad,  and  chains  and  manacles  are  bursting  at 
thy  touch.  Thou  didst  fall  not  for  thyself.  The  assassin  had  no  hate 
for  thee.  Our  hearts  were  aimed  at,  our  national  life  was  sought.  We 
ciown  thee  as  our  martyr — and  humanity  enthrones  thee  as  her 
triumphant  son.  Hero,  martyr,  friend,  farewell !" 

43 


OHAPTEK    XXIX. 

* 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

THOSE  who  shall  have  read  these  pages  thus  far,  have 
already  obtained  better  means  of  forming  a  correct  judg- 
ment of  Mr.  Lincoln  than  from  any  attempt  at  word  paint- 
ing. He  was  a  man  difficult  to  describe,  and  one  who  can 
be  best  understood  and  appreciated  as  portrayed  by  his  own 
speeches,  writings  and  conduct. 

Physically,  he  was  a  tall,  spare  man,  six  feet  and  four  inches 
in  height.  He  stooped,  leaning  forward  as  he  walked.  He 
was  very  athletic,  with  long,  sinewy  arms,  large,  bony  hands, 
and  of  great  physical  power.  Many  anecdotes  of  his  strength 
are  given  which  show  that  it  was  equal  to  that  of  two  or 
three  ordinary  men.  He  lifted  with  ease  five  or  six  hundred 
pounds.  His  legs  and  arms  were  disproportionately  long,  as 
compared  with  his  body ;  and  when  he  \*alked,  he  swung 
his  arms  to  and  fro  more  than  most  men.  When  seated,  he 
did  not  seem  much  taller  than  ordinary  men.  In  his  move- 
ments, there  was  no  grace,  but  an  impression  of  awkward 
strength  and  vigor.  He  was  naturally  diffident,  and  even  to 
the  day  of  his  death,  when  in  crowds,  and  not  speaking  or 
acting,  and  conscious  of  being  observed,  he  seemed  to  shrink 
with  bashfulness.  When  he  spoke,  or  listened,  this  appear- 
ance left  him,  and  he  indicated  no  self-consciousness.  His 
forehead  was  high,  his  hair  very  dark,  nearly  black,  and 
rather  stiff  and  coarse ;  his  eye-brows  were  heavy,  his  eyes 
dark-grey,  very  expressive  and  varied ;  now  sparkling  with 
humor  and  fun,  and  then  deeply  sad  and  melancholy ;  flash- 
ing with  indignation  at  injustice  or  wrong,  and  then  kind, 
genial,  droll,  dreamy ;  always  changing  with  his  moods.  His 
nose  was  large,  clearly  defined  and  well  shaped ;  cheek-bones 

674 


PERSONAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  675 

high  and  projecting.  His  mouth  firm.  He  was  easily  cari- 
catured— but  difficult  to  represent  as  he  was  in  marble  or 
on  canvass.  The  best  bust  of  him  is  that  of  Volk,  which 
was  modeled  from  life  in  May,  1860,  while  he  was  attending 
court  at  Chicago.  Among  the  best  portraits,  in  the  judgment 
of  his  family  and  intimate  friends,  is  that  of  Carpenter, 
in  the  picture  of  the  Reading  of  the  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation  before  the  Cabinet 

He  would  be  instantly  recognized  as  belonging  to  that  type 
of  tall,  thin,  large  boned  men,  produced  in  the  northern  por- 
tion of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  exhibiting  its  pecu- 
liar characteristics  in  a  most  marked  degree  in  Illinois, 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  In  any  crowd  in  the  United 
States,  he  would  have  been  readily  pointed  out  as  a  Western 
man.  His  stature,  figure,  manner,  voice  and  accent,  indi- 
cated that  he  was  of  the  Northwest.  His  manners  were 
always  cordial,  familiar,  genial ;  always  perfectly  self-pos- 
sessed, he  made  every  one  feel  at  home,  and  no  one  ap- 
proached him  without  being  impressed  with  his  kindly,  frank 
nature,  his  clear,  good  sense,  and  his  transparent  truthfulness 
and  integrity.  There  is  more  or  less  of  expression  and 
character  in  handwriting.  Lincoln's  was  plain,  simple,  clear, 
and  legible,  as  that  of  Washington,  but  unlike  that  of 
"Washington,  it  was  without  ornament. 

In  endeavoring  to  state  those  qualities  which  gave  him 
success  and  greatness,  one  of  the  most  important,  it  seems  to 
me,  was  a  combination  of  a  supreme  love  of  truth,  and  a 
wonderful  capacity  to  ascertain  and  find  it.  Mentally,  he 
had  a  perfect  eye  for  truth.  His  mental  vision  was  clear  and 
accurate  :  he  saw  things  as  they  were.  I  mean  that  every- 
thing presented  to  his  mind  for  investigation,  he  saw  divested 
of  every  extraneous  circumstance,  every  coloring,  association 
or  accident  which  could  mislead.  This  gave  him  at  the  bar 
a  wonderful  sagacity  which  seemed  almost  instinctive,  in 
sifting  the  true  from  the  false,  in  ascertaining  facts ;  artd  so 
it  was  in  all  things  through  life.  He  ever  sought  the  real, 
the  true,  and  the  right.  He  was  exact,  carefully  accurate  in 
all  his  statements.  He  analyzed  well ;  he  saw  and  presented 
what  lawyers  cal .  the  very  gist  of  every  question,  divested  of 


676  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

all  unimportant  or  accidental  relations,  so  that  his  statement 
was  a  demonstation.  At  the  bar,  his  statement  of  his  case,  or 
of  a  question  of  law,  was  so  clear,  that  most  persons  were 
surprised  that  there  should  be  any  controversy  about  it.  His 
reasoning  powers  were  keen  and  logical,  and  moved  forward 
to  a  demonstration  with  the  precision  of  mathematics.  What 
has  been  said  implies  that  he  possessed  not  only  a  sound 
judgment,  which  brought  him  to  correct  conclusions,  but 
that  he  was  able  to  present  questions  so  as  to  bring  others  to 
the  same  result. 

His  memory  was  strong,  ready,  and  tenacious.  His  read- 
ing was  limited  in  extent,  but  his  memory  was  so  ready,  and 
so  retentive,  that  in  history,  poetry,  and  general  literature, 
no  one  ever  remarked  any  deficiency.  As  an  illustration  of 
the  power  of  his  memory,  I  recollect  to  have  once  called  at 
the  White  House,  late  in  his  Presidency,  and  introducing  to 
him  a  Swede,  and  a  Norwegian  ;  he  immediately  repeated  a 
poem  of  eight  or  ten  verses,  describing  Scandinavian  scenery 
and  old  Norse  legends.  In  reply  to  the  expression  of  their 
delight,  he  said,  that  he  had  read  and  admired  the  poem 
several  years  before,  and  it  had  entirely  gone  from  him,  but 
seeing  them  recalled  it. 

The  two  books  which  he  read  most  were  the  Bible  and 
Shakespeare.  With  these  he  was  very  familiar,  reading  and 
studying  them  habitually,  and  constantly.  He  had  great  fond- 
ness for  poetry,  and  eloquence,  and  his  taste  and  judgment  in 
each  was  exquisite.  Shakespeare  was  his  favorite  poet,  Burns, 
stood  next.  Holmes'  beautiful  poem,  "  The  Last  Leaf,"  was 
with  him  a  great  favorite.  The  following-verse  he  regarded 
as  equal  to  anything  in  the  language : 

"  The  mossy  marbles  rest 

On  the  lips  that  he  has  pressed 

In  their  bloom, 

And  the  names  he  loved  to  hear, 
Have  been  carved  for  many  a  year, 
j  On  the  tomb."  « 

He  made  a  speech  at  a  Burns'Festival,  in  which  he  spoke  at 
length  of  Burns'  poems ;  illustrating  what  he  said  by  many 

*  Carpenter's  Six  Months  at  the  White  House,  p.  59. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  677 

quotations,  which  was  listened  to  with  the  greatest  pleasure, 
but  it  was  unfortunately  never  reported.  He  was  extremely 
fond  of  ballads,  and  simple,  sad,  and  plaintive  music. 

He  was  a  most  admirable  reader.  He  read  and  recited 
from  the  Bible  and  Shakespeare,  with  great  simplicity,  but 
remarkable  expression  and  effect.  Often  when  going  to  and 
from  the  army,  on  the  steamers  and  in  his  carriage,  he  took 
a  copy  of  Shakespeare  with  him,  and  not  unfrequently  read 
aloud  to  his  associates.  After  conversing  upon  public  affairs, 
he  would  take  up  his  Shakespeare,  and  addressing  his  com- 
panions, remark,  "  "What  do  you  say  now  to  a  scene  from 
Macbeth,  or  Hamlet,"  and  then  he  would  read  aloud,  scene 
after  scene,  never  seeming  to  tire  of  the  enjoyment.  On  the 
last  Sunday  of  his  life,  as  he  was  coming  up  the  Potomac, 
from  his  visit  to  City  Point  and  Richmond,  he  read  many 
extracts  from  Shakspeare.  Among  other  things,  he  read, 
with  an  accent  and  feeling  which  no  one  who  heard  him  will 
ever  forget,  extracts  from  Macbeth,  and  among  others,  the 
following : 

*       *       •     "  Duncan  Is  in  his  grave ; 

After  life's  fitful  fever,  he  sleeps  well. 

Treason  has  done  his  worst;  nor  steel,  nor  poison, 

Malice  domestic,  foreign  levy,  nothing 

Can  touch  him  farther." 

After  "  treason "  had  "done  his  worst,"  the  friends  who 
heard  him  on  that  occasion,  remembered  that  he  read  that 
passage  over  twice,  and  with  an  absorbed  and  peculiar  man- 
ner. Did  he  feel  a  mysterious  presentiment  of  his  approaching 
fate? 

His  conversation  was  suggestive,  original,  instructive,  and 
playful ;  and  by  its  genial  humor,  fascinating  and  attractive 
beyond  comparison.  Mirthfulness  and  sadness,  were  strongly 
combined  in  him.  His  mirth  was  exuberant,  it  sparkled  in 
jest,  story,  and  anecdote;  and  the  next  moment  those  pecu- 
liary  sad,  pathetic,  melancholy  eyes,  showed  a  man  "  familiar 
with  sorrow,  and  acquainted  with  grief."  I  have  listened  for 
hours  at  his  table,  and  elsewhere,  when  he  has  been  sur- 
rounded by  statesmen,  military  leaders,  and  other  great  men 
of  the  Nation,  and  I  but  repeat  the  universally  concurring 


678  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

verdict  of  all,  in  stating  that  as  a  conversationalist,  he  had 
no  equal.  One  might  meet  in  company  with  him,  the  most 
distinguished  men,  of  various  pursuits  and  professions,  but 
after  listening  for  two  or  three  hours,  on  separating,  it  was 
what  Lincoln  said,  that  would  be  remembered.  Hia  ideas, 
and  his  illustrations  were  those  that  would  not  be  forgotten. 
Men  often  called  upon  him  for  the  pleasure  of  listening  to 
him.  I  have  heard  the  reply  to  an  invitation  to  attend  the 
theatre,  "  No,  I  am  going  up  to  the  White  House — I  would 
rather  hear  Lincoln  talk  for  half  an  hour,  than  attend  the 
best  theatre  in  the  country." 

As  a  public  speaker,  without  any  attempt  at  oratorical  dis-' 
play,  I  think  he  was  the  most  effective  of  any  man  of  his 
day.  When  he  spoke,  every  body  listened.  It  was  always 
obvious,  before  he  completed  two  sentences,  that  he  had 
something  to  say,  and  it  was  sure  to  be  something  original, 
something  different  from  anything  any  one  had  heard  from 
others,  or  had  read.  He  impressed  the  hearer  at  once,  as 
an  earnest,  sincere  man,  who  believed  what  he  said.  To-day, 
there  are  more  of  the  sayings  of  Lincoln,  repeated  by  the 
people,  more  expressions,  sentences,  and  extracts  from  his 
writings  and  speeches,  familiar  as  "  household  words,"  than 
from  those  of  any  other  American. 

Next  to  the  Bible,  and  Shakspeare,  there  is  no  other  source 
so  prolific  of  these  familiar  phrases  and  expressions  as  his 
writings  and  speeches.  Somebody  has  said,  "  I  care  not  who 
makes  the  laws,  if  T  may  write  the  ballads  of  a  nation."  The 
words  of  Lincoln  have  done  more  in  the  last  six  years  to 
mould  and  fashion  the  American  character  than  those  of  any 
other  man,  and  their  influence  has  been  all  for  good;  for  truth, 
right,  justice,  and  liberty.  Great  as  has  been  Lincoln's  ser- 
vices to  the  people,  as  their  President,  I  think  his  influence 
derived  from  his  words  and  his  example  in  moulding  the 
future  National  character,  in  favor  of  justice,  right,  liberty, 
truth,  and  real,  sincere,  unostentatious  reverence  for  God,  is 
scarcely  less  important.  The  Republic  of  the  future,  the 
matured  National  character,  will  be  more  influenced  by 
Abraham  Lincoln,  than  by  any  other  man.  This  is  evidence 
of  the  greatness  of  the  man,  intellectually,  and  still  more, 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  679 

morally.  In  this  power  of  impressing  himself  upon  the 
people,  he  contrasts  with  many  other  distinguished  men  in 
our  history. 

A  few  quotations  from  Webster  live  in  the  every  day 
language  of  the  people.  Little  of  Clay  survives ;  not  much 
of  Calhoun,  and  who  can  quote,  off  hand,  two  sentences  from 
Douglas  ?  But  you  hear  Lincoln's  words,  not  only  in  every 
cabin  and  caucus,  but  at  every  school  house,  high  school  and 
college,  and  by  every  farmer,  as  he  tells  you  story  after  story 
of  Lincoln's,  and  all  to  the  point,  hitting  the  nail  on  the 
head  every  time,  and  driving  home  the  argument.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  not  a  scholar,  but  where  is  there  a  speech  more 
exhaustive  in  argument  than  his  Cooper  Institute  speech  ? 
"Where  anything  more  full  of  pathos  than  his  speech  to  his  neigh- 
bors at  Springfield,  when  he  bade  them  farewell,  on  starting 
for  the  Capital  ?  Where  anything  more  eloquent  than  his 
appeal  for  Peace  and  Union,  in  his  first  Inaugural  Address, 
or  than  his  defence  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
the  Douglas  debates  ?  Where  is  the  equal  of  his  speech  at 
Gettysburg  ?  Where  is  a  more  conclusive  argument  than  in 
his  letter  to  the  Albany  meeting,  on  arrests?  What  is 
better  than  his  letter  to  the  Illinois  State  Convention ;  and 
that  to  Hodges  of  Kentucky,  in  explanation  of  his  anti- 
slavery  policy  ?  Where  is  there  any  thing  equal  in  simple 
grandeur  of  thought,  and  sentiment,  to  his  last  Inaugural  ? 

From  all  of  these,  and  many  others,  from  his  every  day 
talks,  are  extracts  on  the  tongues  of  the  people,  as  familiar, 
and  nearly  as  much  reverenced,  as  texts  from  the  Bible;  and 
these  are  shaping  the  national  character. 

"Though  dead,  he  yet  speaketh." 

As  a  public  speaker,  if  excellence  is  measured  by  effect, 
he  had  no  superior.  His  manner  was  generally  earnest, 
often  playful ;  sometimes,  but  this  was  rare,  he  was  vehement 
and  impassioned.  There  have  been  a  few  instances,  at  the  bar 
and  on  the  stump,  when,  wrought  up  to  indignation  by  some 
great  personal  wrong,  or  an  aggravated  case  of  fraud,  or 
injustice,  or  when  speaking  of  the  fearful  wrongs  and  injustice 


680       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  slavery,  he  has  spoken  in  a  strain  of  impassioned  vehemence 
which  carried  everything  before  him. 

Generally,  he  addressed  the  reason  and  judgment,  and  the 
effect  was  lasting.  He  spoke  extemporaneously,  but  with 
more  or  less  preparation.  He  had  the  faculty  of  repeating, 
without  reading  it,  a  discourse  or  speech  which  he  had  prepared 
and  written  out.  His  great  speech,  on  opening  the  campaign 
in  Illinois,  June,  1858,  was  carefully  written  out,  but  so  natur- 
ally spoken  that  few  suspected  that  it  was  not  extemporaneous. 
In  his  style,  manner  of  presenting  facts,  and  way  of  putting 
things  to  the  people,  he  was  more  like  Franklin  than  any 
other  American.  His  illustrations,  by  anecdote  and  story, 
were  not  unlike  the  author  of  Poor  Richard. 

Another  source  of  his  great  intellectual  power,  was  the 
thorough,  exhaustive  investigation  he  gave  to  every  subject. 
Take,  for  illustration,  his  Cooper  Institute  speech.  Hundreds 
of  able  and  intelligent  men  have  spoken  on  the  same  subject, 
as  was  treated  by  him  in  that  speech,  yet,  they  will  all  be 
forgotten  and  his  will  survive,  because  his  is  absolutely  per- 
fect— for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed.  Nothing 
can  be  added  to  it. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  however,  required  time,  thoroughly  to  investi- 
gate, before  he  came  to  his  conclusions,  and  the  movements 
of  his  mind  were  not  rapid,  but  when  he  reached  his  conclu- 
sions he  believed  in  them,  and  adhered  to  them  with  great 
firmness  and  tenacity.  When  called  upon  to  decide  quickly 
upon  a  new  subject,  or  a  new  point,  he  often  erred,  and  wes 
ever  ready  to  change  when  satisfied  he  was  wrong. 

It  was  the  union,  in  Mr.  Lincoln,  of  the  capacity  clearly 
to  see  the  truth,  and  an  innate  love  of  truth,  and  justice, 
and  right  in  his  heart,  that  constituted  his  character,  and 
made  him  so  great.  He  never  demoralized  his  intellectual 
or  moral  nature,  either  by  doing  wrong,  that  good  might 
come,  or  by  advocating  error,  because  it  was  popular. 
Although,  as  a  statesman,  eminently  practical,  and  looking 
to  the  possible  good  of  to-day,  he  ever  kept  in  mind  the 
absolute  truth,  and  absolute  right  towards  which  he  always 
aimed. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  681 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  an  unselfish  man.  He  never  sought  his 
own  advancement  at  the  expense  of  others.  He  was  a  just 
man.  He  never  tried  to  pull  others  down,  that  he  might 
rise.  He  disarmed  rivalry  and  envy  by  his  rare  generosity. 
He  was  eminently  a  tender-hearted,  kind  and  humane  man. 
These  traits  were  illustrated  all  through  his  life.  He  loved 
to  pardon ;  he  was  averse  to  punish.  It  was  difficult  for 
him  to  deny  the  request  of  a  child,  a  woman,  or  of  any  who 
were  weak  and  suffering.  Pages  of  incidents  might  be 
quoted,  showing  his  ever  thoughtful  kindness,  gratitude, 
and  appreciation  of  the  soldiers.  The  following  letter  is 
selected  from  many  on  this  subject : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  November  21,  1864. 

"  DEAR  MADAM  :  I  have  been  shown  in  the  files  of  the  War  De- 
partment a  statement  of  the  Adjutant  General  of  Massachusetts,  that 
you  are  the  mother  of  five  sons  who  have  died  gloriously  on  the  field 
of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and  fruitless  must  be  any  words  of  mine 
which  should  attempt  to  beguile  you  from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so  over- 
whelming. But  I  cannot  refrain  from  tendering  to  you  the  consolation 
that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks  of  the  Republic  they  died  to  save.  I 
pray  that  our 'Heavenly  Father  may  assuage  the  anguish  of  your  be- 
reavement, and  leave  you  only  the  cherished  memory  of  the  loved  and 
lost,  and  the  solemn  pride  that  must  be  yours  to  have  laid  so  costly  a 
sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 

"  Yours,  very  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  To  Mrs.  BIXBY,  Boston,  Massachusetts." 

One  summer's  day,  in  walking  along  the  shaded  path 
which  leads  from  the  White  House  to  the  War  Department, 
I  saw  the  tall  form  of  the  President  seated  on  the  grass 
under  a  tree,  with  a  wounded  soldier  sitting  by  his  side.  He 
had  a  bundle  of  papers  in  his  hand.  The  soldier  had  met 
him  in  the  path,  and  recognizing  him,  had  asked  his  aid. 
Mr.  Lincoln  sat  down  upon  the  grass,  investigated  the  case, 
and  sent  the  soldier  away  rejoicing. 

His  charity,  in  the  best  sense  of  that  word,  was  pervading. 
When  others  railed,  he  railed  not  again.  No  bitter  words, 
no  denunciation  can  be  found  in  his  writings  or  speeches. 


682       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Literally  in  his  heart  there  was  "  malice  towards  none,  and 
charity  for  all." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  by  nature  a  gentleman.  No  man  can 
point,  in  all  his  life  time,  to  anything  mean,  small,  tricky, 
dishonest,  or  false  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  ever  open, 
manly,  just,  sincere,  and  trua  That  characteristic  attributed 
to  him  by  Mr.  Holland,  in  his  most  excellent  biography,  of 
coarse  story  telling,  and  which  he  deems  it  necessary  to  pal- 
liate and  apologise  for,  did  not  exist.  I  assert,  that  my  in- 
tercourse with  him  was  constant  for  many  years  before  he 
went  to  Washington,  and  there  I  saw  him  daily,  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  Presidency,  and  although  his  stories  and 
anecdotes  were  racy,  witty,  and  pointed,  beyond  all  compari- 
son with  others,  yet  I  never  heard  one  of  a  character  to  need 
palliation  or  excuse.  * 

It  may  interest  the  people  who  did  not  visit  "Washing- 
ton during  his  Presidency,  to  know  in  what  sort  of  a  room 
Mr.  Lincoln  lived,  and  transacted  business  during  his  admin- 
istration. His  reception  room  was  on  the  second  floor,  on 
the  south  side  of  the  White  House,  and  the  second  apart- 
ment from  the  southeast  corner.  The  corner  room  was  oc- 
cupied by  Mr.  Mcolay,  his  private  secretary ;  next  to  this 
was  the  President's  reception  room.  It  was  a  room  perhaps 
thirty  by  twenty  feet.  In  the  middle,  on  the  west  side,  was  a 
large  marble  fire  place,  with  old-fashioned  brass  andirons, 
and  a  large,  high,  brass  fender.  The  windows  looked  to  the 
south,  upon  the  lawn  and  shrubbery  on  the  south  front  of 
the  White  House,  taking  in  the  unfinished  Washington 

•Mr.  Carpenter,  in  his  "Six  months  at  the  White  House,"  alluding  to  this  mat- 
ter, says :  "  It  is  but  simple  justice  to  his  memory  that  I  should  state,  that  during 
the  entire  period  of  my  stay  in  Washington,  after  witnessing  his  intercourse  with 
nearly  all  classes  of  men,  embracing  governors,  senators,  members  of  Congress, 
officers  of  the  army,  and  intimate  friends,  I  cannot  recollect  to  have  heard  him 
relate  a  circumstance  to  any  one  of  them,  which  would  .have  been  out  of  place  ut- 
tered in  a  ladies'  drawing-room.  And  this  testimony  is  not  unsupported  by  that 
of  others,  well  entitled  to  consideration.  Dr.  Stone,  his  family  physician,  came  in 
one  day  to  see  my  studies.  Sitting  in  front  of  that  of  the  President^wlth  whom 
he  did  not  sympathise  politically— he  remarked,  with  much  feeling,  '  It  is  the  pro- 
vince of  a  physician  to  probe  deeply  the  interior  lives  of  men ;  and  I  affirm  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  is  the  purest  hearted  man  with  whom  I  ever  came  in  contact.'  Secre- 
tary Seward,  who  of  the  Cabinet  officers  was  probably  most  intimate  with  the 
President,  expressed  the  same  sentiment  in  still  stronger  language.  He  once  said 
to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bellows :  '  Mr.  Lincoln  is  the  best  man  I  ever  knew!'  " 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  683 

Monument,  the  Potomac,  Alexandria,  and  down  the  beauti- 
ful river  towards  Mount  Vernon.  Across  the  Potomac  was 
Arlington  Heights.  The  view  from  these  windows  was 
altogether  very  beautiful. 

The  furniture  of  this  room  consisted  of  a  long  oak  table, 
covered  with  cloth,  and  oak  chairs.  This  table  stood  in  the 
centre  of  the  room,  and  was  the  table  around  which  the 
Cabinet  sat,  at  Cabinet  meetings,  and  is  faithfully  painted  in 
Carpenter's  picture  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  At 
the  end  of  the  table  near  the  window  was  a  large  writing 
table,  and  desk,  with  pigeon  holes,  for  papers  such  as  are 
common  in  lawyers'  officers.  In  front  of  this,  in  a  large 
arm  chair,  Mr.  Lincoln  usually  sat.  Behind  his  chair,  and 
against  the  west  wall  of  the  room,  was  another  writing  desk 
high  enough  to  write  upon  when  standing,  and  upon  the  top 
of  this  were  a  few  books,  consisting  generally  of  the  Statutes 
of  the  United  States,  a  Bible,  a  copy  of  Shakespeare,  and 
"Whiting's  War  Powers.  There  was  a  sort  of  bureau,  with 
wooden  doors,  with  pigeon  holes  for  papers,  standing  be- 
tween the  windows.  Here  the  President  kept  such  papers 
as  he  wished  readily  to  refer  to.  There  were  two  plain 
sofas  in  the  room.  Generally  two  or  three  map  frames,  from 
which  hung  military  maps,  on  which  the  movements  of  the 
armies  were  continually  traced  and  followed.  The  only  pic- 
ture in  the  room  was  an  old  engraving  of  Jackson,  which 
hung  over  the  fire-place ;  late  in  his  administration  was 
added  a  fine  photograph  of  John  Bright.  Two  doors  opened 
into  this  room,  one  from  Mr.  Mcolay's,  the  secretary,  and 
the  other  from  the  great  hall  where  the  crowd  usually 
waited.  A  bell  cord  hung  within  reach  of  his  hand,  while 
he  sat  at  his  desk.  There  was  an  ante-room  adjoining  this, 
plainly  furnished,  but  the  crowd  usually  pressed  to  the  hall, 
from  which  an  entrance  might  be  directly  had  to  the  Presi- 
dent's room.  A  messenger  stood  at  the  door,  and  took  in 
the  cards  and  names  of  visitors. 

Here,  in  this  room,  more  plainly  furnished  than  many  law 
and  business  offices,  plainer  than  the  offices  of  the  heads  of 
Bureaus  in  the  Executive  Departments,  Mr.  Lincoln  spent 
the  days  of  his  Presidency.  Here  he  received  everybody, 


684  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

from  the  Lieutenant  General  and  Chief  Justice,  down  to  the 
private  soldier,  and  humblest  citizen.  Custom  had  estab- 
lished certain  rules  of  precedence,  fixing  the  order  in  which 
officials  should  be  received.  The  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
and  the  high  officers  of  the  army,  were,  of  course,  received 
always  promptly.  Senators  and  members  of  Congress,  who 
are  usually  charged  with  the  presentation  of  all  petitions  and 
recommendations  for  appointments,  and  who  are  expected  to 
right  every  wrong,  and  correct  every  evil  each  one  of  their 
respective  constituents  may  be  suffering,  or  imagine  himself 
to  be  suffering,  have  an  immense  amount  of  business  with 
the  Executive.  I  have  often  seen  as  many  as  ten  or  fifteen 
Senators,  and  twenty  or  thirty  members  of  the  House,  in  the 
hall,  waiting  their  turn  to  see  the  President.  They  would 
go  to  the  ante-room,  or  up  to  the  hall,  in  front  of  the  recep- 
tion room,  and  await  their  turns.  First,  the  Vice  President, 
if  present,  and  then  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  then 
Senators  and  members  of  the  House  in  the  order  of  their 
arrival,  and  the  presentation  of  their  cards.  Frequently 
Senators  and  members  would  go  to  the  White  House  as 
early  as  eight  or  nine  in  the  morning  to  secure  precedence, 
and  an  early  interview.  While  they  waited,  the  loud,  ring- 
ing laugh  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  which  he  was  sure  to  be  joined 
by  all  inside,  but  which  was  rather  provoking  to  those  outside, 
was  often  heard  by  the  waiting  and  impatient  crowd.  Here, 
from  early  morning  to  late  at  night,  Mr.  Lincoln  sat,  listened, 
and  decided ;  patient,  just,  considerate,  hopeful.  All  the 
people  came  to  him  as  to  a  father.  He  was  more  accessible 
than  any  of  the  leading  members  of  his  Cabinet;  much 
more  so  than  Mr.  Seward,  shut  up  in  the  State  Department, 
writing  his  voluminous  dispatches ;  far  more  so  than  Mr. 
Stanton,  indefatigable,  stern,  abrupt,  but  ever  honest  and 
faithful.  Mr.  Lincoln  saw  everybody ;  governors,  senators, 
congressmen,  officers,  ministers,  bankers,  all  classes  of  peo- 
ple ;  all  approached  him  with  confidence,  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest ;  but  this  incessant  labor,  and  fearful  responsi- 
bility, told  upon  his  vigorous  frame.  He  left  Illinois  for  the 
Capital,  with  a  frame  of  iron,  and  nerves  of  steel.  His  old 
friends,  who  knew  him  in  Illinois,  as  a  man  who  .knew  not 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  685 

what  illness  was,  who  knew  him  ever  genial  and  sparkling 
with  fun,  as  the  months  of  the  war  passed  slowly  on,  saw  the 
wrinkles  on  his  forehead  deepened  into  furrows;  and  the  laugh 
of  old  days  became,  sometimes  almost  hollow;  it  did  not 
now  always  come  from  the  heart,  as  in  former  years ;  anxiety, 
responsibility,  care,  thought,  wore  upon  even  his  giant 
frame,  and  his  nerves  of  steel  became  at  times  irritable. 
For  more  than  four  years,  he  had  no  respite,  no  holidays. 
When  others  fled  away  from' the  dust  and  heat  of  the  Capi- 
tal, he  must  stay ;  he  would  not  leave  the  helm,  until  the 
danger  was  past. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  watched  his  care-worn  face  with  the  anxiety 
of  an  affectionate  wife,  and  sometimes  took  him  from  his 
labors  almost  in  spite  of  himself;  she  urged  him  to  ride, 
and  to  go  to  the  theatre,  to  divert  his  mind  from  his 
engrossing  cares. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  try  to  appreciate  the  greatness  of  his 
work  and  his  services.  He  was  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
during  the  war,  of  the  largest  army  and  navy  in  the  world ; 
and  this  army  and  navy  was  created  during  his  administra- 
tion, and  its  officers  were  sought  out  and  appointed  by  him. 
The  operations  of  the  treasury  were  vast  beyond  all  previous 
conceptions  of  the  ability  of  the  country  to  sustain ;  and  yet 
when  he  entered  upon  the  Presidency,  he  found  an  empty 
treasury,  no  credit,  no  army,  no  navy,  the  officers  all  stran- 
gers, many  deserting,  more  in  sympathy  with  the  rebels,  Con- 
gress divided,  and  public  sentiment  unformed.  The  party 
which  elected  him  was  in  a  minority.  The  old  Democratic 
party,  which  had  ruled  the  country  for  half  a  centnry,  hostile  to 
him,  and  by  long  political  association,  in  sympathy  with  the 
insurgent  States.  His  own  party,  new,  made  up  of  discord- 
ant elements  and  not  yet  consolidated,  unaccustomed  to  rule, 
and  neither  his  party  nor  himself  possessing  any  prestige.  He 
entered  the  White  House,  the  object  of  personal  prejudice  to  a 
majority  of  the  people,  and  of  contempt  to  a  powerful  minority. 
And  yet  I  am  satisfied  from  the  statement  of  the  conversation 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  with  Mr.  Bateman,  quoted  hereafter,  and  from 
various  other  reasons,  that  he  himself  more  fully  appreciated 
the  terrible  conflict  before  him  than  any  man  in  the  N"ation,and 


686       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

that  even  then  he  hoped  and  expected  to  be  the  Liberator  of 
the  slaves.  He  did  not  yet  clearly  perceive  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  to  be  done,  but  he  believed  it  would  be  done, 
and  that  God  would  guide  him. 

In  four  years,  this  man  crushed  the  most  stupendous  rebel- 
lion, supported  by  armies  more  vast,  and  resources  greater 
than  ever  before  undertook  to  overthrow  any  Government. 
He  held  together  against  warring  factions,  his  own  great 
party ;  and  strengthened  it  by  securing  the  confidence,  and 
bringing  to  his  aid  a  large  proportion  of  all  other  parties. 
He  was  reflected  almost  by  acclamation,  and  he  led  the  peo- 
ple, step  by  step,  up  to  emancipation,  and  saw  his  work 
crowned  by  the  Constitutional  amendment,  eradicating 
slavery  forever  from  the  Republic.  Did  this  man  lack  firmness  ? 
Study  the  boldness  of  the  act  'of  emancipation.  See  with 
what  fidelity  he  stood  by  his  proclamation. 

In  his  Message  of  1863,  he  said,  "  I  will  never  retract  the 
proclamation,  nor  return  to  slavery  any  person  made  free  by 
it."  In  1864,  he  said,  "if  it  should  ever  be  made  a  duty  of 
the  Executive  to  return  to  slavery  any  person  made  free  by 
the  proclamation  or  the  acts  of  Congress,  some  other  person, 
not  I,  must  execute  the  law.'/ 

When  hints  of  peace  were  suggested,  as  obtainable  by 
giving  over  the  negro  race  again  to  bondage,  he  repelled  it 
with  indignation.  When  the  rebel  Vice  President  Stephens, 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  tempted  him  to  give  up  the  freedmen, 
and  seek  the  glory  of  a  foreign  war,  in  which  the  Union  and 
Confederate  soldiers  might  join,  neither  party  sacrificing  its 
honor,  he  was  inflexible ;  he  would  die,  sooner  than  break  the 
faith  pledged  to  the  negro. 

Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  enter  with  reluctance  upon  the  plan 
of  emancipation,  and  in  this  statement  I  am  corroborated  by 
Lovejoy,  and  Sumner,  and  many  others.  If  he  did  not  act 
more  promptly,  it  was  because  he  knew  he  must  not  go 
faster  than  the  people.  Men  have  questioned  the  firmness, 
boldness,  and  will  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  had  no  vanity  in  the 
exhibition  of  power,  but  he  quietly  acted,  when  he  felt  it  his 
duty  so  to  do,  with  a  boldness  and  firmness  never  surpassed. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  687 

Wliat  bolder  act  than  the  surrender  of  Mason  and  Slidell, 
against  the  resolution  of  Congress,  and  almost  universal 
popular  clamor,  without,  consulting  the  Senate,  or  taking 
advice  from  his  Cabinet?  The  removal  of  McClellan,  and 
Butler;  the  modification  of  the  orders  of  Fremont,  and 
Hunter,  were  acts  of  a  bold,  decided  character.  Mr.  Lincoln 
acted  for  himself,  taking  personally  the  responsibility  of 
deciding  the  great  questions  of  his  administration. 

He  was  the  most  democratic  of  all  the  Presidents.  Per- 
sonally, he  was  homely,  plain,  without  pretension,  and  with- 
out ostentation.  He  believed  in  the  people,  and  had  faith  in 
their  good  impulses.  He  ever  addressed  himself  to  their 
reason,  and  not  to  their  prejudices.  His  language  was  simple, 
sometimes  quaint,  never  sacrificing  expression  to  elegance. 
When  he  spoke  to  the  people,  it  was  as  though  he  said  to 
them,  "  come,  let  us  reason  together."  There  cannot  be  found 
in  all  his  speeches,  or  writings,  a  single  vulgar  expression, 
nor  an  appeal  to  any  low  sentiment  or  prejudice.  He  had 
nothing  of  the  demagogue.  He  never  himself  alluded  to  his 
humble  origin  except  to  express  regret  for  the  deficiencies  of 
his  education.  He  always  treated  the  people  in  such  a  way, 
that  they  knew  that  he  respected  them,  believed  them  honest, 
capable  of  judging  correctly  and  disposed  to  do  right. 

The  following  incident,  related  by  Mr.  Deming,  Member 
of  Congress  from  Connecticut,  illustrates  the  religion  which 
governed  his  daily  life  :  On  one  occasion,  Mr.  Lincoln  said, 
"  I  have  never  united  myself  to  any  church,  because  I  found 
difficulty  in  giving  my  assent,  without  mental  reservation,  to 
the  long  and  complicated  statements  of  Christian  doctrine, 
which  characterize  their  articles  of  belief  and  confessions  of 
faith.  "When  any  church  will  inscribe  over  its  altar,  as  its  sole 
qualification  for  membership,  the  Saviour's  condensed  state- 
ment of  the  substance  of  both  law  and  gospel :  '  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,'  that 
church  shall  I  join  with  all  my  heart  and  soul."* 

One  day,  when  one  of  his  friends  was  denouncing  his 
political  enemies,  "  Hold  on,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  Remember 

*  See  Deming's  Eulogy  on  Lincoln,  p.  42. 


688  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

what  St.  Paul  says,  'and  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity, 
these  three ;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  charity.' " 

From  the  day  of  his  leaving  Springfield  to  assume  the 
duties  of  the  Presidency,  when  he  so  impressively  asked  his 
friends  and  neighbors  to  invoke  for  him  the  guidance  and 
wisdom  of  God,  to  the  evening  of  his  death,  he  seemed  ever 
to  live  and  act  in  the  consciousness  of  his  responsibility  to 
that  God,  and  with  the  trusting  faith  of  a  child,  he  leaned  con- 
fidingly upon  His  Almighty  Arm.  He  was  visited  during 
his  administration  by  many  Christian  delegations,  represent- 
ing the  various  religious  denominations  of  the  Republic,  and 
it  is  known  that  he  was  relieved  and  comforted  in  his  great 
work  by  the  knowledge  that  the  Christian  world  were  pray- 
ing for  his  success.  Some  one  said  to  him, one  day,  "no  man 
was  ever  so  remembered  in  the  prayers  of  the  people,  especially 
those  who  pray  '  not  to  be  heard  of  men,'  as  you  are." 
He  replied,  "  I  have  been  a  good  deal  helped  by  just  that 
thought." 

The  support  which  Mr.  Lincoln  received  during  his  ad- 
ministration from  the  religious  organizations,  and  the  sym- 
pathy and  confidence  between  the  great  body  of  Christians 
and  the  President,  was  a  source  of  immense  strength  and 
power  to  him. 

I  know  of  nothing  revealing  more  of  the  true  character  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  his  conscientiousness,  his  views  of  the  slavery 
question,  his  sagacity  and  his  full  appreciation  of  the  awful 
trial  through  which  the  country  and  he  had  to  pass,  than  the 
following  incident  stated  by  Mr.  Bateman,  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction  for  Illinois. 

On  one  occasion,  in  the  Autumn  of  1860,  after  conversing 
with  Mr.  Bateman  at  some  length,  on  the,  to  him,  strange 
conduct  of  Christian  men  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
supporting  slavery,  he  said : 

"'I  know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  He  hates  injustice  and  slavery.  I 
see  the  storm  coming,  and  I  know  that  His  hand  is  in  it.  If  He  has  a 
place  and  work  for  me — and  I  think  He  has — I  believe  I  am  ready. 
I  am  nothing,  but  Truth  is  everything.  I  know  I  am  right,  because  I 
know  that  Liberty  is  right,  for  Christ  teaches  it,  and  Christ  is  God.  I 


PERSONAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  689 

hare  told  them  that  a  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand  ;  and 
Christ  and  Reason  say  the  same ;  and  they  will  find  it  so. 

"  '  Douglas  don't  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  up  or  down,  but  God 
cares,  and  humanity  cares,  and  I  care ;  and  with  God's  help  I  shall  not 
fail.  I  may  not  see  the  end ;  but  it  will  come,  and  I  shall  be  vindi- 
cated ;  and  these  men  will  find  that  they  have  not  read  their  Bibles 
right.' 

"  Much  of  this  was  uttered  as  if  he  was  speaking  to  himself,  and 
with  a  sad,  earnest  solemnity  of  manner  impossible  to  be  described. 
After  a  pause,  he  resumed :  '  Does  n't  it  appear  strange  that  men  can 
ignore  the  moral  aspect  of  this  contest  ?  A  revelation  could  not  make 
it  plainer  to  me  that  slavery  or  the  Government  must  be  destroyed.  The 
future  would  be  something  awful,  as  I  look  at  it,  but  for  this  rock  on 
which  I  stand,  (alluding  to  the  Testament  which  he  still  held  in  hia 
hand,)  especially  with  the  knowledge  of  how  these  ministers  are  going 
to  vote.  It  seems  as  if  God  had  borne  with  this  thing  (slavery)  until 
the  very  teachers  of  religion  had  come  to  defend  it  from  the  Bible,  and 
to  claim  for  it  a  divine  character  and  sanction ;  and  now  the  cup  of 
iniquity  is  full,  and  the  vials  of  wrath  will  be  poured  out/  After  this 
the  conversation  was  continued  for  a  long  time.  Everything  he  said 
was  of  a  peculiarly  deep,  tender  and  religious  tone,  and  all  was  tinged 
with  a  touching  melancholy.  He  repeatedly  referred  to  his  conviction 
that  the  day  of  wrath  was  at  hand,  and  that  he  was  to  be  an  actor  in 
the  terrible  struggle  which  would  issue  in  the  overthrow  of  slavery, 
though  he  might  not  live  to  see  the  end." 

The  place  Mr.  Lincoln  will  occupy  in  history,  will  be 
higher  than  any  which  he  held  while  living.  His  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation  is  the  most  important  historical  event  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Its  influence  will  not  be  limited  by 
time,  nor  bounded  by  locality.  It  will  ever  be  treated  by 
the  historian  as  one  of  the  great  land-marks  of  human 
progress. 

He  has  been  compared  and  contrasted  with  three  great  per- 
sonages in  history,  who  were  assassinated, — with  Caesar,  with 
William  of  Orange,  and  with  Henry  the  IV.  of  France.  He 
was  a  nobler  type  of  man  than  either,  as  he  was  the  product 
of  a  higher  and  more  Christian  civilization. 

The  two  men,  whose  preeminence  in  American  history 
will  not  hereafter  be  questioned,  are  Washington  and  Lincoln. 
Lincoln  was  as  pure  as  Washington,  as  modest,  as  just,  as 
44 


690      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

patriotic ;  less  passionate  by  nature,  more  of  a  democrat, 
with  more  faith  in  the  people,  and  more  hopeful  of  the 
future.  "Washington  will  be  the  representative  man  of  the 
era  of  Independence ;  and  Lincoln,  that  of  universal  liberty. 
The  cardinal  ideas  of  Lincoln's  policy,  were .  national 
Unity  and  Liberty.  That  the  portion  of  the  earth  called 
the  United  States  should  continue  the  home  of  one  national 
family,  recognizing  the  brotherhood  of  man,  was  his  grand 
aim.  This  great  family,  with  a  continent  for  a  homestead, 
universal  liberty,  restrained  and  guided  by  intelligence  and 
Christianity,  was  his  sublime  ideal  of  the  future.  For  this 
he  lived,  and  for  this  he  died. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  WAR. 

THE  WAR  POWERS  OP  THE  GOVERNMENT — THE  RIGHT  TO  TREAT 
THE  CONFEDERATES  AS  PUBLIC  ENEMIES — THE  HABEAS  CORPUS, 
WHO  MAY  SUSPEND  IT — THE  KlGHT  TO  EMANCIPATE  SLAVES  IN 
TIME  OP  WAR — To  ESTALISH  MILITARY  GOVERNMENTS  OVER 
EEBELLIOUS  AND  BELLIGERENT  TERRITORY — THE  LEGAL  STATUS 
OF  KEBELLIOUS  STATES — JUDICIAL  DECISIONS — MAY  CONDITIONS 
BE  IMPOSED  UPON  KEBELLIOUS  STATES,  BEFORE  BEING  PERMITTED 
TO  PARTICIPATE  IN  THE  GOVERNMENT — AND  BY  WHAT  POWER — 
WHO  MUST  DETERMINE  WHETHER  A  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IB 
REPUBLICAN  IN  FORM — WHAT  HAS  BEEN  SETTLED  BY  THE  WAR. 

I  PROPOSE  in  this,  the  concluding  chapter,  to  give  a 
history  of  the  Constitution  during  the  war.  During  the 
rebellion,  a  great  party  condensed  into  a  single,  short  sen- 
tence its  creed  and  its  policy  :  "  The  Union  as  it  was,  and  the 
Constitution  as  it  is."  To  this  it  was  replied,  the  America  of 
the  past  is  gone  forever;  a  new  nation  has  been  born 
through  the  agony  of  the  great  civil  war.  The  theories  and 
the  institution  which  produced  that  war,  have  been  over- 
thrown, and  their  roots  are  being  eradicated.  Changes  in  the 
construction  of  the  Constitution ;  in  the  development  of  its 
long  dormant  and  scarcely  suspected  war  powers,  and  amend- 
ments to  the  Constitution  itself,  have  produced  changes 
which  almost  amount  to  a  revolution.  The  attention  of  the 
people  has  been  so  absorbed  by  the  stirring  scenes  of  the  con- 
flict, by  the  hopes  which  elated,  and  the  fears  which  depressed 
them,  that  they  have  scarcely  noticed,  in  the  presence  of 
these  more  stirring  events,  this  revolution.  A  revolution  as 
important  in  its  results  as  the  defeat  of  hostile  armies,  or  the 
overthrow  of  armed  rebellion. 

Great  civil  wars  have  almost  always  produced  great  changes. 

691 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

When  they  have  secured  liberty  and  justice ;  when  they 
have  exalted  the  sentiment  of  national  honor;  and  when,  in 
any  large  degree,  they  have  promoted  the  public  welfare, 
then  the  results  which  they  have  produced,  are  more  import- 
ant, more  paramount,  more  permanent,  and  more  worthy 
of  admiration  than  the  most  renowned  of  victories.  War,  in 
itself,  is  but  a  record  of  suffering,  heightened  often,  it  is  true, 
by  the  display  of  the  highest  virtue  and  capacity,  but  chiefly 
interesting  from  its  results ;  and  as  the  means  to  accomplish 
great  ends.  The  most  valuable  lessons  in  history,  are 
derived,  not  from  mere  military  operations,  but  from  the 
conflict  of  the  great  ideas  and  principles  which  underlie  all 
great  wars.  In  the  great  and  sad  tragedy  of  our  civil  war, 
crowded,  as  it  has  been,  with  scenes  of  the  most  intense 
interest,  nothing  is  more  important  than  the  great  political 
revolution  which  it  has  accomplished.  The  two  great  ideas 
which  the  Union  armies  represented,  were  Nationality  and 
Liberty.  At  the  South,  it  was  Slavery  and  the  State.  Na- 
tional Unity  and  Universal  Freedom  have  triumphed  ;  and, 
with  their  triumph,  there  has  been  a  great  change  of  opinion 
in  respect  to  the  war  powers  of  the  Government  under  the 
Constitution,  including  the  powers  of  the  President  and 
Congress,  on  the  subject  of  rebellion,  slavery,  treason,  and 
war.  The  history  of  these  changes,  the  Constitutional  history 
of  the  war,  is  worthy  of  the  profound  study  of  all  enlightened 
statesmen  and  thinkers,  of  all  who  trust  in  and  admire,  or 
who  fear  the  progress  of  popular  government. 

It  is,  doubtless,  too  early  to  write  this  part  of  the  history 
of  the  great  conflict.  The  atmosphere  is  not  yet  clear  of 
the  clouds  of  the  contest,  and  the  billows  of  contending 
opinion  have  not  yet  entirely  subsided.  I  propose  to  note 
some  of  the  changes,  and  thereby  aid  those  who,  in  cooler 
and  calmer  days,  shall  make  up  the  record. 

Let  us  go  back,  and  see  what  was  the  condition  of  public 
opinion,  which  in  our  country  makes  the  law,  preceding  the 
war,  on  the  subjects  suggested,  and  compare  it  with  the 
present,  and  the  great  changes  will  be  obvious  and  striking. 
The  best  evidence  of  public  opinion  upon  the  construction 
of  the  Constitution  in  regard  to  slavery,  State  rights,  the 


PUBLIC  OPINION  BEFORE  THE  WAK.  693 

National  Government,  and  the  war  powers  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, is  to  be  found  in  the  platforms  of  the  great  political 
parties,  in  the  messages  and  action  of  the  Executive,  and  the 
action  of  the  several  departments  of  the  Government,  the 
speeches  of  leading  statesmen,  and  resolutions  of  public 
meetings. 

The  platform  of  the  Republican  party,  on  which  President 
Lincoln  was  elected,  contained  this  resolution : 

"  Resoloed,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the  States ; 
and  especially  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and  control  its  own  do- 
mestic institutions  according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  essential 
to  the  "balance  of  power  on  which  the*  perfection  and  endurance  of  our 
political  fabric  depend,  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion  by  armed 
force  of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext, 
as  among  the  gravest  crimes." 

Democratic  resolutions,  beginning  in  1840,  and  continuing 
to  1860,  were  repetitions  of  the  following  : 

"  Resolved,  That  Congress  has  no  power  under  the  Constitution  to 
interfere  with  op  control  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  several 
States,"  etc. 

The  ancient  and  long  established  doctrine  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  relation  to  slavery  was  expressed  in  the  Cincin- 
nati Platform  in  1856,  as  follows :  "  That  Congress  has  no 
power  under  the  Constitution  to  interfere  with,  or  control  the  domestic 
institutions  of  the  several  States,  and  that  all  such  States  are  the 
sole  and  proper  judges  of  everything  appertaining  to  their 
affairs  not  prohibited  by  the  Constitution." 

The  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States,  Judge  Black, 
in  an  official  opinion  dated  November  20,  1860,  (being  about 
two  weeks  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  and  presented  to  the 
Cabinet  of  President  Buchanan,)  declares  in  substance,  that 
war  made  by  Congress  upon  a  seceding  State  would  dissolve 
the  Union,  and  thus  legalize  secession.  His  words  are : 

"  If  it  be  true  that  war  cannot  be  declared,  nor  a  system  of  general 
hostilities  carried  on  by  the  central  Government  against  a  State,  (as  he 


694  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

had  previously  attempted  to  show,)  then  it  seems  to  follow  that  an 
attempt  to  do  so  would  be  ipso  facto  a/n  expulsion  of  such  State  from  the 
Union;  being  treated  as  an  alien  and  an  enemy,  she  would  be  compelled 
to  act  accordingly.  And  if  Congress  shall  break  up  the  present  Union 
by  unconstitutionally  putting  strife  and  enmity  between  different  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  instead  of  the  domestic  tranquility  which  the 
Constitution  was  meant  to  insure,  will  not  all  the  States  be  absolved  from 
their  Federal  obligations  f  Is  any  portion  of  the  people  bound  to 
contribute  their  money  or  their  blood  to  carry  on  a  contest  like  that  ?  " 

President  Buchanan,  in  his  Message  of  December  3,  1860, 
says: 

"  The  question  fairly  stated  is :  Has  the  Constitution  delegated  to 
Congress  the  right  to  coerce  a  State  into  submission,  which  is  attempt- 
ing to  withdraw,  or  has  actually  withdrawn  from  the  Confederacy  ?  If 
answered  in  the  affirmative  it  must  be  upon  the  principle  that  power 
has  been  conferred  upon  Congress  to  declare  or  to  make  war  upon  a 
State.  After  much  serious  reflection,  I  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  no  such  power  has  been  delegated  to  Congress  or  to  any  other 
department  of  the  Federal  Government.  *  *  * 

Without  descending  to  particulars,  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the 
power  to  make  war  against  a  State  is  at  variance  with  the  whole  spirit 
of  the  Constitution.  *  *  *  Congress  possesses  many 

means  of  preserving  it,  (the  Union,)  by  conciliation,  but  the  sword  was 
not  placed  in  their  hands  to  preserve  it  by  force." 

It  was  resolved  by  Congress  in  1861,  by  a  nearly  unani- 
mous vote ;  "  That  neither  the  Federal  Government  nor  the 
people,  or  the  Governments  of  the  non-slaveholding  States 
have  the  right  to  legislate  upon  or  interfere  with  slavery  in 
any  of  the  slaveholding  States  of  the  Union." 

On  the  14th  of  January,  1861,  Mr.  Corwin,  Chairman  of 
a  Select  Committee  of  thirty-three,  reported  a  series  of  prop- 
ositions to  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  first  of 
which  was  adopted  in  the  form  of  a  Joint  Resolution  by  a 
vote  of  137  to  53,  in  the  House,  and  was  subsequently 
passed  by  the  Senate,  contained  the  following : 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Government  to  enforce 
the  Federal  laws,  protect  the  Federal  property  and  preserve  the  Union 
of  these  States. 


PUBLIC  OPINION  BEFORE  THE  WAK.  695 

"  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  slavery  as  now  existing  in  fifteen  of 
the  United  States  by  the  usages  and  laws  of  those  States,  and  we  recog- 
nize no  authority  legally  or  otherwise,  outside  of  a  State  where  it  so 
exists,  to  interfere  with  slaves  or  slavery  in  such  States,  in  disregard  of 
the  rights  of  their  owners  or  the  peace  of  society." 

The  following  resolutions  passed  the  United  States  House 
of  Representatives,  February  llth,  1861,  116  yeas,  4  nays: 

"  Resolved,  That  neither  the  Federal  Government  nor  the  people, 
nor  Governments  of  the  non-slaveholding  States  have  a  purpose  or  a 
Constitutional  right  to  legislate  upon  or  interfere  with  slavery  in  any  of 
the  States  of  the  Union. 

"  Resolved,  That  those  persons  in  the  North  who  do  not  subscribe  to 
the  foregoing  propositions  are  too  insignificant  in  numbers  and  influence 
to  excite  the  serious  attention  or  alarm  of  -any  portion  of  the  people  of 
the  Republic ;  and  that  the  increase  of  their  numbers  and  influence 
does  not  keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  the  aggregate  population  of  the 
Union." 

On  the  28th  of  February,  1861,  a  Joint  Resolution  was 
passed,  133  to  65,  providing  for  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution,  as  follows : 

"  ART.  12.  No  amendment  shall  be  made  to  the  Constitution  which 
shall  authorize  or  give  to  Congress  the  power  to  abolish  or  to  interfere 
within  any  State,  with  the  domestic  institutions  thereof,  including  that 
of  persons  held  to  labor  or  service  by  the  laws  of  said  State." 

Abraham  Lincoln,  in  his  Inaugural  Address,  March  4, 1861, 
says :  "  I  have  no  purpose  directly  or  indirectly  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists. 
I  believe  Ihave  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclination 
to  do  so." 

President  Lincoln  again  says  in  his  Inaugural  Address  of 
March  4th,  1861 :  "I  understand  a  proposed  amendment  to 
the  Constitution,  which  amendment,  however,  I  have  not 
seen,  has  passed  Congress,  to  the  effect  that  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment shall  never  interfere  with  the  domestic  institutions  of  the 
States  including  that  of  persons  held  to  service.  To  avoid  mis- 
construction of  what  I  have  said,  I  depart  from  my  purpose 
not  to  speak  of  particular  amendments  so  far  as  to  say  that, 


696      LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

holding  such  a  provision  now  to  be  implied  Constitutional  law,  I 
have  no  objection  to  its  being  made  express  and  irrevocable." 

I  have  already  in  this  volume  detailed  the  action  of  the 
military  leaders  early  in  the  war,  in  regard  to  slavery.  They 
were  very  slow,  as  we  have  seen,  to  assert  belligerent  rights 
against  the  slaveholders.  For  a  time  they  would  not  permit 
any  interference  with  slaves  or  slavery;  and  the  strange, 
almost  incredible  spectacle  was  presented,  of  the  Nation's 
attempting  to  carry  on  war  against  the  slaveholding  Confed- 
eracy, refusing  to  accept  the  loyal  services  of  a  very  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  people  of  the  Confederacy  because 
they  were  black,  and  for  a  time,  many  officers  of  the  Krmy, 
not  only  refused  to  accept  such  service,  but  actually  used  the 
Federal  army  to  return  loyal  men  to  the  rebel  authorities,  to 
be  used  in  strengthening  the  power  of  the  insurgents. 

After  actual  war  had  been  commenced  by  the  insurgents, 
after  the  Confederate  Government  had  been  established,  Mr. 
Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  on  the  10th  of  April,  1861,  thus 
writes  to  Charles  F.  Adams,  our  Minister  to  England :  * 

"  For  these  reasons  he  (the  President)  would  not  be  disposed  to  re- 
ject a  cardinal  dogma  of  theirs  (the  secessionists),  namely :  that  the 
Federal  Government  could  not  reduce  the  seceding  States  to  obedience  by 
conquest,  even  though  lie  were  disposed  to  question  that  proposition. 
But  in  fact  the  President  willingly  adopts  it  as  true.  Only  an  imperial 
or  despotic  Government  could  subjugate  thoroughly  disaffected  and  in- 
surrectionary members  of  the  State.  This  Federal  Republican  system 
is,  of  all  forms  of  Government,  the  very  one  which  is  most  unfitted  for 
such  a  labor.  Happily,  however,  this  is  only  an  imaginary  defect. 
The  system  has  within  itself  adequate,  peaceful,  and  recuperative  forces. 
Firmness  on  the  part  of  the  Government  in  maintaining  and  preserving 
the  public  institutions  and  property,  and  in  executing  the  laws  where 
authority  can  be  exercised  without  waging  war,  combined  with  such 
measures  of  justice,  moderation  and  forbearance  as  will  disarm  reason- 
ing opposition,  will  be  sufficient  to  secure  the  public  safety,  until  re- 
turning reflection,  concurring  with  the  fearful  experience  of  social  evils, 
the  inevitable  fruits  of  faction,  shall  bring  the  recreant  members  cheer- 
fully back  into  the  family,  which,  after  all,  must  prove  their  best  and 

*  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  1861. 


PUBLIC  OPINION  BEFORE  THE  WAR.  697 

happiest,  as  it  undeniably  is,  their  most  natural  home.  The  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  provides  for  that  return,  by  authorizing  Con- 
gress, on  application  to  be  made  by  a  certain  majority  of  States,  to 
assemble  a  National  Convention,  in  which  the  organic  law  can,  if  need- 
ful, be  revised  so  as  to  remove  all  real  obstacles  to  a  reunion  so  suitable 
to  the  habits  of  the  people,  and  so  eminently  conducive  to  the  common 
safety  and  welfare.  Keeping  that  remedy  steadily  in  view,  the  Presi- 
dent, on  one  hand,  will  not  suffer  the  Federal  authority  to  fall  into 
abeyance ;  nor  will  he,  on  the  other,  aggravate  existing  evils  by  attempts 
at  coercion,  which  must  assume  the  form  of  direct  war  against  any  of 
the  revolutionary  States.  If,  while  he  is  pursuing  this  course,  com- 
mended as  it  is  by  prudence  and  by  patriotism,  the  scourge  of  civil 
war,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history,  must  fall  upon  our  country  during 
the  term  of  his  administration,  that  calamity  will  then  have  come, 
through  the  agency,  not  of  the  Government,  but  of  those  who  shall 
have  chosen  to  be  its  armed,  open,  and  irreconcilable  enemies  j  and  he 
will  not  suffer  himself  to  doubt  that,  when  the  value  of  the  imperilled 
Union  shall  be  brought  in  that  fearful  manner  home  to  the  business 
and  bosoms  of  the  American  people,  they  will,  with  an  unanimity  that 
shall  vindicate  their  wisdom  and  their  virtue,  rise  up  and  save  it." 

The  Secretary  of  State  writes  to  Mr.  Adams,  February 
17th,  1862,  as  follows  : 

"  To  proclaim  the  crusade  (against  slavery)  is  unnecessary ;  and  it 
would  even  be  inexpedient,  because  it  would  deprive  us  of  the  needful 
and  legitimate  support  of  the  friends  of  the  Union  who  are  opposed  to 
slavery,  but  who  prefer  union  with  slavery,  to  disunion  without  slavery. 
Does  France  or  does  Grreat  Britain  want  to  see  a  social  revolution  here, 
with  all  its  horrors,  like  the  slave  revolution  in  St.  Domingo  ?  Are 
these  powers  sure  that  the  country,  or  the  world,  is  ripe  for  such  a  rev- 
olution, so  that  it  must  certainly  be  successful  ?  What  if,  in  inau- 
gurating such  a  revolution,  slavery,  protesting  against  ferocity  and 
inhumanity,  should  prove  the  victor  ?  "  * 

*  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note,  that  Mr.  Seward,  earlyHn  1862,  deprecating  emanci- 
pation as  "  a  crusade  "  against  slavery,  asks :  "  Does  France  or  does  Great  Britain 
want  to  see  a  social  revolution  here,  with  all  its  horrors,  like  the  slave  revolution  of 
St.  Domingo."  Emancipation  came,  through  President  Lincoln,  within  less  than 
a  year  from  the  date  of  Mr.  Seward's  letter,  but  to  the  credit  of  the  long-abused 
negro  race,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  it  produced  no  "  horrors,"  no  outrages  upon 
the  part  of  the  freedmen,  upon  their  late  masters.  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  proclaiming 
emancipation,  had  enjoined  "  upon  the  people  so  declared  free,  to  abstain  from 
all  violence  (see  p.  299)  except  in  self-defense."  This  admonition  of  their  benefac- 
tor they  have  scrupulously  observed.  Compare  the  conduct  of  the  two  classes,  the 


698       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Seward  writes  to  Mr.  Adams,  July  5th,  1862 :  * 

"  It  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  a  copy  of  my 'dispatch  260,  has 
been  received  and  read  to  Earl  Russell.  The  subject  it  presents  is  one 
of  momentous  import.  It  seems  as  if  the  extreme  advocates  of  African 
slavery  and  its  most  vehement  opponents  were  acting  in  concert  together 
to  precipitate  a  servile  war — the  former  by  making  the  most  desperate 
attempts  to  overthrow  the  Federal  Union;  the  latter  by  demanding  an 
edict  of  universal  emancipation  as  a  lawful  and  necessary,  if  not,  as 
they  say,  the  only  legitimate  way  of  saving  the  Union." 

Mr.  Seward,  writing  to  Mr.  Adams  on  a  previous  occasion, 
says: 

"  The  rights  of  the  States,  and  the  condition  of  every  human  being  in 
them,  will  remain  precisely  the  same,  whether  the  revolution  shall  succeed 
or  whether  it  shall  fail.  In  one  case  the  States  would  be  federally  con- 
nected with  the  new  Confederacy ;  in  the  other,  they  would,  as  now, 
be  members  of  the  United  States,  but  their  constitutions  and  laws, 
customs,  habits  and  institutions  in  either  case  will  remain  the  same." 

The  People's  Convention,  which  met  in  Fanueil  Hall,  Bos- 
ton, in  October,  1862,  and  which  contained  among  its 
members,  Joel  Parker,  Professor  of  Law  at  Cambridge,  and 
B.  F.  Thomas,  an  ex-judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  passed  the  following  resolutions: 

"  Resolved,  That  we  deeply  regret  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States  at  this  time,  forgetful  of  his  obligations  to  the  whole  country  as 
the  constitutional  head  of  the  Government,  and  yielding  to  unwise  coun- 
sels, should  have  declared  in  his  Proclamation  of  September  22d,  1862, 
his  determination  to  adopt  hereafter,  in  the  prosecution  of  our  deplo- 
rable civil  war,  the  policy  of  a  party  which  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, by  the  resolutions  of  February  llth,  1861,  unanimously  declared 
to  be  too  insignificant  in  numbers  and  influence  to  excite  the  serious 
attention  or  alarm  of  any  portion  of  the  people  of  the  Republic. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  name  of  civilized  humanity,  we  respectfully 
but  earnestly  protest  against  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  of  the 

freedmen  and  their  rebel  masters,  towards  each  other  since  the  day  of  the  eman- 
cipation of  the  former;  and  which  has  been  guilty  of  the  most  violence,  the 
greater  number  of  outrages,  and  ''horrors'!"  Let  Memphis  and  New  Orleans 
answer. 

•Diplomatic  Correspondence,  Part  1,  p.  124.  By  the  time  this  dispatch  reached 
Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  written  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.^ 


THE  RIGHT  TO  EMANCIPATE  SLAVES  DENIED.  699 

President  of  the  United  States,  both  on  the  ground  of  its  UNCONSTITU- 
TIONALITY  and  inexpediency."  * 

In  a  publication  issued  in  November,  1862,  one  of  the  ex- 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  B.  R 
Curtis,  denied  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  had 
the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  emancipate  the  slaves 
in  the  rebellious  States.  He  denied  the  right  of  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of.  our  army  to  make  military  arrests,  ex- 
cept within  the  lines  of  his  military  operations  in  the  fold. 
He  held  that  the  local  laws  of  the  rebel  States,  which  regu- 
lated their  domestic  relations,  were  still  valid  as  against  the 
military  power  of  the  United  States,  even  after  the  inhabi- 
tants of  such  States  had  become  public  enemies,  and,  there- 
fore, that  they  were  not  superseded  by  the  laws  of  war.  He 
denied  that  offences  not  declared  as  such  by  statutes  of  the 
United  States,  could  be  lawfully  punished  in  time  of  war  by 
military  or  other  tribunals,  thus  repudiating  the  operation 
of  the  laws  of  war  in  the  insurgent  States  as  applicable  to  a 
time  of  actual  hostilities.  He  denied  the  right  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  suspend  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  or  to  extend 
martial  law  over  the  country  in  time  of  war. 

The  Monthly  Law  Eeporter,  the  leading  law  journal  of  New 
England,  published  in  June,  1862,  an  article  denying  the 
right  of  Congress  to  pass  laws  to  confiscate  the  property,  or 
to  emancipate  the  slaves  of  the  public  enemy,  (Vol.  XXIV., 
No.  VHL,)  and  asserted  the  doctrine  that  in  the  punishment 
of  treason  only,  the  life  estate  of  the  traitor  could  be  taken 
from  him. 

The  article  asserted  "  that  when  a  Government  is  no 
longer  able  to  protect  its  citizens,  it  has  no  right  to  demand 
that  they  should  obey  its  laws."  It  took  the  ground  that 
"  Congress  should  not  legislate,  during  the  rebellion,  in 
such  manner  as  to  bind  those  persons  who  were  within  the 
district  from  which  our  authority  was  excluded  by  the 
rebels."  "  The  sound  constitutional  principle,"  says  this 
learned  journal,  "which  is  the  result  of  the  authorities, 
seems  to  be  this  :  where  a  usurping  power  has  seized  upon 

*  These  and  similar  resolutions,  adopted  by  very  worthy  and  distinguished  citi- 
zens, ought  to  silence  those  who  charge  Mr.  Linpoln  with  being  slow  in  issuing  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation. 


700  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  Government  and  excluded  the  rightful  authority  from 
the  exercise  of  its  functions,  it  may  claim  the  obedience  of 
the  district  throughout  which  its  power  extends.  If,  in  obe- 
dience to  the  command  of  this  power,  the  inhabitants  take 
up  arms  against  their  lawful  sovereign,  they  are  not  liable  to 
the  pains  and  penalties  of  treason.  The  power  which  actu- 
ally governs  may  be  safely  served  in  arms  by  those  whom  it 
protects."  It  also  asserted  that,  unless  in  exceptional  cases, 
it  was  settled  law  "  that  the  private  property  of  enemy's 
subjects  upon  land  is  not  liable  to  seizure ;  and  that  even  the 
right  of  conquest  includes  the  confiscation  of  the  public  prop- 
erty only  of  the  conquered  State ; "  and  that  there  was  no  dis- 
tinction to  be  taken  between  a  rebellion  and  a  public  war  in 
the  application  of  this  rule.  "  Hence  it  is  apparent,"  says 
this  journal,  "  that  by  the  rules  which  govern  the  relations 
of  belligerents  to  each  other,  the  confiscation  of  the  real 
property  of  the  rebels  is  impossible."  The  military  power 
to  emancipate  slaves  was  also  denied. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  deliberate  opinion  of  President 
Buchanan,  and  of  most  of  his  original  Cabinet,  that  while 
the  States  had  no  right  to  secede,  yet  it  would  be  a  violation 
of  the  Constitution  to  prevent  secession  by  coercion. 

The  advocates  of  extreme  State  rights,  under  the  lead  of 
Calhoun,  had,  in  1833,  claimed  the  right  of  nullification, 
but  this  claim  was  so  completely  overthrown  by  Webster  in 
his  great  speeches  in  reply  to  Hayne  and  Calhoun,  and  was 
so  emphatically  repudiated  by  President  Jackson,  Edward 
Livingston,  and  the  leading  statesmen  of  that  day,  that  it 
for  a  while  had  found  little  encouragement.*  As  the  Gov- 
ernment had  passed  more  and  more  into  the  hands  of  slave- 
holders, we  have  seen  to  what  an  alarming  extent  it  had 
been  sanctioned  throughout  the  country. 

"It  Is  known  that  General  Jackson  always  'regretted  that  he  did  not  cause  the 
arrest,  trial,  and  If  convicted,  execution  of  Calhoun.  I  have  information,  upon 
which  I  am  authorized  to  state  that  Henry  Clay,  who  introduced,  and  by  his  per- 
sonal influence  and  eloquence,  carried  through  the  Compromise  Tariff  of  1833,  In 
after  years  expressed  regret  that  he  had  done  so.  He  expressed  the  opinion  that  It 
would  have  been  better  for  the  country,  if  the  issue  had  been  left  to  be  decided  be- 
tween the  National  Government  and  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina— between 
President  Jackson  and  Calhoun.  This  opinion  of  Mr.  Clay,  expressed  some  years 
before  the  slaveholders' rebellion,  has  often  been  repeated  during  the  war— many 
believing  that  the  conviction  and  sentence  of  Calhoun,  as  a  traitor,  might  have 
saved  the  Republic  from  the  late  rebellion. 


THE   RIGHT  TO   SUBJUGATE   STATES   DENIED.  701 

Even  Mr.  Seward  had  said  "  thai  the,  Federal  Government 
could  not  reduce  the  seceding  States  to  obedience  by  conquest.  That 
only  an  imperial  or  despotic  government  could  subjugate  thoroughly 
disaffected  and  insurrectionary  members  of  the  State.  That  the 
federal  republican  system  of  ours  is,  of  all  forms  of  govern- 
ment, the  very  one  which  is  most  unfitted  for  such  a  labor.  That 
President  Lincoln  would  not,  on  one  hand,  suffer  the  Federal 
authority  to  fall  into  abeyance,  nor  would  he,  on  the  other, 
aggravate  existing  evils  by  attempts  at  coercion  which 
must  assume  the  form  of  direct  war  against  any  of  the 
revolutionary  States." 

The  prevalence  of  these  opinions  which  extended  to  some 
of  the  officers  of  the  army,  and  even  to  members  of  the 
Cabinet  themselves,  greatly  embarrassed  the  Government  in 
carrying  on  the  war,  and  for  a  time  impaired  materially  its 
power. 

The  right  to  emancipate  the  slaves  of  the  enemy,  to  con 
tiscate  his  property,  real  and  personal,  to  condemn  rebels  for 
treason  for  acts  done  under  authority  of  the  Rebel  Govern- 
ment, and  the  power  of  the  Government,  to  enrol  into  its 
military  service  all  its  citizens,  on  the  ground  that  the  claim 
of  a  rebel  master  to  service  could  not  stand  in  the  way  of  the 
claim  of  the  government  to  military  service  of  all  who  could 
bear  arms,  were  all  denied,  not  only  by  the  insurgents,  but 
by  their  friends  in  the  loyal  States,  and  by  a  considerable 
number  of  persons  whose  opinions  were  misled  by  the 
sophistry  of  the  press  in  the  interests  of  the  rebellion. 

The  Government  was  greatly  embarrassed  at  first  by  the 
claim  set  up  by  the  rebels  and  their  friends,  that  they  were 
entitled  to  be  treated  as  citizens.  That  although  making 
war  against  the  Republic,  they  were  still  citizens,  and  could 
be  dealt  with  only  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Constitution 
and  laws  as  administered  in  time  of  peace.  They  themselves 
claimed  to  be  under  no  restraints  except  those  imposed  by 
the  laws  of  war,  but  the  Government,  they  contended,  must 
take  care  not  to  violate  the  Constitution  and  the  civil  law. 
In  reply,  it  was-  charged  that  the  rebels  were  belligerents, 
and  the  Government  had  the  right  to  treat  them  as  such ; 
not  only  as  public  enemies,  but  as  rebels — citizens  violating 
the  laws  of  their  country. 


702       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

Mr.  Lincoln  says,  in  his  admirable  reply  to  the  Albany 
meeting : 


»  **********  Under  cover  of  'liberty  of  speech,'  'liberty  of  tho 
press,'  and  '  habeas  corpus,'  they  hoped  to  keep  on  foot  amongst  us  a  most  effi- 
cient corps  of  spies,  informers,  suppliers,  and  aiders  and  abettors  of  their  cause  in 
a  thousand  ways.  They  knew  that  in  times  such  as  they  were  inaugurating,  by 
the  Constitution  itself,  the  '  habeas  corpus '  might  be  suspended ;  but  they  also 
knew  they  had  friends  who  would  make  a  question  as  to  who  was  to  suspend  it ; 
meanwhile  their  spies  and  others  might  remain  at  large  to  help  on  their  cause. 
Or  if,  as  has  happened,  the  Executive  should  suspend  the  writ,  without  ruinous 
waste  of  time,  instances  of  arresting  innocent  persons  might  occur,  as  are  always 
likely  to  occur  in  such  cases ;  and  then  a  clamor  could  be  raised  in  regard  to  this, 
which  might  be,  at  least,  of  some  service  to  the  insurgent  cause.  It  needed  no  very 
keen  perception  to  discover  this  part  of  the  enemy's  programme ;  so  soon  as  by 
open  hostilities  their  machinery  was  fairly  put  in  motion.  ******«*» 

Mr.  Lincoln  soon  discovered  "the  enemy's  programme," 
as  he  termed  it ;  yet  thoroughly  imbued  with  a  reverence 
for  the  guaranteed  rights  of  individuals,  he  was  slow  to 
adopt  the  strong  measures  indispensable  to  public  safety. 

The  rights  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  to  loyal  citizens, 
such  as  freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  of  speech,  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury,  the  right  to  bear  arms,  were  all  claimed  by 
traitors  in  the  North,  even  when  used  only  to  protect  the 
notorious  enemies  of  the  Union  in  the  execution  of  their 
treasonable  plans.  There  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  the 
rebellion,  when,  under  the  color  of  such  claims,  and  in  the 
absence  of  decisive  measures  on  the  part  of  the  administra- 
tion, there  was  serious  danger  of  a  civil  conflict  in  the  loyal 
States.  There  was  a  time  when  treason  and  disloyalty,  by 
means  of  secret  societies,  had  spread  to  a  dangerous  extent 
over  certain  localities  in  the  free  States.  There  were  locali- 
ties in  which  the  military  authority  of  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  was  disregarded  by  local  judges  and  civil  State  officers ; 
attempts  were  made  to  raise  conflicts  between  the  Federal 
military  power  and  the  State  judiciary ;  operations  for  raising 
volunteers  and  recruiting  the  army  were  baffled,  or  embar- 
rassed by  individuals  and  organized  parties;  the  National 
credit  was  assailed  and  sought  to  be  destroyed.  But  the 
strong  good  sense  and  sagacity  of  President  Lincoln,  careful 
and  conservative  as  he  was,  were  equal  to  the  demands  of  the 
crisis.  The  public  mind  was  guided  towards  correct  conclu- 
sions, and  all  the  officers  of  the  Government,  aided  by  a 


THE   WAR   POWERS.  703 

treatise  upon  the  war  powers  of  the  President,  and  of  Con- 
gress, published  in  1862,  by  William  Whiting,  Esq.,  of  the 
Boston  bar.* 

The  author  justified  the  action  of  the  President,  in  the 
exercise  of  all  the  powers  he  had  used,  as  entirely  consistent 
with,  nay,  demanded  by  his  Constitutional  obligations.  He 
advocated  with  ability  the  doctrine — then  somewhat  novel 
and  much  disputed — that  under  the  provisions  of  the  Con- 
stitution itself,  the  President  and  Congress  were  clothed 
with  ample  war  powers  against  the  inhabitants  of  the  rebel- 
lious States,  and  had  the  right  to  treat  them,  in  all  respects, 
as  public  enemies,  according  to  the  laws  of  war ;  while,  at 

*  Soon  after  the  publication  of  his  book  upon  the  war  powers,  Mr.  Whiting  was 
requested  by  the  Administration  to  come  to  Washington,  and  act  as  special  coun- 
sel and  solicitor  of  the  War  Department.  No  such  office  had  at  that  time  been 
established  by  law,  but  so  many  questions  of  extreme  difficulty  and  delicacy  were 
continually  arising,  and  such  was  the  confidence  inspired  by  this  book,  that  he 
was  urged  to  accept  this  very  responsible  position.  Mr.  Whiting,  with  a  patriotism 
and  generous  love  of  country,  as  rare  as  it  was  honorable,  left  a  very  large  and 
very  lucrative  practice  at  the  bar,  and  went  to  Washington,  and  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  his  position,  declining  to  receive  any  compensation.  He  entered  upon 
his  duties  as  the  law  adviser  of  the  War  Department  late  in  1862.  He  soon  acquired 
the  perfect  confidence  and  warm  personal  friendship  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the 
respect  of  his  Cabinet.  The  office  of  Solicitor  of  the  War  Department  was  subse- 
quently established  by  act  of  Congress,  and  Mr.  Whiting  was  appointed  to  fill  it, 
but,  I  believe,  he  declined  receiving  any  compensation,  remaining  at  his  post,  a 
faithful,  disinterested  and  most  useful  officer,  down  to  the  surrender  of  Lee,  and 
the  close  of  the  war.  During  this  period,  the  services  of  few  men,  under  the  Gov- 
ernment, were  more  varied  and  responsible.  He  gave  opinions,  written  and 
verbal,  to  the  President ;  he  furnished  written  opinions  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  the  heads  of  the  Navy,  and  State  Departments,  in  regard  to  questions  arising 
out  of  the  war,  and  the  law  of  nations.  At  the  same  time,  Mr.  Whiting  occupied  a 
position  towards  Congress  not  unlike  that  of  solicitor  to  the  British  Parliament. 
He  was,  as  his  writings  abundantly  indicate,  an  intelligent  and  radical  abolitionist, 
besides  being  a  very  learned  and  accurate  lawyer;  and  he  was  in  constant  con- 
sultation with  the  committees  and  individual  members  of  both  Houses  of  Congress, 
aiding  by  his  counsel  and  advice  and  his  professional  knowledge  in  the  important 
legislation  of  Congress.  His  opinions  were  constantly  sought  upon  questions 
growing  out  of  confiscation,  slavery,  arrests,  and  involving  international,  belliger- 
ent, maratime  and  martial  law,  and  the  local  law  of  the  States.  He  had  tho 
pleasure  to  be  with  the  army  at  the  time  of  the  assault  and  capture  of  Petersburg, 
and  to  enter  the  city  of  Richmond  with  President  Lincoln  after  its  surrender.  The 
publications  of  Mr.  Whiting,  including  the  "War  Powers,"  "Military  Arrests," 
"Reconstruction,"  and  "  Military  Government,"  were,  as  I  think  it  will  be  con- 
ceded, the  most  valuable  and  practicable  works  on  the  legal  and  constitutional 
questions  growing  out  of  the  war,  which  have  as  yet  been  given  to  the  public. 
While  there  are  many  who  will  dissent  from  some  of  his  conclusions,  all  will 
admit  the  learning,  integrity,  and  patriotism,  which  have  inspired  him  in  their 
production.  Among  those  who  faithfully,  and  unselfishly,  with  a  supreme  love  of 
liberty  and  of  country,  gave  their  services  to  the  Republic  during  its  days  of  trial, 
and  who  rendered  valuable  services,  should  be  written  the  name  of  William 
Whiting. 


704  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHKOW  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  same  time,  the  rebels  could  not,  by  rebellion,  treason, 
and  war,  escape  the  penalties  to  which,  as  citizens,  they  were 
liable.  • 

Mr.  Whiting  says :  * 

"  War  may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  foreign  and  civil.  In  all  civil  wars  the 
government  claims  the  belligerents  on  both  sides,  as  subjects,  and  has  the  legal 
right  to  treat  the  insurgents  both  as  subjects  and  as  belligerents ;  and  they  there- 
fore may  exercise  the  full  and  untrammelled  powers  of  war  against  their  subjects, 
or  they  may,  in  their  discretion,  relieve  them  from  any  of  the  pains  and  penalties 
attached  to  either  of  these  characfers.  The  right  of  a  country  to  treat  its  rebellious 
citizens  both  as  belligerents  and  as  subjects  has  long  been  recognized  in  Europe,  and 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  In  the  civil  war  between  St.  Domingo 
and  France,  such  rights  were  exercised,  and  were  recognized  as  legitimate  in  Rote 
v.  Himely,  4  Cranch,  272.  So  in  Cherrol  v.  Foussatl,  3  Binney,  252. 

"  In  Dobrie  v.  Napier,  3  Scott  R.  225,  it  was  held  that  a  blockade  of  the  coast  of  Por- 
tugal, by  the  Queen  of  that  country,  was  lawful,  and  a  vessel  was  condemned  as  a 
lawful  prize  for  running  the  blockade  The  cases  of  the  Santisima  Trindad,  7,  Wheat. 
306,  and  United  States  v.  Palmer,  3  W.  635,  confirm  this  doctrine.  By  the  terms  of  the 
the  constitution  defining  treason,  a  traitor  must  be  a  subject  and  a  belligerent,  and 
none  but  a  belligerent  subject  can  be  a  traitor. 


"  Having  thus  the  full'  powers  and  right  of  making  and  carrying  on  war  against 
rebels,  both  as  subjects  and  belligerents,  this  right  frees  the  President  and  Congress 
from  the  difficulties  which  might  arise  if  rebels  could  be  treated  only  as  SUBJECTS, 
and  if  war  could  not  be  waged  upon  them.  If  conceding  to  rebels  the  privileges  of 
belligerents,  should  relieve  them  from  some  of  the  harsher  penalties  of  treason, 
it  will  subject  them  to  the  liabilities  of  the  belligerent '  character,  The  privileges 
and  the  disadvantages  are  correlative.  But  it  is  by  no  means  conceded  that  the 
government  may  not  exercise  the  right  of  treating  the  same  rebels  both  as  subjects 
and  as  belligerents.  The  constitution  defines  a  rebel  who  commits  treason  as  one 
who  "  levies  war "  on  the  United  States ;  and  the  laws  punish  this  highest  of 
crimes  with  death,  thus  expressly  treating  the  same  person  as  subject  and  belligerent. 
Those  who  save  their  necks  from  the  halter  by  claiming  to  be  treated  as  prisoners 
of  war,  and  so  to  protect  themselves  under  the  shield  of  belligerent  rights,  must 
bear  the  weight  of  that  shield,  and  submit  to  the  legal  consequences  of  the  charac- 
ter they  claim.  They  cannot  sail  under  two  flags  at  the  same  time.  But  a  rebel 
does  not  cease  to  be  a  subject  because  he  has  turned  traitor.  The  constitution 
expressly  authorizes  Congress  to  pass  laws  to  punish  traitor— that  is,  belligerent 
— subjects ;  and  suppressing  rebellion  by  armed  force  is  making  war.  Therefore, 
the  war  powers  of  the  government  give  full  belligerent  rights  against  rebels  in 
arms. 

"  To  determine  what  are  the  rights  of  different  nations  when  making  war  upon 
each  other,  we  look  only  to  the  law  of  nations.  The  peculiar  forms  or  rights  of  the 
subjects  of  one  of  these  war-making  parties  under  their  own  government,  give 
them  no  rights  over  their  enemy  other  than  those  which  are  sanctioned  by  inter- 
national law.  In  the  great  tribunal  of  nations,  there  is  a '  higher  law '  than  that 
which  has  been  framed  by  either  one  of  them,  however  sacred  to  each  its  own 
peculiar  laws  and  constitution  of  government  may  be. 

"  But  while  this  supreme  law  is  in  full  force,  and  is  binding  on  all  countries,  soften- 
ing the  asperities  of  war,  and  guarding  the  rights  of  neutrals,  it  is  not  conceded 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States,  in  a  civil  war  for  the  suppression  of 
rebellion  among  its  own  citizens,  is  subject  to  the  same  limitations  as  though  the 
rebels  were  a  foreign  nation,  owing  no  allegiance  to  the  country." 

*  War  Powers,  pp.  44. 


THE  WAR  POWERS.  705 

Having  demonstrated  that  the  Government  was  clothed 
by  the  Constitution  with  the  full  powers  of  war,  and  that 
the  only  limitation  of  these  powers  were  found  in  the  law  of 
nations,  and  not  in  the  Constitution,  the  author  of  "The 
War  Powers  "  proceeds  to  set  forth  several  important  prin- 
ples  of  belligerent  law  in  accordance  therewith,  and  to  show 
that  in  this  rebellion,  the  Administration  was  justified  in  the 
employment  of  them  all.  He  showed  that  the  United  States 
had  the  right  to  seize  and  confiscate  all  the  property  of  the 
enemy  on  land  and  on  the  sea,  including  real  as  well  as  per- 
sonal estate.  That  where  property  on  land  was  captured  from 
the  enemy,  capture  itself  passed  the  title  to  the  captors,  and 
no  judicial  proceeding  was  necessary ;  but  where  a  prize 
was  captured  on  the  sea,  after  our  declaration  of  blockade, 
the  decision  of  a  prize  court  was  necessary  to  confirm  the 
title  of  the  captors.  That  it  would  depend  upon  the  policy 
of  the  Government,  whether  belligerent  citizens  should  be 
allowed  civil  rights  under  the  Constitution,  inasmuch  as 
"  none  of  the  rights  guaranteed  to  peaceful  citizens  by 
the  Constitution,  belong  to  them  after  they  have  become 
belligerents  against  their  own  government." 

"  Some  persons,"  says  Mr.  Whiting,  "  have  questioned  whether  title  passes  in 
this  country  by  capture,  or  confiscation,  by  reason  of  some  of  the  limiting  clauses 
of  the  constitution ;  and  others  have  gone  so  far  as  to  assert  that  all  the  proceed- 
ings under  martial  law,  such  as  capturing  enemy's  property,  imprisonment  of 
spies  and  traitors,  and  seizures  of  articles  contraband  of  war,  and  suspending  the 
habeas  corpus,  are  in  violation  of  the  constitution  which  declare  that  no  man  shall 
be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law;  *  that  private 
property  shall  not  be  taken  for  public  use  without  just  compensation.;!  that  un- 
reasonable searches  and  seizures  shall  not  be  made  ;J  that  freedom  of  speech  and 
of  the  press  shall  not  be  abridged  ;g  and  that  the  rights  of  the  people  to  keep  and 
bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed.  { 

"  THESE  PROVISIONS  NOT  APPLICABLE  TO  A  STATE  OF  WAB. 

"If  these  rules  are  applicable  to  a  state  of  war,  then  capture  of  property  is  illegal, 
and  does  not  pass  a  title ;  no  defensive  war  can  be  carried  on ;  no  rebellion  can  be 
suppressed;  no  invasion  can  be  repelled:  the  army  of  the  United  States,  when 
called  into  the  field,  can  do  no  act  of  hostility.  Not  a  gun  can  be  fired  constitution- 
ally, because  it  might  deprive  a  rebel  foe  of  his  life  without  due  process  of  law— filing 
a  gun  not  being  deemed  a '  due  process  of  law.' 

"  Sec.  4  of  Art.  IV.  says,  that  '  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in 
this  Union  a  republican  form  oi  government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them 

*  Constitutional  Amendments,  Art.  V. 
t  Ibid,  Art.  V. 
t  Ibid,  Art.  IV. 
\  Ibid,  Art.  I. 
1  Ibid,  Art.  II. 

45 


706  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAERT. 

against  invasion,  and,  on  application  of  the  legislature,  or  of  the  Executive,  when 
the  legislature  cannot  be  convened,  against  domestic  violence.' 

"  Art.  I.  Sec.  8,  gives  Congress  power  to  declare  war,  raise  and  support  armies, 
provide  and  maintain  a  navy ;  to  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute 
the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrection,  and  repel  invasion ;  to  provide  for 
organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia,  and  for  governing  such  port  of 
them  as  may  be  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

"If  these  rules  above  cited  have  any  application  in  time  of  war,  the  United 
States  cannot  protect  each  of  the  States  from  invasion  by  citizens  of  other  States, 
nor  against  domestic  violence ;  nor  can  the  army,  militia,  or  navy  be  used  for 
any  of  the  purposes  for  which  the  constitution  authorizes  or  requires  their  employ- 
ment. If  all  men  have  the  right  to  '  keep  and  bear  arms,'  what  right  has  the  army 
of  the  Union  to  take  them  away  from  the  rebels  ?  If  '  no  man  can  constitutionally 
be  deprived  of  his  life,  liberty  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law,'  by  what 
right  does  government  seize  and  hang  traitors?  By  what  right  does  the  army  kill 
rebels  in  arms,  or  burn  their  military  stores? 

"  TBUE  APPLICATION  OF  THESE  CONSTITUTIONAL  GUARANTEES. 

"  The  clauses  which  have  been  cited  from  the  amendments  to  the  constitution 
were  intended  as  declarations  of  the  rights  of  peaceful  and  loyal  citizens,  and  safe- 
guards in  the  adminstration  of  justice  by  the  civil  tribunals;  but  it  was  necessary, 
in  order  to  give  the  government  the  means  of  defending  itself  against  domestic 
or  foreign  enemies,  to  maintain  its  authority  and  dignity  and  to  enforce  obedience 
to  its  laws,  that  it  should  have  unlimited  war  powers ;  and  it  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten that  the  same  authority  which  provides  those  safeguards,  and  guarantees  those 
rights  also  Imposes  upon  the  President  and  Congress  the  duty  of  so  carrying  on 
war,  as  of  necessity  to  supersede  and  hold  in  temporary  suspense  such  civil  rights 
as  may  prove  inconsistent  with  the  complete  and  effectual  exercise  of  such  war 
powers,  and  of  the  belligerent  rights  resulting  from  them.  The  rights  of  war  and 
the  rights  of  peace  cannot  co-exist.  One  must  yield  to  the  other.  Martial  law  and 
civil  law  cannot  operate  at  the  same  time  and  place  upon  the  same  subject  matter. 
Hence  the  constitution  is  framed  with  full  recognition  of  that  fact ;  it  protects 
the  citizen  in  peace  and  in  war;  but  his  rights  enjoyed  under  the  constitution,  in 
time  of  peace,  are  different  from  those  to  which  he  is  entitled  in  time  of  war. 

"  WHETHER  BELLIGERENTS  SHALL  BE  ALLOWED  CIVIL  RIGHTS  UNDER  THE  CONSTI- 
TUTION DEPENDS  UPON  THE  POLICY  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

"None  of  these  rights,  guaranteed  to  peaceful  citizens  by  the  constitution,  belong  to  them 
after  they  have  become  belligerents  against  their  own  government.  They  thereby  forfeit  all 
protection  under  that  sacred  charter  which  they  have  thus  sought  to  overthrow  and 
destroy.  One  party  to  a  contract  cannot  break  it  and  at  the  same  time  hold  the  other 
to  perform  it.  It  is  true  that  if  the  government  elects  to  treat  them  as  subjects 
and  hold  them  liable  only  to  penalties  for  violating  statutes,  it  must  concede  to 
them  all  the  legal  rights  and  privileges  which  other  citizens  would  have  under 
similar  accusations ;  and  Congress  must  be  limited  to  the  provisions  of  the  consti- 
tution in  legislation  against  them  as  citizens.  But  the  fact  that  war  is  waged  by 
these  miscreants,  releases  the  government  from  all  obligation  to  make  that  conces- 
sion, or  to  respect  the  rights  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  of  the  enemy,  because  the 
constitution  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  President  to  prosecute  war  against  them  In 
order  to  suppress  rebellion  and  repel  invasion. 

In  addition  to  the  right  of  confiscating  enemy's  property, 
a  state  of  civil  war  confers  upon  the  Government  other  not 
less  important  belligerent  rights  ;  and  among  these  rights  is 
that  of  seizing  and  holding  conquered  territory  by  force,  and  of 
instituting  and  maintaining  military  Government  over  it,  thereby 
suspending  the  ordinary  civil  administration. 


THE  WAR  POWERS.  707 

This  right  was  exercised  by  Mr.  Lincoln  from  the  beginning 
)f  the  war,  and  was  never  very  seriously  questioned. 
On  this  point  Mr.  Whiting  says  : 

"Any  section  of  this  country,  which,  having  Joined  in  a  general  rebellion,  shall 
have  been  subdued  and  conquered  by  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States,  may 
be  subjected  to  military  government,  and  the 'rights  of  citizens  in  those  districts 
are  subject  to  martial  law,  so  long  as  the  war  lasts.  Whatever  of  their  rights  of 
property  are  lost  in  and  by  the  war,  are  lost  forever.  No  citizen,  whether  loyal  or 
rebel,  is  deprived  of  any  right  guaranteed  to  him  in  the  Constitution  by  reason  of 
his  subjection  to  martial  law,  because  martial  law,  when  in  force,  is  Constitutional  law. 
The  people  of  the  United  States,  through  their  lawfully  chosen  Commander-in- 
Chtef,  have  the  constitutional  right  to  seize  and  hold  the  territory  of  a  belligerent 
enemy,  and  to  govern  it  by  martial  law,  thereby  superseding  the  local  government 
of  the  place,  and  all  rights  which  rebels  might  have  had  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  if  they  had  not  violated  the  laws  of  the  land  by  making  war  upon  the 
country. 

"  By  martial  law,  loyal  citizens  may  be  for  a  time  debarred  from  enjoying  the 
rights  they  would  be  entitled  to  in  time  of  peace.  Individual  rights  must  always 
be  held  subject  to  the  exigencies  of  National  safety. 

"  In  war,  when  martial  law  is  in  force,  the  laws  of  war  are  the  laws  which  the 
Constitution  expressly  authorizes  and  requires  to  be  enforced.  The  Constitution, 
when  it  calls  into  action  martial  law,  for  the  time  changes  civil  rights,  or  rights 
which  the  citizen  would  be  entitled  to  in  peace,  because  the  rights  of  persons  in 
one  of  these  cases  are  totally  incompatible  with  the  obligations  of  persons  in  the 
other.  Peace  and  war  cannot  exist  together ;  the  laws  of  peace  and  of  war  cannot 
operate  together;  the  rights  and  procedures  of  peaceful  times  are  incompatible 
with  those  of  war.  It  is  an  obvious  but  pernicious  error  to  suppose  that  in  a  state 
of  war,  the  rules  of  martial  law,  and  the  consequent  modification  of  the  rights, 
duties,  and  obligations  of  citizens,  private  and  public,  are  not  authorized  strictly 
under  the  Constitution.  And  among  these  rights  of  martial  law,  none  is  more  famil- 
iar than  that  of  seizing  and  establishing  a  military  government  over  territory 
taken  from  the  enemy ;  and  the  duty  of  thus  protecting  such  territory  is  impera 
tive,  since  the  United  States  are  obligated  to  guarantee  to  each  State  a  republican1 
form  of  government.  That  form  of  government  having  been  overthrown  by  force, 
the  country  must  take  such  steps,  military  and  civil,  as  may  tend  to  restore  it  to 
the  loyal  citizens  of  that  State,  if  there  be  any;  and  if  there  be  no  persons  who 
will  submit  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  it  is  their  duty  to 
hold  that  State  by  military  power,  and  under  military  rule,  until  loyal  citizens 
shall  appear  there  in  sufficient  numbers  to  entitle  them  to  receive  back  into  their 
own  hands  the  local  government." 

A  still  more  severe  rule  of  belligerent  law  is  laid  down  in 
relation  to  enemy's  property  and  enemy's  slaves,  and  the 
right  of  seizure  of  ALL  property  situated  in  the  enemy's 
country  when  necessary  for  military  purposes,  and  there 
"  are  no  limits  to  the  war  making  power  of  the  President, 
other  than  the  law  of  Nations,  and  such  rules  as  Congress 
may  pass  for  their  regulation." 

"  Against  all  persons  in  arms,  and  against  all  property  situated  and  seized  in 
rebellious  districts,  the  laws  of  war  give  the  President  full  belligerent  rights;  and 
when  the  army  and  navy  are  once  lawfully  called  out,  there  are  no  limits  to  the  war- 
making  power  of  the  Pi-esident,  other  than  the  law  of  nations,  and  such  rules  at  Oonffrets 
may  pass  for  their  regulation. 


708  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

" '  The  Statute  of  1807,  chap.  39,'  says  a  learned  Judge, '  provides  that  whenever  H 
Is  lawful  for  the  President  to  call  forth  the  militia  to  suppress  an  Insurrection,  he 
may  employ  the  land  and  naval  forces  for  that  purpose.  The  authority  to  use  the 
army  is  thus  expressly  confirmed,  but  the  manner  in  which  they  are  to  be  used  is 
not  prescribed.  That  is  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  President,  guided  by  the  usages 
and  principles  of  civilized  war." 

The  right  of  the  President,  as  a  question  of  law,  to  eman- 
cipate the  slaves  of  any  belligerent  portion  of  the  United 
States,  was  a  question  of  great  interest  early  in  the  conflict; 
and  was  widely  discussed  by  the  press,  and  in  Congress.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  as  we  have  seen,  early  came  to  the  conclusion,  that 
as  Commanderrin-Chief,  he  possessed  that  right,  and  he 
exercised  it. 

The  argument  upon  the  legality  of  such  exercise  is  very 
clearly  and  ably  stated  by  Mr.  Whiting.  He  says  : 

"The  liberation  of  slaves  is  looked  upon  as  a  means  of  embarrassing  or  weaken- 
ing the  enemy,  or  of  strengthening  the  military  power  of  our  army.  If  slaves  be 
treated  as  contraband  of  war,  on  the  ground  that  they  may  be  used  by  their  mas- 
ters to  aid  in  prosecuting  war,  as  employees  upon  military  works,  or  as  laborers 
furnishing  by  their  industry  the  means  of  carrying  on  hostilities ;  or  if  they  be 
treated  as,  in  law,  belligerents,  following  the  legal  condition  of  their  owners ;  or  if 
they  be  deemed  loyal  subjects  having  a  just  claim  upon  the  government  to  bo 
released  from  their  obligations  to  give  aid  and  service  to  disloyal  and  belligerent 
masters,  in  order  that  they  may  be  free  to  perform  their  higher  duty  of  allegiance 
and  loyalty  to  the  United  States;  or  if  they  be  regarded  as  subjects  of  the  United 
States,  liable  to  do  military  duty ;  or  if  they  be  made  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
and  soldiers ;  or  if  the  authority  of  the  masters  over  the^r  slaves  is  the  means  of 
aiding  and  comforting  the  enemy,  or  of  throwing  impediments  in  the  way  of  the 
Government,  or  depriving  it  of  such  aid  and  assistance  in  successful  prosecution 
of  the  war,  as  slaves  would  and  could  afford,  if  released  from  the  control  of  the 
enemy  — or  if  releasing  the  slaves  would  embarrass  the  enemy,  and  make  it  more 
difficult  for  them  to  collect  and  maintain  large  .armies ;  in  either  of  these  cases, 
the  taking  away  of  these  slaves  from  the  '  aid  and  service '  of  the  enemy,  and  put- 
ting them  to  the  aid  and  service  of  the  United  States,  is  justifiable  as  an  act  of  war. 
The  ordinary  way  of  depriving  the  enemy  of  slaves  is  by  declaring  emancipation." 

As  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  held,  it  belongs  exclusively  to 
the  President  to  judge  when  the  exigency  arises  in^ which  he 
has  authority  to  emancipate  slaves : 

"  The  Constitution  confers  on  the  Executive,  when  in  actual  war,  full  belligerent 
powers.  The  emancipation  of  enemy's  slaves  is  a  belligerent  right.  It  belongs 
exclusively  to  the  President,  as  Commander-in-Chief,  to  judge  whether  he  shall 
exercise  his  belligerent  right  to  emancipate  slaves  in  those  parts  of  the  country 
which  are  in  rebellion.  If  exercised  in  fact,  and  while  the  war  lasts,  his  act  of 
emancipation  is  conclusive  and  binding  forever  on  all  the  departments  of 
Government,  and  on  all  persons  whatsover. 

"IS  LIBERATION  OF  ENEMY'S  SLAVES  A  BEILIGERENT  RIGHT? 

"This  is  the  chief  inquiry  on  this  branch  of  the  subject.  To  answer  it  we  must 
appeal  to  the  law  of  nations,  and  learn  whether  there  is  any  commanding  authority 
which  forbids  the  use  of  an  engine  so  powerful  and  so  formidable  — an  engine 


EMANCIPATION  AS  A  WAR  MEASURE.  709 

•which  may  grind  to  powder  the  disloylaty  of  rebels  In  arms,  while  it  clears  the 
avenue  to  freedom  for  four  millions  of  Americiins.  It  is  only  the  law  of  nations 
that  can  decide  this  question,  because  the  Constitution,  having  given  authority  to 
Government  to  make  war,  has  placed  no  limit  whatever  to  the  war  powers.  There 
is,  therefore,  no  legal  control  over  the  war  powers  except  the  law  of  nations,  and 
no  moral  control  except  the  usage  of  modern  civilized  belligerents. 

"  It  is  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  nations  and  with  the  practice  of  civilized 
belligerents  in  modern  times,  to  liberate  enemy's  slaves  in  time  of  war  by  military 
power." 

Although  the  validity  of  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipa- 
tion, in  consequence  of  the  constitutional  amendment,  has 
ceased  to  be  a  question  of  so  much  practical  importance,  yet 
a  subject  of  such  vast  magnitude  will  always  possess  great 
historic  interest.  The  Proclamation  may  be  defended  both 
as  the  exercise  of  a  belligerent  right,  and  also  as  the  exercise 
of  a  power  conferred  upon  the  President,  as  Commander-in- 
Chief,  by  the  Constitution.  It  is  clearly  in  accordance  with 
the  practice  of  civilized  nations  in  modern  times,  and  the 
law  of  nations,  to  liberate  slaves  of  the  enemy  in  times  of 
war.  In  our  own  revolution,  this  power  was  exercised  by 
England,  by  at  least  three  of  her  military  commanders  :  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  Lord  Dunmore,  and  Lord  Cornwallis. 

General  "Washington,  in  speaking  of  Lord  Dunmore's  ap- 
peal to  the  slaves,  says :  "  His  strength  will  increase  as  a 
snow-ball  by  rolling,  faster  and  faster,  if  some  expedient  be 
not  hit  upon  to  convince  the  slaves  and  servants  of  the 
impotency  of  his  designs." 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Gordon,  concedes  the 
right  of  Great  Britain  to  call  the  slaves  of  the  Colonists  to 
their  aid,  as  a  war  measure.  After  speaking  of  the  injury 
done  by  Cornwallis  to  his  estates,  to  his  crops,  his  barns,  his 
stock  of  cattle,  sheep,  etc.,  he  says  he  carried  off  all  the 
horses  capable  of  service,  and  he  adds  :  "  He  carried  off  also 
about  thirty  slaves.  Had  this  been  done  to  give  them  freedom,  he 
would  have  done  right.  *  *  *  From  an  estimate  made  at 
the  time,  on  the  best  information  I  could  collect,  I  suppose 
the  State  of  Virginia  lost,  under  Lord  Cornwallis'  hands,- 
that  year,  about  thirty  thousand  slaves." 

Great  Britain  exercised  the  same  right,  in  the  war  of 
1812,  against  the  United  States.  Her  naval  and  military 

•Whiting's  War  Powers,  pp.  50,  CO,  60. 


710  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

commanders  invited,  by  proclamation,  the  slaves  to  join  the 
British  forces,  promising  them  freedom.  The  slaves  who 
joined  them  were  liberated,  and  were  carried  away  from  the 
country,  contrary  to  the  express  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
Ghent.  But  England  preferred  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
violating  the  treaty,  rather  than  to  break  faith  with  the  ne- 
groes. The  United  States  demanded  indemnity  for  the  vio- 
lation of  the  treaty.  This  question  was  referred  to  the 
arbitrament  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  He  decided  that 
indemnity  should  be  paid,  not  because  England  had  violated 
the  laws  of  nations  in  emancipating  the  slaves,  but  because 
she  had  violated  the  terms  of  the  treaty.* 

In  the  argument  submitted  to  the  Emperor,  as  the  referee, 
Great  Britain  assumed  the  ground  that,  in  war,  either  party 
had  the  right  to  liberate  the  slaves  of  the  enemy.  Mr.  Mid- 
dleton,  our  Minister,  was  instructed  by  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Secretary  of  State,  to  deny  that  right,  but  Mr.  Adams  has 
placed  on  record  the  fact  that  he  did  so,  in  obedience  to  the 
instructions  of  the  President,  and  against  his  own  opinion. 

Great  Britain  asserted  the  right  to  liberate  enemies'  slaves, 
as  a  legitimate  mode  of  carrying  on  war ;  a  right  which  she 
had  exercised  against  her  Colonies,  which  had  been  used  by 
France  against  her,  and  again  by  her  against  the  United 
States. 

In  1793,  St.  Domingo  was  a  colony  of  France,  with  a 
population  of  more  than  half  a  million  of  negroes.  Intes- 
tine war  had  been  carried  on  for  more  than  three  years  be- 
tween the  whites  and  mulattoes.  The  slaves  had  revolted  in 
1791.  The  Spaniards  formed  an  alliance  with  the  revolted 
slaves,  invaded  the  Island,  and  occupied  a  portion  of  it. 
England  was  making  a  treaty  with  the  planters,  preparatory 
to  an  invasion  of  the  Island.  St.  Domingo  seemed  about  to 
be  wrested  from  France.  Her  force  there  was  feeble.  Un- 
der these  circumstances,  the  French  authorities,  in  August, 
1793,  issued  a  proclamation,  under  martial  law,  declaring  all 

the  slaves  free,  and  thereby  brought  them  to  the  support  of 

• 

.  *  The  Emperor  "  declined  to  award  indemnification  for  slaves  which  the  British 
forces  carried  from  other  parties  not  stipulated  to  be  returned."  See  Wheaton's 
International  Law,  edited  by  Dana,  note  pp.  440-441. 


EMANCIPATION  IN  TIME  OF  WAR.  711 

the  Government.  France  recognized  the  act  of  the  com- 
missioners, and  confirmed  it,  thus  recognizing  the  right  un- 
der martial  law  to  emancipate  the  slaves  of  an  enemy.  This 
right  has  been  exercised  by  several  of  the  South  American 
Republics — by  General  Morillo,  and  by  Bolivar. 

"  Slavery  was  abolished  in  Columbia,"  says  John  Quincy 
Adams,  "  by  virtue  of  a  military  command,  given  at  the 
head  of  the  army,  and  its  abolition  continues  to  this  day." 

The  United  States  have  recognized  the  right  of  its  military- 
officers  in  time  of  war,  to  appropriate  to  the  public  service 
the  slaves  of  loyal  citizens  without  compensation  therefor  : 

"  '  In  December,  1814,'  says  a  distinguished  writer  and  speaker,  '  General  Jack- 
son impressed  a  large  number  of  slaves  at  and  near  New  Orleans,  and  set  them  at 
work  erecting  defences,  behind  which  his  troops  won  such  glory  on  the  8th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1815.  The  masters  remonstrated.  Jackson  disregarded  their  remonstrances, 
and  kept  the  slaves  at  work  until  many  of  them  were  killed  by  the  enemy's  shot ; 
yet  his  action  was  approved  by  Mr.  Madison,  the  Cabinet,  and  by  the  Congress, 
which  has  ever  refused  to  pay  the  masters  for  their  losses.  In  this  case,  the  mas- 
ters were  professedly  friends  to  the  Government ;  and  yet  our  Presidents,  and 
cabinets,  and  generals  have  not  hesitated  to  emancipate  their  slaves,  whenever  in 
time  of  war  it  was  supposed  to  be  for  the  interest  of  the  country  to  do  so.  This 
was  done  in  the  exercise  of  the  war  power  to  which  Mr.  Adams  referred,  and  for 
which  he  had  the  most  abundant  authority.' 

"  In  1836,  General  Jessup  engaged  several  fugitive  slaves  to  act  as  guides  and  spies, 
agreeing,  if  they  would  serve  the  Government  faithfully,  to  secure  to  them  the 
freedom  of  themselves  and  families.  They  fulfilled  their  engagement  in  good 
faith.  The  General  gave  them  their  freedom,  and  sent  them  to  the  west.  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  administration  sanctioned  the  contract,  and  Mr.  Tyler's  administration 
approved  the  proceedings  of  the  General  in  setting  the  slaves  and  their  families 
free. 
********* 

"  In  1838  General  Taylor  captured  a  number  of  negroes  said  to  be  fugitive  slaves. 
Citizens  of  Florida,  learning  what  had  been  done,  immediately  gathered  around 
his  camp,  intending  to  secure  the  slaves  who  had  escaped  from  them.  General 
Taylor  told  them  that  he  had  no  prisoners  but  '  prisoners  of  war.'  The  claimants 
then  desired  to  look  at  them  in  order  to  determine  whether  he  was  holding  their 
slaves  as  prisoners.  The  veteran  warrior  replied  that  no  man  should  examine  his 
prisoners  for  such  a  purpose ;  and  he  ordered  them  to  depart.  This  action,  being 
reported  to  the  War  Department,  was  approved  by  the  Executive.  The  slaves, 
however,  were  sent  west,  and  set  free." 

Perhaps  the  clearest  and  fullest  exposition  of  the  war 
powers  of  the  Government,  to  be  found  in  any  paper,  previous 
to  the  civil  war,  is  contained  in  a  speech  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  made  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  26th 
of  May,  1836.  This  speech  of  this  learned  jurist  and  states- 
man is  very  remarkable,  as  containing  many  of  the  positions 
taken  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  support  of  the  extraordinary  powers 
he  was  compelled  to  use  during  the  war.  Mr.  Adams  said  : 


712  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"[Sir,  In  the  authority  given  to  Congress  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
to  declare  war,  all  the  powers  incidental  to  war  are,  by  necessary  implication,  con- 
ferred npon  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  Now,  the  powers  incidental  to 
war  are  derived,  not  from  their  internal  municipal  source,  but  from  the  laws  and 
usages  of  nations. 

"  There  are,  then,  Mr.  Chairman,  in  the  authority  of  Congress  and  of  the  Executive, 
two  classes  of  powers,  altogether  different  in  their  nature,  and  often  incompatible 
ivith  each  other — the  war  power  and  the  peace  power.  The  peace  power  is  limited 
by  regulations  and  restricted  by  provisions  prescribed  within  the  Constitution  it- 
•elf.  The  war  power  is  limited  only  by  the  laws  and  usages  oi  nations.  This  power 
IB  tremendous ;  it  is  strictly  constitutional,  but  it  breaks  down  every  barrier  so  anxiously 
trectcd  for  the  protection  of  liberty,  of  property,  and  of  life.  This,  sir,  is  the  power 
which  authorizes  you  to  pass  the  resolutions  now  before  you,  and,  in  my  opinion, 
no  other.  »  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"  But  the  war  power  of  Congress  over  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  is 
yet  far  more  extensive.  Suppose  the  case  of  a  servile  war,  complicated,  as  to  some 
extent  it  is  even  now,  with  an  Indian  war ;  suppose  Congress  were  called  to  raise 
armies,  to  supply  money  from  the  whole  Union  to  suppress  a  servile  insurrection  ;  would 
they  have  no  authority  to  Interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery?  The  issue  of 
a  servile  war  may  be  disastrous ;  it  may  become  necessary  for  the  master  of  the 
slave  to  recognize  his  emancipation  by  a  treaty  of  peace ;  can  it  for  an  instant  be 
pretended  that  Congress,  in  such  a  contingency,  would  have  no  authority  to  inter- 
fere with  the  institution  of  slavery,  in  any  way,  in  the  States  ?  Why,  it  would  be 
equivalent  to  saying  that  Congress  has  no  constitutional  authority  to  make 
peace.  I  suppose  a  more  portentous  case,  certainly  within  the  bounds  of  possi- 
bility—I  would  to  God  I  could  say,  not  within  the  bounds  of  probability. 

"  Do  you  imagine  that  your  Congress  will  have  no  constitutional  authority  to 
interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery,  in  any  way,  in  the  States  of  this  con- 
federacy ?  Sir,  they  must  and  will  interfere  with  it — perhaps  to  sustain  it  by  war, 
perhaps  to  abolish  it  by  treaties  of  peace  ;  and  they  will  not  only  possess  the  con- 
stitutional power  so  to  interfere,  but  they  will  be  bound  in  duty  to  do  it,  by  the 
express  provisions  of  the  Constitution  itself.  From  the  instant  that  your  slave- 
holding  States  become  the  theatre  of  a  war,  civil,  servile,  or  foreign  war,  from  that 
instant  the  war  powers  of  Congress  extend  to  interference  with  the  institution  of 
slavery,  in  every  way  by  which  it  can  be  interfered  with,  from  a  claim  of  in- 
demnity for  slaves  taken  or  destroyed,  to  the  cession  of  States  burdened  with 
slavery  to  a  foreign  power. 

"  I  might  furnish  a  thousand  proofs  to  show  that  the  pretensions  of  gentlemen 
to  the  sancity  of  their  municipal  institutions  under  a  state  of  actual  invasion  and 
of  actual  war,  whether  servile,  civil,  or  foreign,  is  wholly  unfounded,  and  that  the 
laws  of  war  do,  in  all  such  cases,  take  the  precedence.  I  lay  this  down  as  the  law 
of  nations.  I  say  that  military  authority  takes,  for  the  time,  the  place  of  all  muni- 
cipal institution,  and  slavery  among  the  rest :  and  that,  under  that  state  of  things,  so 
far  from  its  being  true  that  the  States  where  slavery  exists  have  the  exclusive 
management  of  the  subject,  not  only  the  President  of  the  United  States,  but  the 
commander  of  the  army,  has  power  to  order  the  universal  emancipation  of  the 
slaves." 

The  right,  under  the  law  of  nations,  to  emancipate  the 
slaves  of  an  enemy,  will  probably  not  hereafter  be  seriously 
questioned.  The  duly  of  the  Executive  to  do  this,  under  the 
circumstances  which  existed  when  the  power  was  exercised 
by  President  Lincoln,  as  a  means  of  saving  the  republic,  is 
still  more  clear. 

During  the  rebellion,  and  especially  in  the  earlier  stages, 
the  question  was  much  discussed,  whether  the  President  could 
rightfully  suspend  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus. 


SUSPENSION  OF  THE  HABEAS  CORPUS.  713 

In  Great  Britain,  Parliament  alone  can  suspend  the  writ; 
but  it  has  been  the  practice  there,  when  the  national  safety 
requires  its  suspension  and  Parliament  is  not  in  session,  for 
the  Ministers  of  the  Crown  to  suspend  it  and  make  arrests; 
and  on  the  assembling  of  Parliament,  ask  an  act  of  indem- 
nity, and  that  the  writ  be  suspended.*  It  is  curious  to  trace 
the  similarity  of  discussion  and  of  topics  in  the  debates 
upon  bills  of  indemnity,  and  authorizing  the  suspension  of 
the  Habeas  Corpus  in  the  British  Parliament,  and  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  during  the  rebellion.  When, 
in  1689,  the  writ  had  been  suspended  in  England,  in  discuss- 
ing a  Bill  authorizing  a  continuance  of  the  suspension, 
Hampden  said:  "  We  are  in  war,  and  if  we  make  only  use 
of  that  as  if  we  were  in  full  peace,  you  may  be  destroyed 
without  remedy." 

Another  member  said :  "  Let  the  danger  be  ever  so  great, 
I  would  not  dispense  with  the  Habeas  Corpus  but  by 
Parliament"! 

The  writ  has  been  frequently  suspended  in  England,  when- 
ever the  Government  has  been  threatened  by  conspiracy, 
sedition,  or  treason.  In  the  recess  of  Parliament  it  has  been 
suspended  by  Ministers  of  the  Crown,  but  in  all  cases  the 
sanction  of  Parliament  has  been  asked  and  given. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  made  by  those 
who  had  learned  their  lessons  of  liberty  under  the  old  securities 
of  the  British  MagnaCharta,  and  the  "free  system  of  English 
laws,"  and  it  contained  this  provision  :  "  The  privilege  of  the 
writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless,  when  in 
case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it." 

In  1807,  at  the  time  of  Burr's  conspiracy,  Congress  being 
in  session,  a  bill  passed  the  Senate  authorizing  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  writ,  but  did  not  pass  the  House,  because  before  it 
was  acted  upon,  the  necessity  for  it  ceased.  It  was  held  by 
Chief  Justice  Marshall,  in  the  case  of  Bollman,  that  it  was 
for  the  Legislature  to  decide  when  "  the  public  safety  might 
require  the  suspension  of  the  writ."J 

*  1  Blackstone's  Com.  223.      3  Macauley's  England  87 
f5  Cobbitt's  Parliamentary  Debates,  267. 
I  See  Ex.pa.rte  Bollman,  4  Cranch  B, 


714       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

Arrests  were  made  with  the  knowledge  and  at  the  instance 
of  Washington,  during  the  Revolution,  and  the  officer  having 
the  arrested  persons  in  charge  refused  to  obey  the  writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus  issued  by  the  State  Judges.  Subsequently, 
the  acts  of  arrests  were  sanctioned  by  the  Legislatures  of  the 
States  in  which  they  occurred. 

The  law,  I  think,  may  be  regarded  as  now  settled,  that  the 
Executive  may,  when  Congress  is  not  in  session,  suspend  the 
writ,  subject  to  the  approval  of  Congress. 

When,  in  1861,  the  life  of  the  Nation  was  threatened,  and 
the  public  safety  required  the  suspension  of  the  writ ;  when 
on  one  side  of  the  Capital,  and  separated  from  it  only  by  the 
Potomac,  was  Virginia  in  revolt ;  and  on  the  other,  Maryland,  a 
large  portion  of  her  citizens  in  league  with  traitors;  and 
Washington  itself  full  of  spies  and  rebels ;  President  Lincoln 
did,  as  had  been  done  by  William  the  III.  of  England, 
suspend  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  and  caused  the  arrest 
of  such  persons,  as  in  his  judgment,  the  public  safety 
required.  General  Banks  arrested  George  P.  Kane,  Chief 
of  Police  of  Baltimore,  and  others;  and  General  McClellan 
arrested  the  Maryland  Legislature,  to  prevent  them  from 
passing  an  act  of  secession;  and  other  parties  were  arrested 
in  different  sections  of  the  country. 

Among  others,  John  Merryman,of  Baltimore,  was  arrested 
while  holding  a  commission  from  the  Rebel  Government,  and 
recruiting  troops  to  fight  against  the  Republic. 

Chief  Justice  Taney  issued  a  writ,  which  General  Cad- 
wallader,  under  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  War, 
refused  to  obey.  The  Chief  Justice  held  that  the  President 
had  not  the  constitutional  right  to  suspend  the  writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus,  and  that  the  arrest  was  illegal.*  The  sym- 
pathies of  the  Chief  Justice  were  so  notoriously  with  the 
slaveholders,  that  his  opinion  has  not  received  from  the 
Bench  or  the  Bar  of  the  country,  the  consideration  which 
would  have  been  given  to  it  upon  a  question  of  law,  not 
connected  with  politics. 

The  Attorney-General,  Mr.  Bates,  gave  an  able  and  elabor- 

*See  McPherson's  History,  p.  158. 


SUSPENSION  OF  THE  HABEAS  CORPUS.  715 

ate  opinion,  sustaining  the  right  of  the  President  to  suspend 
the  privilege  of  the  Habeas  Corpus,  as  he  was  especially 
charged,  by  the  Constitution,  with  the  public  safety.  He 
also  held,  that  the  President,  as  Comraander-in-Chief,  in  car- 
rying on  war,  might  declare  martial  law,  and  thus  suspend 
this  writ.  In  this  judgment,  Horace  Binney,  a  distinguished 
jurist  of  Philadelphia,  concurred,  as  did  Judge  Parsons, 
who  held,  that  the  President  was  vested  with  discretion  to 
suspend  the  writ* 

No  final  action  of  Congress  was  had  upon  the  subject, 
until  March,  1863.  At  the  Third  Session  of  the  Thirty- 
Seventh  Congress,  an  act  was  passed,  providing  that  during 
the  rebellion  the  President,  whenever  in  his  judgment  the 
public  safety  might  require  it,  was  authorized  to  suspend  the 

*  McPherson,  p.  162.  Judge  Parsons  says :  "  The  first  and  most  important  ques* 
tion  is,  who  may  decide  when  the  exigency  occurs,  and  who  may,  if  it  occur?, 
declare  martial  law.  On  this  point  I  have  myself  no  doubt.  The  clause  on  this  subject 
Is  contained  in  the  first  article  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  article  relates  principally 
to  Congress.  Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  Congress  may,  when  the  necessity 
occurs,  suspend  the  right  to  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing, 
declare  or  authorize  martial  law.  The  question  is,  has  the  President  this  power? 
The  Constitution  does  not  expressly  give  this  power  to  any  department  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, nor  does  it  expressly  reserve  it  to  Congress,  although,  in  the  same  article, 
it  does  make  this  express  reservation  as  to  some  of  the  provisions  contained  in  the 
article.  This  may  be  a  mere  accidental  omission,  but  it  seems  to  me  more  reason- 
able and  more  consonant  with  the  principles  of  legal  interpretation  to  infer  from 
It  an  absence  of  intention  to  confine  it  to  Congress.  And  I  am  confirmed  in  this 
opinion  by  the  nature  of  the  case. 

"  The  very  instances  specified  as  those  in  which  the  right  to  habeas  corpus  may  be 
suspended  (invasion  and  rebellion)  are  precisely  those  in  which  the  reasons  for  doing 
so  may  come  suddenly,  the  necessity  of  determination  be  immediate,  and  a  cer- 
tainty exist  that  the  suspension  will  be  useless,  and  the  whole  mischief  which  the 
suspension  might  prevent,  take  place  if  there  be  any  delay.  To  guard  against  the 
suspension  by  limiting  the  cases,  as  is  done,  seems  to  me  wise ;  to  obstruct  it  by 
requring  the  delay  necessarily  arising  from  legislative  action  would  seem  to  be 
unreasonable.  It  is  true  that  my  construction  gives  to  the  President,  in  the  two 
cases  of  rebellion  and  invasion,  a  vast  power ;  but  so  is  all  military  power.  It  is  a 
vast  power  to  send  into  a  rebellions  district  15,000  soldiers,  as  Washington  did,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  meet  the  rebels,  and,  if  necessary,  kill  as  many  as  they  could.  But  it 
was  a  power  which  belonged  to  him,  of  necessity  as  President ;  and  so,  I  think,  did 
the  power  of  martial  law.  If  it  did  not,  then,  when  his  troops  had  captured  the 
armed  rebels  whom  they  were  sent  to  subdue,  the  nearest  magistrate  who  could 
issue  a  writ  of  habeas  carpus  might  have  summoned  the  officer  having  them  in 
charge  to  bring  them  before  him,  and  might  have  liberated  them  at  once  to  fight 
again,  and  this  as  often  as  they  were  captured,  until  a  law  could  be  passed 
by  Congress. 

"If  the  power  belongs  to  the  President,  he  may  exercise  it  at  his  discretion,  when 
either  invasion  or  rebellion  occurs,  subject,  however,  to  two  qualifications:  One, 
a  universal  one,  applicable  to  his  exercise  of  every  power.  If  he  abuses  it,  or  exer- 
cises it  wrongfully,  he  is  liable  to  impeachment.  The  other  is  more  a  matter  of 
discretion  or  propriety.  I  suppose  that  he  would,  of  course,  report  his  doings  in 
such  a  matter  to  Congress  when  he  could,  and  be  governed  by  their  action." 


716       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

privilege  of  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  in  any  case,  through- 
out the  United  States  or  any  part  thereof.  Another  section 
provided,  that  any  order  of  the  President,  or  under  his 
authority,  made  at  any  time  during  the  present  rebellion, 
should  be  a  defence  in  all  courts  to  any  action  or  prosecution, 
civil  or  criminal,  for  any  arrest  or  seizure,  under  or  by  virtue 
of  such  order.*  This  act  has  been  sustained  by  the  courts. 

Much  was  said  during  the  conflict,  much  is  still  said  in 
regard  to  the  status  of  the  rebellious  States.  In  the  begin- 
ning, the  rebellion  was  treated  by  the  Government  as  an 
insurrection  of  "  certain  persons  "  in  the  seceding  States,  but 
it  very  rapidly  assumed  the  magnitude  of  a  civil  war,  involv- 
ing all  residing  in  the  territory  of  the  insurgent  States  in  its 
consequences,  and  making  that  territory,  and  the  authority 
which  controlled  it,  a  public  enemy.  The  insurgents  claimed 
the  rights,  and  became  subject,  for  the  time  being,  to  the 
laws  by  which  belligerents  treat  each  other  in  time  of  war. 
All  departments  of  the  Government  treated  the  insurgents 
as  public  enemies.  The  question  was  settled  judicially  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  March,  1863. f 

The  court  held  "That  where  the  course  of  justice  is  inter- 
rupted by  revolt,  rebellion,  or  insurrection,  so  that  the  courts 
of  justice  cannot  be  kept  open,  civil  war  exists,  and  hostilities 
may  be  prosecuted  on  the  same  footing  as  if  those  opposing 
the  Government  were  foreign  enemies."  "All  persons  resid- 
ing in  this  territory  (the  insurgent  States)  are  liable  to  be 
treated  as  enemies.  *  *  *  They  are  none  the  less 
enemies  because  they  are  traitors." 

"What  rights  had  the  United  States  over  the  subjugated 
territory  lately  in  rebellion  ?  We  have  seen  that  President 
Lincoln,  for  the  time  being,  governed  the  territory,  exercis- 
ing all  the  power  over  it  usually  exercised  by  a  conqueror. 
He  did  this  under  the  law  of  nations.  He  had  the  right  to 
do  it,  as  a  portion  of  the  United  States,  where  the  loyal  re- 
publican government  had  first  been  overthrown  by  a  hostile 
power  which  made  war  upon  the  United  States.  After  con- 
quering and  subduing  that  hostile  power,  it  became  his  duty 

*  McPherson,  p.  183. 

f  See  the  case  of  the  Hiawatha,  7  Black's  Rep.,  667,  etc. 


THE   RIGHT   TO   GOVERN   THE    REBELLIOUS   STATES.         717 

to  govern  the  country,  subject,  of  course,  to  the  control  of 
Congress,  until  republican  State  Governments,  loyal  to  the 
Union,  could  be  reestablished. 

Among  the  cases  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court,  bearing 
on  this  subject,  are  the  following  :  The  case  of  Fleming  vs. 
Page.*  In  this  case,  the  United  States,  being  at  war  with 
Mexico,  conquered  and  took  possession  of  the  State  of 
Tamaulipas,  and  the  court  held  that  it  was,  for  the  time 
being,  under  the  military  government  of  the  President.  He, 
by  his  subordinates,  established  a  Custom  House,  and  col- 
lected duties,  and  these  impositions  were  held  valid  by  the 
Supreme  Court.  In  the  case  of  Cross  vs.  Harrison,  16  How- 
ard Rep.,  187,  San  Francisco,  in  California,  having  been 
captured  by  the  United  States,  the  President  authorized  the 
military  and  naval  commanders  of  our  forces  to  form  a  civil 
government  for  the  conquered  territory,  and  to  impose  duties 
on  imports,  etc. 

Subsequently,  California  was  ceded  by  treaty  to  the  United 
States,  and  the  military  authority  and  government  continued. 
The  court  held,  among  other  things,  that  the  President  might 
dissolve  that  authority  by  withdrawing  the  army,  and  that 
"  Congress  might  have  put  an  end  to  it."  This  not  having  been 
done,  the  acts  of  the  military  authorities  imposing  and 
collecting  duties  were  held  valid. 

The  same  principles  were  applied  and  sustained  in  the 
government  of  New  Mexico. 

"  Upon  the  acquisition,  in  the  year  1846,  by  the  arms  of 
the  United  States,  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  the 
civil  government  of  this  Territory  having  been  overthrown, 
the  officer,  General  Kearney,  holding  possession  for  the 
United  States  in  virtue  of  the  power  of  conquest  and  occu- 
pancy, and  in  obedience  to  the  duty  of  maintaining  the 
security  of  the  inhabitants  in  their  persons  and  property, 
ordained  under  the  sanction  and  authority  of  the  United 
States  a  provisional  or  temporary  government  for  the  acquired 
Territory.  *  *  *  By  the  substitution  of  a  new  sup- 
remacy, although  the  former  political  relations  of  the  inhabit- 
ants were  dissolved,  their  private  relations,  and  their  rights 

*  9  Howard  Rep.,  614. 


718  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

arising  from  contract  or  usage,  remained  in  full  force  and 
unchanged,  except  as  far  as  they  were  in  their  nature  and  char- 
acter found  to  be  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States,  or  with  any  regulations  which  the  conquering  and 
occupying  authority  should  retain."* 

Such  is  the  law  of  nations  as  expounded  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  sustained  by  the  highest 
judicial  authorities  everywhere.  In  accordance  with  the 
principles  sanctioned  by  these  decisions,  and  the  action  of 
the  administration  of  both  President  Lincoln  and  his  succes- 
sor, it  may  be  assumed  as  settled,  that  the  Confederates  were 
public  enemies,  the  Rebel  Governments,  both  State  and  Con- 
federate, having  been  overthrown,  the  United  States,  in 
obedience  to  the  duty  of  maintaining  the  security  of  the  in- 
habitants, in  their  persons  and  property,  and  to  carry  out  the 
obligation  to  guarantee  to  each  State,  a  government,  repub- 
lican in  form,  and  to  restore  them  ultimately  to  the  Union, 
rightfully  ordained  provisional  governments  for  the  rebellious 
territory. 

Much  of  the  confusion,  and  difference  of  opinion  among 
the  people  in  regard  to  the  condition  or  status  of  the  Rebel 
States,  has  arisen  from  the  ambiguity  of  language.  Upon 
the  much  mooted  question  whether  the  Rebel  States  were  in 
the  Union  or  out  of  it,  during  and  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
there  is  probably  really  less  difference  of  opinion  among  con- 
tending parties,  than  the  persons  composing  those  parties 
suppose. 

The  land  of  the  eleven  seceding  States  has  always  consti- 
tuted a  part  of  the  United  States,  and  has  never  been  out  of 
the  Union ;  nothing  but  successful  revolution  could  take  it 
out.  But  "  a  State"  within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution, 
as  a  State  entitled  to  representation  in  Congress,  and  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  Electoral  Colleges,  is  the  corporation  formed 
by  the  people,  for  the  purpose  of  local  State  Government. 
Were  the  eleven  seceding  State  corporations,  which  made 
up  the  Confederacy  during  the  war,  States  in  the  Union ! 
Each  of  them  had,  as  a  corporation,  withdrawn  from  the 
Union,  organized  a  de  facto  State  Government  in  hostility 
to  the  Union,  and  was  to  the  extent  of  their  ability,  carrying 

»  20  Howard  8.  C.  Rep.,  176. 


THE  RIGHT  TO  GOVERN  REBELLIOUS  STATES.  719 

on  war  against  it.  "Were  these  de  facto  State  Governments  at 
that  time  States  in  the  Union,  and  entitled  to  representation 
in  Congress,  and  to  vote  in  the  Electoral  Colleges  ?  All  will 
answer  no.  So  the  courts,  and  every  department  of  the 
Government  have  always  held. 

"When  these  Rebel  Governments,  State  and  Confederate, 
were  overthrown,  in  what  way  were  new,  loyal,  and  repub- 
lican State  Governments  to  be  organized  ?  The  State  Gov- 
ernments existing  before  the  war,  had  rebelled,  and  consti- 
tuted the  State  Government  de  facto  during  the  war,  and  being 
now  overthrown,  there  were  no  State  Governments  remain- 
ing in  the  territory  lately  in  rebellion.  The  President,  in  his 
proclamations  appointing  Provisional  Governors,  after  the 
surrender  of  Lee  and  Johnston,  says  that  the  rebellion  had 
" deprived  the  people  of  these  States  of  all  civil  government" 
"When  in  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1865,  the  de  facto 
Governors  of  States  lately  in  rebellion,  issued  proclamations, 
calling  the  de  facto  Legislatures  of  the  States  to  meet,  the 
military  authorities  of  the  United  States  prohibited  such 
meetings,  deposed  the  Governors  and  other  officers,  and 
appointed  others  in  their  place,  and  required  that  proceed- 
ings to  establish  civil  government  should  start  fresh  and 
new  from  the  loyal  people,  under  the  authority  and  direction 
of  the  National  Government.  Not  only  this,  but  the  Presi- 
dent in  his  proclamation,  declared  all  acts  and  proceedings 
of  the  political,  military,  and  civil  organizations  "  of  the 
late  Confederate  and  State  Governments  null  and  void."  * 

The  right  to  impose  conditions  upon  the  people  of  the 
States  lately  in  rebellion,  is  scarcely  questioned  by  any  loyal 
man  ;  what  department  of  the  National  Government  shall 
determine  what  those  conditions  shall  be,  is  a  question  about 
which  there  is  greater  difference  of  opinion.  The  adminis- 
tration of  Andrew  Johnson  dictated  to  the  seceding  States 
the  leading  provisions  which  they  were  required  to  incorpo- 
rate into  their  new  State  Constitutions.  They  were  required, 
among  other  things,  to  ratify  the  Constitutional  amendment 
prohibiting  slavery,  and  to  repudiate  the  rebel  debt.  Mr. 
Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  wrote  to  Provisional  Governor 
Perry,  of  Sputh  Carolina,  under  date  of  November  6,  1865, 

•  See  Proclamation  of  May  9, 1865 


720  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

"  The  President  considers  the  acceptance  by  South  Carolina 
of  the  amendment,  (Constitutional  amendment  abolishing 
slavery,)  as  indispensable  to  a  restoration  of  her  relations  with 
the  other  States  of  the  Union." 

The  question  has  assumed  very  grave  importance,  whether, 
under  the  Constitution,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  President,  or 
Congress,  to  prescribe  the  terms  and  conditions  upon  which 
the  States  lately  in  rebellion  might  return  to  the  Union. 
Whatever  in  this  direction  was  done  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  was 
always  done,  subject  to  the  approval  and  sanction  of  Con- 
gress ;  and  his  successor,  up  to  a  late  day  in  1865,  seems  to 
have  proceeded  upon  the  same  idea. 

The  Secretary  of  State,  under  direction  of  the  President, 
on  the  12th  of  September,  1865,  wrote  to  Provisional  Gov- 
ernor Marvin,  of  Florida,  "  It  must  be,  however,  distinctly 
understood  that  the  restoration,  to  which  your  proclamation 
refers,  will  be  subject  to  the  decision  of  Congress." 

IB  the  duty  of  prescribing  terms  and  conditions  upon 
which  the  lately  rebellious  people  of  the  seceding  States  may 
return  to  the  Union,  an  Executive,  or  a  Legislative  act  ?  Who 
is  to  judge  whether  a  people  presenting  a  Constitution,  and 
asking  recognition  and  admission  into  the  Union,  have 
adopted  a  Constitution  republican  in  form  ? 

This  question  has  been  settled  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  by  Congress,  and  by  the  people. 
"Whether  a  State,  appearing  with  her  Senators  and  Members, 
has  a  Constitution,  republican  in  form,  and  whether  she 
shall  be  admitted,  is  a  question  which  must  be  settled  by 
the  law-making  power — Congress,  with  the  approval  of  the 
President,  or,  by  Congress  passing  a  bill,  nothwithstanding 
the  objections  of  the  President. 

This  question  was  settled  by  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the 
celebrated  Rhode  Island  case.*  This  case  arose  from  an 
attempt  made  by  a  part,  perhaps  a  majority,  of  the  people  of 
that  State,  to  set  up  a  new  State  Government,  formed  by  the 
voluntary  act  of  the  people,  without  any  enabling  act  either 
of  Congress  or  the  State;  and  which,  in  its  attempt,  met  with 
armed  resistance  from  the  existing  State  Government. 

*.i,uther  v.  Borden,  7  Howard's  B.  p.  1. 


THE  RIGHT  TO  GOVERN  THE  REBELLIOUS  STATES.  721 

The  Supreme  Court,  after  quoting  Section  4  of  Article 
IV.  of  the  Constitution,  says:  "  Under  this  article  of  the 
Constitution,  it  rests  with  Congress  to  decide  what  government 
is  the  established  one  in  a  State ;  for,  as  the  United  States 
guarantee  to  each  State  a  republican  government,  Congress 
must  necessarily  decide  what  government  is  established  in 
a  State  before  it  can  determine  whether  it  is  republican  or 
not ;  and  when  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  a  State 
are  admitted  into  the  councils  of  the  Union,  the  authority  of 
the  Government  under  which  they  are  appointed,  as  well  as  its 
republican  character,  are  recognized  by  the  proper  constitutional 
authority,  and  its  decision  is  binding  upon  every  other  depart- 
ment of  the  Government" 

This  is  in  accordance  with  the  uniform  practice  of  the 
Government  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  Territories. 

From  this  brief  and  imperfect  sketch,  or  outline,  of  the 
war  powers,  claimed  and  exercised  during  the  rebellion,  it 
is  obvious  that  many  of  them  were  novel,  and  some  of  them 
widely  conflicting  with  public  opinion  formed  in  the  quiet 
days  of  peace.  President  Lincoln  assumed  the  exercise  of 
these  great  powers  cautiously,  often  reluctantly,  unwilling, 
except  under  the  pressure  of  supreme  necessity,  to  establish 
precedents  so  liable  to  abuse  by  more  ambitious,  unscrupulous, 
and  arbitrary  successors. 

The  action  of  the  Government  during  the  rebellion 
established  the  fact  to  all,  that  our  republican  institutions, 
while  affording  the  amplest  security  and  protection  to  the 
citizen  in  time  of  peace,  was  as  powerful  and  as  efficient  as  a 
more  arbitrary  government  in  time  of  civil  war.  That  the 
Commander-in-Chief  and  the  war-making  power  had  con- 
trol over  the  resources,  the  men,  material,  and  money  of  the 
Republic,  and  that  our  Government  was  as  able  and  efficient 
as  any  to  suppress  insurrection  and  cope  with  civil  war. 

The  world  beheld  with  surprise,  and  some  astonishment,  a 
free  Republic,  acting  in  accordance  with  its  organic  law  as  em- 
bodied in  its  written  Constitution,  contending  against  more  than 
eight  millions  of  its  rebellious  subjects ;  wieldingvast  armies 
and  navies ;  controlling  and  concentrating,  wth  unsurpassed 
energy,  the  immense  physical  resources  of  twenty  millions 


722       LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  SLAVERY. 

of  loyal  subjects,  and  using  them  with  complete  success  ;  and 
doing  this  through  the  same  instrumentality  which,  in  time 
of  pence,  had  advanced  the  growth,  prosperity  and  grandeur 
of  the  American  people  more  rapidly  than  was  ever  before 
known  in  the  history  of  nations.  There  can,  I  think,  be  no 
doubt,  that  the  conviction  of  the  strength  of  our  republican 
form  of  government,  founded  upon  a  just  appreciation  of 
what  it  has  done,  and  especially  of  its  war  powers  under  the 
Constitution,  contributed  greatly  to  the  determination  by 
foreign  governments  not  to  interfere  in  our  affairs. 

The  terrible  events  of  the  war  have  educated  the  people  to 
broader  and  wiser  views  of  the  character  of  our  Constitutional 
Government.  The  great  body  of  the  people  have  been  brought 
to  entertain  new  views  of  their  Constitution,  and  to  respect 
and  to  revere  it  more  highly  than  ever.  They  have  learned, 
in  the  trials  of  the  late  contest,  that  the  rights,  privileges,  and 
immunities  of  States  and  citizens  in  the  time  of  peace,  are 
materially  modified  in  time  of  war ;  that  people  and  States 
which  make  war  upon  the  Government,  become  public 
enemies,  and  thus  repudiating,  lose  the  rights  guaranteed  to 
them  in  time  of  peace  under  the  Constitution,  and  are  to  be 
treated  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  war.  These  doctrines, 
before  the  termination  of  the  war,  were  adopted  and  acted 
upon  by  the  President,  the  Cabinet,  by  Congress  and  by  the 
Supreme  Court. 

Although  it  is  difficult  to  -define  with  exact  precision  all 
that  has  been  settled  by  the  war,  yet  most  of  the  following 
propositions  have  been  adopted  by  the  President,  the  Cabi- 
net, Congress,  and  the  Supreme  Court,  and  few  of  them,  it  is 
believed,  will  be  questioned  hereafter : 

First,  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  are  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land,  anything  in  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  any  State  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Second,  That  the  United  States  constitute  one  Nation ; 
that  the  States  are  subordinate  parts  of  the  one  Republic; 
that  allegiance  to  the  National  Government  is  constitutionally 
due  from  every  citizen  ;  and  that  no  State  can  by  secession, 
nullification,  nor  by  any  act  short  of  successful  revolution, 


WHAT  HAS  BEEN  SETTLED  BY  THE  WAR.  723 

absolve  any  citizen  from  that  allegiance  and  the  obligation 
to  obey  the  laws  of  the  Nation. 

Third,  That  States  and  citizens  of  States  rebelling  against 
and  making  war  upon  the  United  States,  become  public 
enemies,  and  are  not  entitled  while  such,  to  set  up  the  priv- 
ileges of  citizens,  under  the  Constitution,  to  shield  them 
from  liability  as  public  enemies. 

Fourth,  That  the  right  to  emancipate  the  slaves  of  a  public 
enemy,  in  time  of  war,  is  legal  according  the  law  of  nations. 

Fifth,  The  .Rebel  States  having  withdrawn  from  the  Union, 
and  having  through  their  State  Governments  in  their  cor- 
porate capacity,  set  up  a  hostile  Government  de  facto,  upon 
the  soil  of  the  United  States,  and  organized  a  Confed- 
erate Government  de  facto  within  its  jurisdiction,  it  became 
the  duty  of  the  National  authorities  to  overthrow  and  subju- 
gate these  usurping  and  hostile  Governments  and  expel  them 
from  their  territory. 

Sixth,  Such  hostile  de  facto  Governments,  State  and  Con- 
federate, being  overthrown  and  expelled,  it  thereupon  became 
the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  govern  the  territory  consti- 
tuting the  insurgent  States,  until  Governments,  republican 
in  form  could  be  organized  and  established  in  such  States. 

Seventh,  That  during  the  continuance  of  war,  and  while 
such  hostile  State  and  Confederate  de  facto  Governments  were 
in  existence,  they  were  not  entitled  to  participate  in  the  Gov- 
ernment they  were  thus  seeking  to  overthrow.  When  such 
hostile  organizations  were  subjugated,  it  became  the  duty%  of 
the  United  States  to  organize,  establish,  and  guarantee  to 
such  States,  State  Governments  republican  in  form ;  and 
that  until  such  new  State  Governments  were  organized, 
loyal  to  the  Union,  and  republican  in  form,  of  which  Con- 
gress must  determine,  such  portions  of  the  Union  are  not  of 
their  own  motion  and  independent  of  the  action  of  Congress, 
entitled  to  representation  in  Congress  or  participation  in  the 
Electoral  College.  In  the  language  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  is  for 
Congress  to  say  "when  or  whether  members  should  be 
admitted  to  seats  in  Congress  from  those  States."  * 

*  That  secession,  and  nullification  are  treason,  has  been  established  by  the  judi- 
ciary of  last  resort,  the  conflict  of  arms.  That  which  would  have  been  done  by 
Mr.  Lincoln,  had  he  lived,  and  what  was  expected  on  the  accession  of  Mr.  Johnson. 


724  LINCOLN  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OP  SLAVERY. 

The  national  authority  vindicated  by  war  and  established 
by  victory,  is  now  placed  on  solid  foundations,  maintaining 
the  rights  of  the  States  to  manage  their  local  affairs,  our 
Government  in  the  hands  of  a  pure  and  wise  man,  like  Lin- 
coln, is  the  strongest  and  best  in  the  world.  It  is  the  strongest, 
because  its  officers  are  the  servants  of  the  people,  and  the 
Constitution  is  the  highest  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
people  ;  and  the  war  has  shown  that  the  people  will  rise  to 
its  support  and  maintenance  with  an  energy  unknown  under 
any  other  form  of  government.  When  before  have  the  people 
rose  by  the  million,  and  voluntarily  gone  into  the  army  to 
sustain  a  government  ?  When  before  have  any  people  as- 
sumed voluntarily  such  enormous  pecuniary  burdens  to 


was  a  solemn,  imposing  judicial  trial,  conviction,  and  sentence  of  traitors.  The 
one  act  of  his  life  to  which  Mr.  Andrew  Johnson  owed  the  Vice  Presidency,  was 
the  bold  denunciation  of  traitors  which  he  uttered  in  the  Senate  on  the  2d  of 
March,  1861.  The  people,  when  he  entered  the  Executive  Chair,  remembered  that 
he  then  and  there  said  "  were  I  President,  I  would  do  as  Jefferson  did  in  1806,  with 
Aaron  Burr.  I  would  have  them  (the  conspirators)  arrested,  and  if  convicted 
within  the  meaning  and  scope  of  the  Const  ituiion,  by  the  eternal  God  I  would  execute 
them."  (  Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  Thirty-sixth  Congress,  p.  1354.) 

He  did  not  for  a  few  weeks  after  his  accession  permit  the  people  to  forget  thes» 
declarations.  In  his  reply  to  the  Illinois  delegation,  and  on  other  occasions  his 
language  was  so  vehement,  passionate  and  denunciatory  against  traitors  that  con- 
siderate people  feared  an  excess  of  violence,  and  an  absence  of  the  sobriety,  dignity 
and  decorum  which  should  ever  characterize  the  Magistrate  in  the  administration 
of  justice.  By  what  means  the  President  has  been  induced  to  take  to  his  confidence 
as  his  most  trusted  advisers,  those  whom  he  threatened  to  hang  as  traitors,  it  is 
not  my  purpose  now  to  investigate.  But  the  thoughtful  people  of  the  United  States 
anticipated  not  for  the  purpose  of  vengeance,  but  for  the  influence  of  example  to 
make  treason  "  odious,'''  and  to  deter  in  future,  bold,  bad  and|ambitious  men  from 
stirring  up  civil  war,  that  the  decision  of  the  sword  would  be  affirmed  by  the  most 
imp<5sing  State  trial  in  modern  times.  The  world  cannot  yet  be  governed  without 
punishing  crime  — and  there  is  no  way  by  which  crime  can  so  effectually  be  made 
"odious,"  as  by  hanging  a  criminal.  But  this  apparently  is  not  to  be.  In  the  present 
condition  of  affairs,  with  the  President  on  the  side  of  the  prisoner,  it  would  be  a 
failure  and  a  farce. 

There  will  be  probably  no  judicial  trial.  The  spectacle  will  be  presented,  of  a 
conspiracy  covering  a  whole  continent  with  blood,  a  rebellion  carrying  death  and 
desolation  throughout  the  land,  without  one  convicted  criminal,  or  one  judicial 
sentence. 

Those  who  plotted  treason  in  the  Cabinet  and  in  Congress,  those  pledged  to  loy- 
alty by  official  oaths,  the  soldiers  who  deserted  their  flag,  those  who  were  responsi- 
ble for  the  horrors  of  Andersonville  and  the  butchery  at  Fort  Pillow,  are  all  to  be 
forgiven,  restored  to  their  forfeited  rights,  and  their  treason,  instead  of  being  made 
odious,  is  to  be  considered  honorable  and  heroic.  The  most  guilty  are  to  be  the 
most  honored;  while  the  faithful  Union  men  are  to  be  driven  into  exile  by  perse- 
cution and  social  ostracism !  The  leading  traitors  are  to  be  canonized  and  held 
up  as  examples  for  the  young  to  emulate  and  follow.  Robert  E.  Lee  is  President  of 
a  college,  and  Raphael  Semmes  a  professor  and  teacher  of  moral  philosophy ! 


TRIAL   OF  THE   CONSTITUTION.  725 

maintain  the  integrity  of  a  nation  ?  In  war,  as  in  peace,  the 
popular  will,  constitutionally  expressed,  is  sovereign. 

While  the  Constitution  protects  the  rights  of  the  humblest 
citizen  in  time  of  peace,  in  time  of  war  it  calls  into  action 
and  concentrates  all  the  physical  resources  of  the  country 
against  a  public  enemy,  by  evoking  the  war  powers  of  the 
Constitution  as  now  interpreted  by  the  ablest  statesmen  and 
most  learned  jurists  of  the  Republic. 

The  trial  of  the  Constitution  has  thus  far  been  a  triumphant 
success.  It  has  passed  successfully  through  the  terrible  trial 
of  the  great  civil  war,  and  thus  far  has  stood  the  still  more 
fearful  ordeal  to  which  it  has  been  subjected  since  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  Lincoln.  What  dangers  it  will  encounter  in 
the  immediate  future,  what  new  perils  arising  from  the 
obstinacy,  temper,  treachery,  or  ambition  of  rulers,  none  can 
clearly  foresee.  But  those  who,  during  the  last  six  eventful 
years,  have  traced  in  all  our  national  affairs  the  guiding, 
overruling  hand  of  Almighty  God,  ofttimes  bringing  good 
out  of  apparent  evil ;  those  who  have  watched  the  generous 
patriotism,  and  the  instinctive  wisdom,  sagacity  and  good 
sense,  and  the  sublime  love  of  country  and  of  liberty  which 
have  marked  the  conduct  of  the  American  people,  will 
"never  despair  of  the  Republic."  God  and  the  people  will 
save  our  country,  in  spite  of  the  wickedness  of  traitors  and 
the  treachery  of  rulers. 


INDEX 


PAOB. 

A-BOLrriONISTS- 

Society.of 28 

Rewards  offered  for 39 

Abolition  party  formed 43 

ADAMS,  J.  Q,— 

Defends  right  of  petition 40 

ALABAMA,  THE 553 

AMERICAN  PARTY 94 

Nom  i  nates  Filmore  and  Donelson    95 

AMNESTY— 

Terms  of  proclaimed  by  the  Presi- 
dent   -470 

ANTI-SLAVERY- 

Natipnal  Convention  in  Philadel- 
phia in  1833;  American  Anti- 
Slavery  Society  organized 38 

ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC— 

Organized 238 

Its  inactivity  under  McClellan 239 

Its  admirable  equipment 307,  321 

Effective  force  of  April  30, 1862 328 

Leaders  of  its  three  Corps 527 

ARNOLD,  ISAAC  N.— 

Introduces  bill  to  prohibit  slav- 
ery in  the  Territories. 259,  260 

ARRESTS— 

Political 392 

Discussed  by  Congress 392 

Defended  by  Lincoln 393,  394 

BAKER,  COL.  OF  OREGON— 

Denounces  Breckinridge 218, 219 

Speech  on  resolution  approving 

of  acts  of  Lincoln 228,  229 

Death 239 

BALL'S  BLUFF 239 

BALTIMORE 199 

Attack  on  Massachusetts  volun- 
teers on  April  19 194 

BANKS,  GEN 237 

Captures  Port  Hudson 411 

BARBARITIES  OF  REBELS,... COO-6,  660 

BELMONT— 

Battle  of 240 

BENJAMIN,  JUDAH  P 54 

BINGHAM,  MR.  OF  OHIO 224 

Speech  on  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  255, 256, 257 

On  enrollment  bill 377 

On  West  Virginia 385 

On  members  from  Louisiana. 387 

BLAIR,  F.  P.,  SEN.— 

Visits  the  Confederate  authorities 
at  Richmond 617,  618 

BLAIR,  F.  P.  JR 238 

Speech 254 

BLAIR,  MONTGOMERY 180 

BLOCKADE  OF  SOUTH'N  PORTS...  202 

"  BLUE  LODGES  " 64 


BOOTH,  J.  W.— 

Assassinates  Lincoln 663 

Shot  by  Corbett 663 

BORDER  STATES— 

Position  of 188 

Refuse  to  aid  in  suppressing  the 

rebellion 194, 196 

BRECKIN  RIDGE,  JOHN  C 63 

Joins  the  secessionists 216 

Expelled  from  the  U.  S.  Senate  ...  218 
BROOKS,  JAMES  G— 

Announces  in  Congress  the  death 

of  slavery 477,  488 

Attack  on  Butler 607 

BROWN,  B.  GRATZ,  OF  MO.— 

Addresses  the  Senate  in  favor  of 

emancipation 453,454 

BROWNING.  O.  H 215,  260 

BROWN,  JOHN 6fi 

Defended  by  Thaddeus  Stevens,...  611 

BUCHANAN 94,  95 

Cabinet  of 98 

Apathy  towards  secession 166 

Cabinet  abets  the  secessionists  ....  154 
Position  regarding  secession..  156, 157 
Southern  members  of  his  Cabinet 

resign 165 

Denies  right  of  Congress  to  coerce 

a  seceded  State, 694,  700 

BUFFALO   ANTI-SLAVERY  .CON- 
VENTION     43 

Causes  defeat  of  Gen.  Cass 45 

BULL  RUN— 

Battle  of 230,  231,  232 

Effects  of 232 

Popular  feeling  after 232,  233 

BURNSIDE,  GEN.  A.  E 345,355 

Assumes  command  of  the  Army 

of  the  Potomac 362 

Starts  for  Fredericksburg 363 

Fails  to  cross  the  Rappahaunock 

for  lack  of  pontoons 363 

Attacks  rebels  at  Fredericksburg.  364 

BUTLER,  GEN.  B.  F 193 

Advises  Buchanan  to  arrest  seces- 
sionists   183 

Marches  into  Baltimore 199 

Declares  negroes  "  contraband  of 

war  " 212 

Captures  Fort  Hatteras 239 

Denounced  by  Mr.  Brooks  as  a 

"  gold  robber  " 607,  608 

Vindicated  by  Messrs.  Boutwcll 

and  Stevens 008,  611 

Relieved  of  his  command 616 

BUREAU     OF    NATIONAL     CUR- 
RENCY— 

Created 491 

Of  military  justice 491 


727 


728 


INDEX. 


PAGB. 

CALIFORNIA. 45 

Adopts  anti-slavery  constitution.    46 
South  opposes  her  admission  into 

the  Union 46 

CAMERON,  SIMON 180 

Orders  to  Gen.  Sherman 238 

Recommends  emancipation  and 

arming  of  slaves 247,  250 

Resigns  his  secretaryship 250 

CA8S.  GEN 45 

Resigns  his  seat  in  Buchanan's 

cabinet 158 

CAVALRY  RAIDS 408 

CHASE,  SENATOR,  OF  OHIO— 
Speech  against   the  Kansas-Ne- 

oraska  bill 52 

Described 180 

Resigns  his  position  as  Secretary 

of  the  Treasury 505 

Wants  to  be  President 506 

Appointed  by  Lincoln  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  United  States 574,  575 

CHICAGO— 

Delegation  of  clergymen  from,  to 

President  Lincoln 2S9 

OOLFAX,  SCHUYLER 223 

Speech  on  West  Virginia 382 

Moves  the  expulsion  of  Alex. 
Long  from  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives   480,  481 

Valedictory  to  38th  Congress..  612,  613 
COLORED  MEN— 

Orders  to  enroll 236 

Free  declared  citizens  of  United 
States  by  Att'y-Gen.  Bates...  304,  305 

Flock  to  the  Union  army 435 

Threatened  by  Jeff.  Davis  with 
punishment  by  State  authority, 

if  captured 435,  436 

Promised  protection  byjLincoln...  436 

Also  by  Grant 436,  437 

To  be  paid  as  white  soldiers 448 

Allowed  to  testify  in  U.  S.  courts 

and  to  carry  mails 455 

Families  of  colored  soldiers  made 

free  by  Congress 571 

COLLAMER.  JACOB 215,  222,  267 

COMMISSIONERS— 

From  rebels  to  Congress 186 

COMMISSIONS,    SANITARY   AND 
CHRISTIAN— 

Organized 492,  493 

Money  expended  by 493 

Fairs  held  by 493,  494 

COMMITTEE— 

On  conduct  of  the  war 251 

COMPROMISE  MEASURES  OF  1850    47 
CONFEDERATE  GOVERNMENT— 

Recognized  as  a  belligerent 204 

CONFISCATION  OF  REBEL  PROP- 
ERTY   273,  276 

Right  ot  denied 701 

CONGRESS— 

The  Thirty-third 48 

Leading  members  of 49 

The  Thirty-seventh,  extra  sess.  of  214 

Second  Session 244 

The  Thirty-seventh,  third  sess.  of  309 
Its  leading  anti-slavery  measures  251 

Its  sympathy  with  Lincoln 395 

Close  of. 395,  396 

Meeting  of  the  Thirty-eighth 442 

Members  of 442,  443 

Second  session  of 562 

Summary  of  doings  of. - 611 

War  powers  of  Congress 692,  723 

CONKLIN,  ROSCOE 224 

CLARK.  DANIEL 273 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  U.  S.— 
Speeches  in  the  Senate   on   the 
amendment  abolishing  slavery 

456.468 


PAOk. 

Vote  on,  iu  Senate 465 

Debates  on,  in  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives   465,  468,  577,  587 

Votes  on 468,586 

Adoption  of  amendment  by  the 

States 591,  592,  593 

History  of,  during  the  war 691,  725 

Its  trial  and  triumph 725 

CONVENTION— 

Republican  National  at  Philadel- 
phia in  1856 94 

Differences  in,  overcome  by  Lin- 
coln   94 

Nominates  Fremont  and  Dayton  95 
Democratic  at  Cincinnati  in  1856..  94 
Republican  State  at  Decatur,  111., 

in  1860  138 

At    Richmond,  Va.,  of  seceders 

from  Baltimore  Democratic' 148 

Charleston  Democratic 140,'  141, 142 

Reports  of  committees  at 141 

Baltimore  Democratic 142, 148 

Republican  National  in  Chicago 

in  1860 142, 145 

Nominates  Lincoln  for  the  Presi- 
dency   145 

Republican  National  at  Baltimore 

499,  501,  502 

Letter  of  Isaac  N.  Arnold  on  at- 
tempts to  postpone 499,  500 

Democratic  National  at  Chicago 

in  1864 503,504 

Platform  of. 504,559 

COX,  S.  S 224/.226,  260 

CRITTENDEN,  JOHN  J 227 

Introduces  into  Congress  a  resolu- 
tion denning  object  of  war 

227,  228,  255,  257,  273 
CURRENCY— 

Depreciation  of  rebel - 437 

Bureau  of  National,  created 491 

CURTIS,  EX- JUDGE  B.  R.— 

Denies  President's  right  to  free 

slaves .' 699 

DAWES,  II.  L 223,254,599 

DAVIS...HENRY  WINTER— 

Speech  on  the  expulsion  of  Alex. 
Long  from  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives    482,  486 

On  reconstruction 472,  599 

DAVIS,  JEFFERSON 99 

Made1  'President   of    Provisional 

Government  of  the  Soutli 164 

Treatment  of  colored  troops 435 

DIPLOMACY  OF  UNITED  STATES— 

During  the  rebellion 206 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA— 

Capital  located  in 31,  253 

Lincoln  introduces  a  bill  for  the 

abolition  of  slavery  in 84,  85 

Slavery  abolished  in 258 

DIX,  JOHN  A 165 

DOUGLAS,  STEPHEN  A 51 

Described 51, 113, 121 

Opposes  Lecompton 100 

Debates  with  Lincoln  at  Spring- 
field, in  1855 89,  90 

Contrasted  with  Lincoln 112 

"Squatter  Sovereignty"  doctrines  113 
The  slave  power  seeks  to  degrade 

him ... 113 

Challenged  by  Lincoln,  in  1858,  to 

debate 119, 120 

Discussions  with  Lincoln  at  Chi- 
cago, Springfield,  Ottawa.  Gales- 
burg,  and  Alton 121-5 

Specimen  of  his  manner 13C 

Replies  to  Lincoln's  interroga- 
tions   132, 133, 134 

Re-elected  Senator,  in  1858 134 

Pledges  his  support  to  Lincoln  as 
President 178 


INDEX. 


729 


PAGE. 

Remarkable  prophecy 178, 179 

Dispatch  to  the  North! 190 

Speech  in  Chicago,  at "  Wigwam"  191 

Death 213 

DRED  SCOTT  CASE 101,102 

Decision  in  characterized  by  Geo. 

Bancroft 103 

Lincoln's  views  of. 129 

ELECTION— 

Presidential,  of  1856 91,  92 

For  Senator  from  Illinois,  in  1858..  134 

Presidential  of  1860 140,  501-5 

Counting  of  Electoral  votes    in 

Congress 167, 168 

State  elections  in  fall  of  1863 441 

Political  state  of  the  country  be- 
fore Presidential  of  1860 497,  498 

Presidential,  of  1864....  559. 560,  561,  595 
Rebel  States  prohibited,  by  Con- 
gress,  from   voting  for   Presi- 
dent and  Vice  President 595, 596 

ELLIOTT.  THOMAS  D.. .  .. .  276, 279 

ELLSWORTH,  COL.  ELMER  E., 203 

EMANCIPATION— 

By  Congress,  of  all  slaves  claimed 

or  held  by  rebels 277,  278 

Debates  In  Congress,  July,  1861, 
on  confiscation  and  emancipa- 
tion   273,280 

Gradual  compensated  recom- 
mended to  Congress,  by  Lin- 
coln   280,  281,  363,  370,  371,  372 

Co-operation  in  by  U.  S.  proposed 

by  Congress 284 

Universal,    demanded    by     the 

North 288 

Urged  by  Lincoln's  friends,  291,292,293 
Lincoln's  proclamation  of  Eman- 
cipation    293-300 

Reception  of  it  by  the  Nation  301, 3C2 

Endorsed  by  Congress 302 

Sneered  at  by  Lord  Russell 303 

Bill  for  compensated,  lost  in  Con- 
gress   372,  373 

Proclamation   of,    sanctioned  by 

House  of  Representatives 373 

Welcomed  by  army 301 

Bill  for  a  Bureau  of,  reported  in 

Congress 477 

Eraancipat'n  in  Louisiana  509, 510, 511 

In  Tennessee 511,  512 

In  Maryland 512,  513,  514 

In  Missouri 515,  516 

Steps  by  which  the  Republic  was 

led  to - 59f 

Effected  by  the  Republican  party  591 
Opinion  of  Wm.  Whiting,  Esq., 
on  right  of  President  to  eman- 
cipate slaves. 708,  70v 

Views  of  Washington  and  Jeffer- 
son concerning  emancipation 

as  a  belligerent  right 709,  710 

Practice   of    Great   Britain   and 

France  touching  same 709,  712 

EMIGRANT  AID  SOCIETIES 64 

ENROLLMENT  BILL— 

Introduced  by  Senator  Wilson  374,375 

Discussed  in  Congress 374,381 

EUROPEAN  GOVERNMENTS- 

Aspect  towards  secession 205 

FENTON,  R.  E 224 

FANUEIL  HALL— 

Resolutions  passed  by  People's 

Convention,  at 698 

FARRAGUT,  ADMIRAL— 

Captures  New  Orleans 386 

At  Mobile 

FESSENDEN,  WM.  P.,— 

Speech  on  enrollment  of  negro 
soldiers 266 


PAOI. 

Senator  from  Maine 222 

Appointed  Secretary!of  the  Trea- 
sury   ! 506, 507 

FLORIDA— 

Purchase  of. 32 

War  with  the  Seminoles 35 

FLOYD  JOHN  B.,— 

Sends  munitions  of  war  to  the 

South 155 

Resigns 165 

FOOTE.  COMMODORE 238 

Captures;  Fort  Henry 309 

FOOTE,  SOLOMON  215 

FORT  SUMTER— 

Attacked 189 

Effects  of  its  fall 192 

FRANKLIN,  BENJAMIN— 

On  slavery 27 

FREEDMEN— 

'  Condition  of,  discussed  in  Con- 
gress   477 

Passage  by  Congress  of  the  Freed- 

men's  Bureau  Bill 594,  595 

FREE  SOIL  PARTY 43 

FREE  STATES— 

Fourteen  of  protest  against  the 

extension  or  slavery 45 

FREMONT,  JOHN  C 95 

Appointed  Major  General 234 

Declares  slaves  of  rebels  to  be 

free 234 

Relieved  of  his  command 239 

FUGITIVE  SLAVES— 

Law  of  1793  concerning 31 

Repeal  of. , 447,  448 

FUNERAL  OF  LINCOLN— 

Ceremonies  at  Washington...  667,  668 
At   Baltimore    and    Philadel- 
phia   669, 670 

At  New  York  and  Albany 670,  671 

At  Chicago 671 

At  Springfield 672,  673 

GARFIELD,  GENERAL. 308 

Rebukes    his    colleague,    Alex. 

Long,  as  a  traitor 479,  480 

Advocates     the     Constitutional 

Amendment 584 

GARNER,  MARGARET— 

Slays  her  children 96 

GARRISON,  WM.L 38 

Visits  President  Lincoln 38 

GEARY,  GOVERNOR— 

Disgusted  with  the  slave  party  in 

Kansas 65,  66 

GETTYSBURG 420 

Battle  of. 415,420 

Dedication  of  Cemetery  at  422, 423, 424 

Lincoln's  address  at. 423,  424 

Contrast  between  Lincoln's  and 

Everett's  addresses 424 

GREELEY,  HORACE— 

Urges  the  President  to  emanci- 
pate the  slaves 288 

Entrapped   by    rebel   agents   in 

Canada 557,558 

GRIMES,  J.  W 215,  266,  381 

GOVERNORS— 

Of  loyal  States,  meeting  at  Al- 

toona.  Pa - 301 

GRANT,  GENERAL— 

Captures  Belmont 240 

Captures  Fort  Donelson 3()9 

Defeats  the  rebels  at  Shiloh....  314,  315 

Captures  Vicksburg 400-7 

Appointed  Lieutenant-General...  518 
Attends   President's    Levee,    in 

March,  1864 518 

His  plan  of  campaign 521 

Defeat  of  Lee 634,  635 


730 


INDEX. 


PAGH. 

GRIERSON,  COLONEL— 

Makes  a   cavalry   raid   through 

Mississippi 408,  409,  410 

GROW.  SPEAKER 214 

Closing  address  to  the  Thirty- 
seventh  Congress 396 

HABEAS  CORPUS— 

Suspension  of  legalized  by  Con- 
gress   230,  395 

Right   of   suspending    discussed 

391,  392,  712,  713,  714,  715 

How  suspended  in  England 712 

Opinion  of  Marshall,  C.  J., 714 

Opinions   of    Attorney    General 

Bates  and  Parsons,  C.  J 714,715 

The    President     empowered    by 

Congress  to  suspend 71o,  716 

HAHN.  MICHAEL1 389 

Elected  to  Congress  from  Louisi- 
ana.   509 

Advocates  return  of  the  State  to 

Union 389,390,  509,510 

HALLECK,  GENERAL— 

Order  No.  3 261 

Succeeds  Hunter  in  the  West 315 

Captures  Corinth 316 

Made  General-in-Chief. 343 

HAMILTON,  A.  J.,  OF  TEXAS 163 

HARRIS.   REPRESENTATIVE 
FROM  MARYLAND— 
Declared  by  House  of  Represen- 
tatives  "an   unworthy    mem- 
ber"   481,482 

HALE,  J.  P 215 

HARLAN.  JAMES 215,  601 

HICKS,    GOVERNOR   OF    MARY- 
LAND   194, 199,243 

HOAR,  JUDGE- 

Expelled  from  South  Carolina 40 

HOLT,  JOSEPH- 

Secretary  of  War 165 

Letter  to  President  Lincoln  con- 
cerning Fremont's  order  free- 
ing slaves  of  rebels 235 

Appointed  head  of  Bureau  of  Mil- 
itary Justice 491 

HOOKER,  GENERAL  JOSEPH 261 

Appointed  to  command  Army  of 

Potomac 411 

Defeated  at  Chancellorville...  412,  413 
HOUSTON,  SAM.,— 

Speech  against  Kansas-Nebraska 

Bill 55 

HOWARD,  J.  M 279,  373 

HOWARD,  GENERAL  O.  0 414 

Appointed   head   of   the  Freed- 

men's  Bureau 595 

HUNTER,  GENERAL  DAVID 238 

Organizes  first  regiment  of  negro 

troops 263 

Replies  to  resolution  of  House  of 
Representatives  concerning  it 

264, 265 

Declares  all  slaves  free  in  South 

Carolina,  Georgia  and  Florida...  284 
ILLINOIS- 

Early  courts  of. 75,76 

Growth  contrasted  with  that  of 

Missouri 107, 108, 109 

First  State  that  ratifies  the  Con- 
stitutional Amendment 587,  588 

INAUGURATION— 

Description  of  Lincoln's  first  173, 174 

Of  second 623-8 

IREDELL,  MR.— 

On  slavery 27 

JACKSON,  STONEWALL- 
••—•  Drives  Hanks  across  the  Potomac  330 
Creates  panic  at  Washington..  330,331 


Escapes  from  Fremont  and  Mc- 
Dowell  331 

Death  of. 413 

JEFFERSON,  THOMAS— 

Opinion  of  slavery 28 

JOHNSON,  ANDREW 198,  214,  220 

Denounces  the  traitors 220 

Denounces  Jefferson  Davis 221 

Requests  Lincoln  to  except  Ten- 
nessee from  the  operation  of 
the  proclamation  of  emancipa- 
tion   303 

Nominated  for  Vice  President  of 

the  United  States 502 

Appointed  Provisional  Governor 

of  Tennessee 511 

Declares  that,  if  he  were  Presi- 
dent, he  would  arrest  and  exe- 
cute the  traitors,  (note) 724 

JOHNSON,  REVERDY— 

Speeches  of..... 449,  450,  468 

JUDICIARY'OF  UNITED  STATES— 

Long  revered  by  the  people 101 

Disgraced  by  Dred  Scott  decision  101 
KANSAS— 

Struggle  of  slaveholders  and  the 

Free  State  party ...  65,66,98 

Reports  on  elections  in  by  com- 
mittee of  Congress 98 

Civil  war  menaced  in 98 

KANSAS-NEBRASKA  BILL 60 

Address  to  the  people  against 51 

Final  struggle  on  in  Congress....  55-62 

Passage  of 62 

KING.  PRESTON 215,  266,  268 

KELLY,;  W.  D 224,597 

LINCOLN,  ABRAHAM— 

Described 67,  68,  674,  675 

His  ancestors 08,  69 

Early  life 69,  70,  71,  72 

Education 70,  71 

Removes  to  Indiana 69 

To  Illinois 70 

"The  rail-splitter." 70 

In  Black  Hawk  War 72 

Sent  to  the  Legislature  of  Illinois.  72 

Postmaster  of  Salem 72 

Nominated  as  Speaker 73 

His  integrity 72,  73 

Studies  law 73 

Protests  against  pro-slavery  reso- 
lutions  74 

Courts  of  Illinois 76 

As  a  lawyer 77,78,  88 

Accepts  a  challenge 79 

Marries 79 

Argues     case     of      negro      girl 

"Nance" 79,80 

Elected  to  Congress  in  1847 37,  81 

Speeches 82 

Introduces  a  bill  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  District 

of  Columbia 37,  84,  85 

Campaign  speech  in  support  of 
General  Taylor's  nomination  to 

Presidency 82 

Stumps  New  England  for  Taylor...  84 
Opposes  bill   compensating  offi- 
cers for  slaves  lost  in  Seminole 

War 85 

Offered  the  position  of  Governor 

of  Oregon 85 

Voted  for  in  1849-50  for  office  of  U. 

S.  Senator 86 

Mechanical  talent 86,  87 

His  only  large  fee  for  legal  ser- 
vices  87 

Defends    a     poor    widow's    son 

charged  with  murder. : 87 

.  Tries  his  last  law  case 88 


INDFX.  ' 


731 


PAOE. 

Debate  with  Douglas  at  Spring- 
field and  Peoria  In  1855. 89,  90 

Withdraws  as  a  candidate  for  the 
U.  8.  Senate  in  favor  of  Judge 

Trumbull 91 

Leader  of  a  new  party  organized 

in  Northwest  to  resist  slavery  92, 93 
Supported  for  office  of  Vice  Pre- 
sident in  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention   94 

Contrasted     with     Stephen     A. 

Douglas 112 

Speech,  June.1858 114-119 

Discussions  with  Douglas  at  Chi- 
cago, Springfleld,Ottawa,Gales- 

burg,  and  Alton 121-138 

Views  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  129 
Answers     Douglas's     interroga- 
tories   131, 132 

Visits  Kansas 135 

Speech  at  Columbus,  O 132 

At  Cincinnati 136 

At  Cooper  Institute  N.  Y 137, 138 

"Rail  candidate"  for  the  Presi- 
dency   138, 139 

Nominated  by  Chicago  Conven- 
tion for  the  Presidency 145, 146 

By   whom   first   nominated    for 

Presidency.  (Note)~ 145 

Elected  President 149 

Farewell  at  Springfield 168 

Journey  to  Washington 168-172 

Speech    at    Independence   Hall, 

Philadelphia 170 

Threatened  with  assassination....  171 

Inaugurated  as  President 173, 174 

Inaugural  address 175, 176, 177 

Appoints  his  Cabinet 179, 180, 181 

Call  for  75,000  men 184 

Message  to  Thirty-seventh  Con- 
gress   216,  217,  218 

Modifies  Fremont's  proclamation 

in  Missouri 235 

Treatment  of  a  wounded  soldier..  240 
Message  to  Congress  in  Decem-  ' 

ber,  1861 : 245,  246,  247 

Recognizes  right  of  Congress  to 

legislate  for  insurgent  States 247 

Recommends    gradual    compen- 
sated emancipation 280,  281 

Repudiates  General  Hunter's  or- 
der freeing  slaves 284 

Appeals  to  Border  States 285,  286 

Converses  with  Messrs.  Lovejoy 
and  Arnold  on  emancipation...  287 

Replies  to  Horace  Greeley 289 

Replies  to  delegation  of  Chicago 

clergy 289,  290 

Urged  by  his  friends  to  emanci- 
pate the  slaves 291,  292 

Issues  The  Proclamation 294-300 

Impatience  at  McClellan's  inac- 
tivity   323,327,  328 

Urges   McClellan  to  more  rapid 

movement 326 

Telegraphs  McClellan  on  Penin- 
sula that  he  must  strike  a  blow 

327,328 

Visits  Fortress  Monroe 328 

Letter  to  McClellan 329 

Replies  to   McClellan's   call   for 
re-enforcements  at  Harrison's 

Landing 340,  341 

Visits  the  camp  on  the  James. 342 

Visits  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 

after  Antietam 356 

Orders    McClellan   to    give   bat- 

^       tie 357  358,359 

»  .'2/Message  to  Congress,  December, 

(AT       1868 369 

V         Points  out  mischiefs  of  disunion  371 


Reluctant  at  using  "war  pow- 
ers."  391,  392 

Suspends    Habeas     Corpus    and 

proclaims  Martial  Law 392 

Replies  to  meeting  at  Albany...  393 

Thanks  Grant  for  capture  of 
Vicksburg 507 

Proclaims  a  day  of  Thanksgiv- 
ing for  the  victory  of  Gettys- 
burg   421,  422 

Speech  at  Gettysburg 423,  424 

Appoints  a  day  of  Thanksgiving 
for  victories  of  Lookout  Moun- 
tain and  Missionary  Ridge 431 

Threatens  retaliation  if  rebels 
treat  Union  negro  soldiers  con- 
trary to  laws  of  war 436 

Letter  to  Union  men  of  Illinois... 

438-441 

Message  to  Thirty-eighth  Con- 
gress   443-446 

Views  of  reconstruction.. ..445,  446, 566 

Labors  for  passage  of  the  consti- 
tional  amendment  abolishing 
slavery 468 

Insists  on  fidelity  to  the  freed- 
men 471 

Gives  his  plan  of  "  reconstruc- 
tion " 471 

Attends  fair  of  Baltimore  Sani- 
tary Commission 494,495 

Speaks  at  the  fair  in  Philadel- 
phia   497 

Renomiiiated  for  the  Presidency 
in  1864 502 

Causes  of  renomination...  497,  498, 499 

Addresses  General  Banks  on  re- 
construction of  Louisiana 510 

Thanks  Sherman  for  capture  of 
Atlanta 540 

Induced  by  Horace  Greeley  to 
correspond  with  rebel  agents 
In  Canada 556,557 

Proposes  to  Greeley  that  the  Nia- 
gara correspondence  be  pub- 
lished   558 

Suspends  Habeas  Corpus  in  Ken- 
tucky  558 

Is  re-elected  President 559 

His  firm  adherence  to  emancipa- 
tion   560 

His  last  message  to  Congress..  562-571 

Appoints  Secretary  Chase  Chief 
Justice  of  the  U.  S 574,  575 

Speech  on  passage  of  Constitu- 
tional amendment 587 

Inadvertently  signs  it 588 

His  early  faith  in  the  triumph  of 
abolition 589 

Refuses  to  make  peace  with 
rebels 617 

Inaugurated  President 624,  625 

His  second  inaugural  address 

625,  626,  627 

Meets  generals  at  City  Point 629 

Visits  Richmond 642 

Has  a  conference  with  leading 
citizens  of  Richmond...  612,  643,  644 

Views  of  power  of  Congress  over 
rebel  States ftil-654 

His  policy 651-655 

Opinion  concerning  right  of  rebel 
States  to  vote  in  the  Electoral  "•"* 
College 654,  655 

Regards  loyalty  as  the  basis  of 
reconstruction 655,  656 

Views  of  negro  suffrage 657,  658 

Leaders  of  the  rebellion  should 
be  excepted  from  amnesty 657 

Insists  on  keeping  faith  with  the 
negroes 658,  659 


732 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Last  day  of  his  life 660-663 

Assassinated 662,  663 

Funeral  services 667,  668 

Funeral  procession  from  Wash- 
ington to  Springfield 668-672 

Funeral  oration  by  Bishop  Simp- 
son    672,  673 

Lincoln's  manners 675 

Love  of  truth 675 

Memory 686 

Favorite  books 675 

Talents  as  a  reader 677 

Conversational  power 677,  678 

Ability  as  a  public  speaker  678,679,680 
Influence  on  the  national  char- 
acter   678 

"Household  words" 678,  679 

Resemblance    of     his     style    to 

Franklin's 680 

Tender-heartedness 681 

Character  of  his  stories '.  683 

Reception  room  at  White  House 

described 682,  683 

His  accessibility 684 

Magnitude  of  his  labors 685,  686 

His  cardinal  ideas 690 

LECOMPTON  CONSTITUTION 98 

Vote  of  Kansas  on 99 

Opposed  in  United  States  Senate 

by  Douglas 99 

Remonstrance  against  by  people 

of  Kansas 99 

Debate  on  between  Senators  Fes- 

senden  and  Davis 99 

Defeated  in  Congress 100 

LEE,  GENERAL  ROBERT  E 208-211 

Appointed  to  command  of  Army 

of  Northern  Virginia 334 

Appointed    commander-in-chief 

of  rebel  armies 621 

Surrenders  to  Grant 634,  635,  636 

LIBERTY  PARTY 43 

LIBERTY  OF  SPEECH  AND  THE 
PRESS— 

Jealously  watched  by  Republi- 
cans   489 

LOANS— 

By  American  people  to  the  Gov- 
ernment during  the  war 491 

LONG,  ALEX.,  OF  OHIO- 

Debate  in  House  of  Representa- 
tives on  motion  to  expel 480-489 

Censured  by  House  of  Represen- 
tatives   489 

LOGAN,  JOHN  A 224 

LOUISIANA— 

Purchased 32 

Elects  two  Union  representatives 

to  Congress 386 

Debate  on  admission  of. 386-390 

Emancipation  in 609,  610,  511 

New    constitution    adopted     by 

people  of,  in  1864 511 

LOVEJOY,  REV.  E.  P.— 

Murder  of. 38,  39 

LOVEJOY,  OWEN 224,225 

Introduces  in  Congress  a  resolu- 
tion concerning  duty  of  sol- 
diers touching  fugitive  slaves... 

227,  252,  260 

Debate  with  Crittenden  on  con- 
fiscation of  slaves 273-276 

Death 489, 490 

Lincoln's  friendship  for 490 

LYON,  GENERAL— 

Captures    the    Missouri    "State 

Guard" 201,  202 

Death 238 

McCLELLAN,  GEORGE  B.— 

Appointed  commander  of  Union 
armies 233 


PAGE. 

Inactivity  in  1861-2 307,317 

Army  of  the  Potomac 237 

Political  associations 322 

Besieges  Yorktown 32(3 

Continued    calls   for   re-enforce- 

ments 326 

Telegraphed  by  Lincoln  that  he 

"  must  act  " 328 

Calls  for  Parrott  guns. 328 

Urged  to  attack 332 

Complains  of  "mud  and  rain  "...  334 
Fails  to  take  advantage  of  Lee's 
blunder   in    uncovering  Rich- 
mond   334,  335,  33S 

Cold  Harbor 338 

Message  to  Secretary  of  War 337 

Malvern  Hill 339 

Returns  to  Harrison's  Landing...  340 
Fatal  errors  during   Peninsular 

campaign 340 

Calls  for  more  re-enforcements.340, 353 
Ordered  to  withdraw  to  Acquia 

Creek 345 

Delays  to  re-enforce  Pope 346-351 

Disobeys  orders 351 

Determines    "to    leave  Pope  to 

get  out  of  his  scrape" 349 

Reappointed  commander  of  the 

Army  of  the  Potomac 353 

Tardiness 354 

Ordered  by  the  President  to  give 

battle  357,358,  359 

Antietam 359 

Relieved  of  his  command 360 

Nominated  at  Chicago  in  1860  for 

the  Presidency 603 

McPHERSON,  GENERAL— 

Death  of. 540 

McCULLOCH,  HUGH— 

Placed  at  head  of  Bureau  of  Na- 
tional Currency 491 

Appointed      Secretary     of     the 
Treasury 

MAILS— 

Violated  at  South 39 

MAYNARD,  HORACE 198,  214,  383 

MARYLAND— 

Action  regarding  secession 199 

Arrest  of  the  Legislature 242 

Slavery  abolished  in 512,  513,  514 

MASON,  OF  VIRGINIA 54 

Captured  on  board  Trent,  with 

Slidell,  by  Commodore  Wilkes.  240 
Surrendered  to  Great  Britain 241 

MEXICO— 

War  against 36 

New  Mexico  ceded  to  the  United 
States 87 

MlSSISSIPPI- 
Opening  of  the 398 

MISSOURI— 

Effects  of  admission  as  a  slave 

State 33, 34 

Action  in  regard  to  Secession 201 

"  State  Guard  "  captured  by  Gen. 

Lyon 201 

Emancipation  in 514,  515,  516 

Enthusiam  excited  by 516 

MISSOURI  COMPROMISE 33 

Repeal  of 42-3 

Effects  of  its  repeal- 63,64 

State  of. 301 

MITCHELL,  GENERAL- 

Address    to    army   at    Bowling 
Green 31C 

MOBS— 

Anti-abolition 38,  89 

MONITOR— 

Fights  the  Merrinrmc 323 

MORGAN'S  RAID  IN  OHIO 410 


INDEX. 


733 


PASE. 

MULLIGAN,  COLONEL— 

Surrenders  to  Price 238 

NEW  ENGLAND— 

Contrasted  with  the  South 104, 107 

NEW  YORK— 

Rebel  plot  to  burn 660 

Prosperity  contrasted  with  that 

of  Virginia 105, 106, 107 

NIAGARA  FALLS— 

Conference,  the 557 

NEW  ORLEANS— 

Captured  by  Farragut 317, 318, 319 

NORTH  CAROLINA  SECEDES 198 

NORTHWEST,  THE.— 

Action  regarding  the  rebellion  195,399 

ORDINANCE  OF  1787 26 

ORDER  OF  "  THE  LONE  STAR  " 150 

PARTY— 

A  new  political,  organized  in  the 

Northwest  to  oppose  slavery..  92,  93 
PEACE  CONVENTION— 

At  Washington,  in  1860 161, 162 

Conference   at  Hampton   Roads 

618,  619 

PENDLETON,  OF  OHIO 224 

Opposes  the  expulsion  of  Alex. 
Long  from  House  of  Represen- 
tatives   486, 487, 488, 489 

Speaks  against  the  constitution- 
al amendment  prohibiting 

slavery 579 

PENINSULAR  CAMPAIGN 340 

Effects  of  its  failure  on  spirits  of 

Northern  people 344 

PETITION— 

Right  of,  suppressed  in  Congress    39 

Advocated  by  J.  Q,.  Adams 40 

Restored  in  1845 40 

PINCKNEY,  WM.,  ON  SLAVERY....    26 
POMEROY,  SENATOR— 

Introduces  a  bill  into  Senate  abol- 
ishing slavery  in  seceding 

States 272 

POPE,  GENERAL— 

Assumes  command  of  Army  of 

Virginia 343 

Addresses  his  army 343,344 

Offends  thereby  officers  of  Army 

of  Potomac 344 

Asks  to  be  relieved  of  command..  344 

Driven  back 351,  352 

Cabal  against 352 

Acquitted  of  blame  by  Lincoln 353 

PORTER,  GENERAL  FITZ  JOHN— 
Convicted  of  disobedience  of  or- 
ders   353 

PRESIDENTIAL    CAMPAIGN    OF 

1856 95 

PROCLAMATION,  LINCOLN'S— 

For  75,000  men 190 

REBELLION— 

Objects 150, 151 

Deliberately  planned 159, 160 

REBEL,  BARBARITIES  23l!  600 

Discussed  in  Senate 600-7 

Passage  of  resolution  by  Senate 

concerning 60(5 

RECONSTRUCTION    OF   REBEL 

STATES 546 

Debates  on  admission  of  repre- 
sentatives to  Congress  from 

Louisiana 386-90 

Lincoln's  views  of. 445,446,470, 

471,  476,  507.  508,  509,  510,  620, 650-9 

Discussions  on  in  Congress 472-9 

Henry  Winter  Davis'  bill  con- 
cerning  473,  474 

Passage  of  by  Congress 474 

Lincoln's  objection  to 475 

Charles  Sumner's  views. 475,  476 

Resolution  of  Senate  upon 477 


Discussion  of.  in  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, in  Jan.,  1865 596-9 

RELIGIOUS  SECTS— 

Opinions  of  slavery  in  1785 28 

REPUBLICAN  PARTY— 

Organized 93 

RESOLUTIONS— 

Of  1788 41 

RICHMOND— 

Captured. 642 

ROLLINS,  REPRESENTATIVE 
FROM  MISSOURI— 

Advocates    the    constitutional 
amendment  prohibiting  slavery 

580,584 
SCOTT,  GENERAL— 

Warns  Buchanan  of  designs  of 

secessionists 158 

SECESSION— 

Date  of  by  seceding  States  163,197, 198 

The  germ  of. 41 

Refuted  by  Webster 42 

Buchanan's  treatment  contrasted 

with  Jackson's 42 

Threatened    by  South  Carolina, 

Georgia,  Alabama,  &c...: 153 

Calhoun  on  doctrine 153,154 

Inexcusable 267 

Gloomy  winter  of  1860-1 167 

Condition  of  affairs  March  4, 1861 

181,  182 

Voted  down  in  Virginia 196 

Successful  in 197 

Supported    by  many  officers  of 

army  and  navy 208 

Caused  by  slavery 203,204 

Repudiated  by  West  Virginia 381 

SECESSIONISTS— 

Secret  conclave  at  Washington...  162 
Convention  at  Montgomery,  Ala.  163 
Seize  Harper's  Ferry  and  Gos- 

port  Navy  Yard 202 

SEWARD,  WM.  H 45 

Instructions  to  Mr.  Adams 206-7 

On  capture  of  Mason  and  Slidell..  241 
Speaks  against ;  Kansas-Nebras- 
ka bill 63 

Described 179 

Denies  right  of  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  coerce  seceding  States 

696,  697,  698 

Deprecates  emancipation..  696, 697, 698 
SHERIDAN,     MAJOR     GENERAL 

PHIL.  H 527 

T.  B.  Read's  poem  on  "  Sheridan's 

Ride" 635,  586 

SHERMAN,  SENATOR  OF  OHIO... 

215,  230,  268 

Speech  on  emancipation...  450,451,452 
SHERMAN,  MAJOR  GENERAL— 

Atlanta  Campaign 638,  542 

Orders    the   non-combatants    to 

leave  Atlanta 641 

Replies    to  Gen.  Hood  and  the 
Mayor   of  Atlanta   concerning 

same 541,  542,  648,  644 

Grand  March 645,551 

SLAVERY— 

Opinions  of  the  Fathers  on 26,  26 

Address  on  by  Legislature  of  Va., 
to  King  of  Great  Britain,  1772  ...    27 

Franklin's  opinion  of. 27 

When  abolished  in  New  England 
Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and 

New  Jersey 29 

Change  in  public  opinion 30 

Contrasted  with  free  labor 104-10 

Position  of  parties  on,  in  1860.  149, 150 
Tenderly  treated  by  U.  S.  Govern- 
ment at  beginning  of  war 232 

Debate  on  abolition  in  District  of 


734 


INDEX. 


PAOB 

Columbia. 262-2-28 

Abolished  in 268 

Prohibited  by  Congress  in  Terri- 
tories   260 

Abolition     demanded     by     the 

North 288 

Statements  of  Reverdy  Johnson 

on  morality  of. 448,449 

Propositions  in  Congress  to  abol- 
ish and  prohibit  by  amend- 
ment to  the  TJ.  8.  Constitution..  466 
Speeches  on  same  by  Trumbull, 
Wilson,  Reverdy  Johnson,  Har- 
lan,  Saulsbury,  McDougal,  Hen- 
derson, Pendleton,  and  Sumner 

456  to  468 

Vote  on  same  in  the  Senate 465 

Debates  in  House  of  Representa- 
tives...    466  to  468  and  577  to  687 

Votes  on 468,  586 

First*  resolution   in  Congress   to 

abolish  entirely 466 

Its  final  overthrow 592,  693 

Power  of  Congress  to  abolish  in 

the  States 692  to  713 

Opinion  of  Buchanan  touching...  694 

Vote  of  Congress  on - 684,686 

SLAVES— 

Position  of  Government  towards 

207,  208 

Bil  to  confiscate  when  used  for 
insurrectionary  purposes....  225,  226 

Flock  to  the  Union  armies 226 

Military  commanders  first  au- 
thorized to  employ  them  in 

"!squads,  companies ,"-&c 236 

Officers  forbidden  to  arrest  fugi- 
tives   262 

Fugitives  expelled  from  the  lines 

of  army  by  Gen.  Halleck 261 

Permitted  by  Gen.  Hooker  to  be 

recaptured 262 

Gen.  Hunter  organizes  first  regi- 
ment of. 266 

Debate  in  Congress  on  employ- 
ment as  soldiers, 266  to  £70 

Passage  of  bill  enfranchising  such 
as  should  perform  military  ser- 
vice   270 

Number  killed,  wounded,&c.,  dur- 
ing war,  while  serving  in 

Union  armies — 270 

Passage,  by  Congress,  of  bill  free- 
ing all  claimed  or  held  by  rebels  278 
Belief  that  a  day  of  jubilee  was 

approaching 291 

Emancipation  proclaimed  by  Lin- 
coln   294  to  300 

Forgiving   spirit   towards    their 

masters 653 

Opinion  of  Wm.  Whiting,  Esq., 
on  right  of  President  to  eman- 
cipate   709 

Right  of  a  belligerent  to  eman- 

pate 709-12 

Practice  of  England  and  France 

in  regard  to  the  right 709,710 

Employment  of  slaves  in  1814  by 
the  Government  without  com- 
pensation   711 

SLAVEHOLDERS— 

Power  of  in  Congress.. 34 

Monopoly  of  offices  by 34 

Despotism  of. 41 

Control  of  the  entire  Govern- 
ment by 108, 104 

SLAVE  STATES— 

Tennessee  admitted  into  Union 

as  a  slave  State 31 

Alabama  and  Mississippi 82 


SLAVE  TRADE— 

Provision   by  Congress   for    its 

abolition 2} 

SMITH,  PROF.  GOLDWIN— 

On  treatment  of  rebel  prisoners 

by  the  United  States «07 

SOLDIERS— 

Number  of  furnished  for  war  of 
the    Rebellion  by  the  'several 

States 646.  647,  648 

Number  of  colored  troops  enlist'd  648 
SOUTH  CAROLINA— 

Enacts  a  law  imprisoning  colored 

seamen 40 

"The  Prodigal  Son" 184, 186 

Slaves  armed  by  United  States....  237 

8TANTON,  EDWIN  M 166,  266 

Appointed  Secretary  of  War 250 

Views  of  slavery 373 

STATES  IN  REBELLION— 

Right    of  the  United  States    to 

govern 716,  723 

Decisions  of  Supreme  Court  upon 

716,  723 
Jtfot  in  the  Union  during  the  war 

718,  719 

Who  may  prescribe  terms  of 
their  return  to  the  Union  720,721.723 

STEPHENS,  ALEX.  H 6^165 

Speech  at  Milledgeville 208,  204 

STEVENS,  THADDEUS— 

222,  223, 226, 254,  384 
Advocates    the    constitutional 

amendment 685,  586 

SUMNER,  CHARLES..  215, 226, 254, 447, 465 

Assaulted  by  Brooks 96 

Described 221 

Reviews  Lincoln's  proclamation 
respecting  government  of  re- 
volted States 476 

Opposes  placing  bust  of  Taney  in 

Supreme  Court  room 572, 673,  674 

TENNESSEE— 

Action  regarding  secession 198 

Excepted  from  proclamation  of 

emancipation 303 

Emancipation  in 511,  612 

TANEY,  R  B 674-6 

TEXAS- 

Admitted  into  the  Union 38 

THOMAS,  GKN.  GEORGE  H 102 

Defeats  ZollikofferatMill  Spring  308 
Defeats  the  rebels  at  Franklin 

and  Nashville M7,  548,  649 

THOMPSON.  JACOB 154 

TIMES,  THE  LONDON— 

Announces  that  "  The  Great  Re- 
public is  no  more  " 206 

TOOMBS  ROBERT 84 

TOUCEY,  ISAAC 167 

TREASON— 

In  loyal  States 702 

TRENT,  AFFAIR  OF 240,  i41 

TRUMBULL,  SENATOR  OF  ILLI- 
NOIS    216 

Introduces  in  Senate  a  bill  free- 

ingslavesof  rebels 272.46T 

Protests  against  President's  sig- 
nature of  constitutional  amend- 
ment bill 688 

UNION,  THE— 

Conspiracy    of   slaveholders,  in 

1*60,  to  destroy 148,148 

UPRISING  OF  THE  PEOPLE...  192, 198 

VALLANDIGHAM 224,  268 

Arrested  by  Burnside 892 

Returns  North  from  rebel  lines...  508 
Is  made  chairman  of  Committee 
on  Resolutions  at  Chicago  Con- 
vention    601 


INDFX. 


735 


PAGE. 

VICKSBURa 366,7 

Captured 407 

VIRGINIA- 

Aetion  regarding  secession 196 

VOLUNTEERS  IN  ARMY— 

Number  of 374 

WADE,  BENJAMIN  F 64, 161,  601,  604 

WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION— 

Federal  plan  of  in  1861-2 306,  807 

General  movement  of  army  or- 
dered by  Lincoln  in  January, 

1862 308 

Battle  of  Belmont 808 

Battle  of  Mill  Spring 308 

Capture    of    Forts    Henry    and 

Donelson 309 

Kentucky     evacuated     by     the 

rebels 310 

Capture  of  Nashville 311 

Capture  of  Roanoke  Island,  New- 
bern,  Fort  Pulaski,  and    Fort 

Macon 311 

Battle  of  Pea  Ridge 3ll,  312 

New  Madrid  and  Island  No.  10 812 

Battle  of  Shiloh 313,  314,  815 

Capture  of  Corinth Sis 

Plan  of  operations  agreed  on  at 
Fairfax   Court   House,   March, 

1862 32* 

Lincoln's  dispatch  to  comman- 
ders concerning  same 326 

Yorktown 325 

Williamsburg 826 

Capture  of  Norfolk 828 

Cold  Harbor,  or  Gaines'Mill 330 

Savage  StoMon 38S 

Malvern  Hill 839 

Battle  of  South  Mountain 854 

Los-*  of  Harper's  Ferry 352 

Battle  of  Antietam 3£4,  365 

Battle  of  Fredericksburg 364 

Review  of  campaign  of  1862  in 

the  F.ast 364,  365 

Rebels    occupy    Frankfort    and 

Lexington,  Ky 364 

Battle  of  Perry ville 364 

Repulse  of  Van  Dorn  by  Rose- 

crans 366 

Surrender  of  Holly  Springs 366 

Vlckshurp     unsuccessfully     as- 
snulted  by  Sherman  and  Mc- 

Clernfind 3*7 

Battle  of  Stone  River 867 

Plan  of  campaign  of  1863 4nO 

Capture  of  Vicksburg 400-107 

Arkansas  Post 401 

Bsittle  of  Port  Gibson 405 

Grierson's  raid 408,  409,  ->10 

Morgan's  raid  in  Ohio 410 

Capture  of  Port  Hudson 410,  411 

Battle  of  Chancellorville..  411. 412,  413 
Lee's  invasion  of  Pennsylvania...  413 

Battle  of  Gettysburg 414-420 

Meade's  failure  to  pursue  Lee 426 

Rospenms  forces  back  Bragg  to 

Chattanooga 427 

Burnside  occupies  East  Tennes- 
see   428 

Batileof  Chickamau'jua 4-2«,  429 

Grant  takes  command  of  the  De- 
partments   of    Tennessee,  the 

Cumberland  and  Ohio 430 

Battles  of  Lro'cout  Mountain  and 

Miss:onary  Ridge 480,  481 

Oy -oration* against  Charleston,  431,482 

As>;ui  t '  n  Fort  W»gn.fr 431 

QjMtn  troll's  m<uwere  at  T  awrence  -132 
First  draft  by  the  President...  432,  433 

Drnfr,  riots  in  New  York 43*,  434 

Recruiting  of  negro  soldiers..  434,435 


PAGE. 
Desperation  of  rebels  at  close  of 

1863 43T 

Military  situation  when    Grant 
took  command  of   all  United 

States  armies 522 

Failure  of  Banks'  Red  River  ex- 
pedition   523 

Massacre  at  Fort  Pillow 623,  524 

Exhaustion  of  the  rebels 534,  536 

They  propose  to  arm  their  slaves..  525 
The  Army  of  the  Potomac  cross 

the  Rapidan 627 

Battles  of  the  Wilderness 528 

Sheridan's  raid 628 

Gen.  Butler  occupies  City  Point 

and  Bermuda  Hundred 629, 630 

Butler  is  forced  back 630 

Battles  of  Spottsylvania,  North 

Anna,  etc 680,  £81 

First  attack  on  Petersburg 231 

Operations  on    the  Shenandoah 

by  Sigel  and  Hunter 631 

Investment  of  Lynchburg 531 

Early    and   Breckenridge    move 
down    the    Shenandoah     and 

threaten  Washington 632 

Retreat  of  same 583 

Petersburg  invested 633 

A  mine  exploded 634 

Sheridan  takes  command  of  the 
Department     of     Washington 

and  the  Shenandoah 634 

Defeat  of  General  Early 634 

Second  defeat  of  Early  by  Sheri- 
dan  685 

Sherman  advances  on  Atlanta 

63-,  589 
He  turns  the  enemy's  position  at 

Kenesaw  Mountain 639 

Death  of  McPherson 540 

Atlanta  evacuated 540 

Sherman  orders  non-combatants 

to  leave - 641 

Sherman     proposes     to    march 

across  Georgia  to  the  sea. 646 

Corresponds  with  Grant  concern- 
ing same 545,  546 

General  Thomas  prepares  to  meet 

Hood 546,  547 

Battle  of  Franklin 547,  548 

Battle  of  Nashville 548,  649 

Defence  of  Allatoona  Pass 650 

Sherman  marches  to  the  sea,  and 

invests  Savannah 551,  552 

Capture  of  the  Alabama 558,  554 

Capture  of  the  Florida 554 

Farragut's  victory  at  Mobile..  654,  655 

Rebel  barbarities 600-607 

Attacks  on  Fort  Fisher 614,615 

Capture  of  same 615 

Capture  of  Wilmington 621 

The  rebels  arm  the  negroes 621 

Fight  at  Bentonville 622 

Sheiman  joins  Terry  and  Scho- 

fleld 622 

Capture  of  Charleston 622 

Sheridan  at  Five  Forks 631,  682 

General  assault  upon  Lee's  lines 

at  Petersburg 632 

Grant's  pursuit  of  Lee 683,  634 

Lee's  surrender 034,  635,  636 

Dissatisfaction  of  the  people  at 

terms  of  same 636,  637 

Armistice  between  Sherman  and 

Johnson 638,  639 

Repudiation  of  same  by  the  Pre- 
sident   689,  640 

Surrender  of  Johnston's  army....  f>41 

Downfall  of  the  Confederacy 641 

Capture  of  Jefferson  Davis 641. 

Weitzel's  entry  into  Richmond...  642 


736 


INDEX. 


PAGS. 

Review  of  Grant  and  Sherman's 

troaps  at  Washington 644,  645 

Cost  of  the  war 646 

.  Number  of  troops  furnished  by 

.the  several  States 646  647 

Number  of  colored  troops  enlisted  648 

Forbearance  of  the  victors 649 

Heroism  of  rebels 649 

Constitutional     history    of    the 

war 691-725 

What  has    been  settled  by  the 

war 722,723 

WAR  POWERS— 

Of  the  government - 691-725 

Treatise    on    by  William  Whit- 
ing, Esq 708 

Extracts  from  same 704-709 

Opinions  of    J.  Q.  Adams    con- 
cerning   711,  712,  723 

WASHBURNE,  ELIHU  B.  OF  ILLI- 
NOIS— 

Replies  to  Cox 075,  576 

Speech  on  Grant 402,  403 

Moves  to  expel  Harris 481 


WASHINGTON,  PRESIDENT— 

Viejkvs  of  slavery 28 

WASHINGTON  CITY— 

Plot  to  seize 200 

WHARNCLIFFE,  LORD— 

Refused    access  to    Confederate 
prisons 606,  607 

WHITING,  WM.,  OF  BOSTON— 
Appointed  Solicitor  of  the  War 

Department W8 

Publishes  a    treatise  on    "  War 

Powers  " 708 

Extracts  from  same 704-709 

WEST  VIRGINIA 881 

Rebels  driven  from 238 

Admitted  into  Union... 885 

Debate  in  Congress  on  same.....8*2-385 
Abolishes  slavery 386 

WICKLIFFE,  C.  A 258,  263 

WIDE-AWAKES 147 

Addressed  at  Chicago 147, 148 

WILMOT  PROVISO 886 

WILSON,  HENRY 215,263 

Speeches  of 268,270,375,376,  380,  469 


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